Despite an early run by the Magic which led to a quick 13-0 start, the Celtics defense and well devised offense neutralized the game. The celtics went on a 15-0 run themselves and ended the first period with the lead. The rest of the game would be an orchestrated comeback by the Magic who would appear to be on the losing end up until about 3 minutes to go. Even despite the win, it appeared as though the Magic certainly stole the game, down for most of 3 1/2 quarters they never gave up.
This game perhaps raises more questions then answers. The new-look Magic did not appear any more dangerous than they had in their previous meetings. When Howard was out for most of the game with foul trouble, no one on the team was able to take over the offense and become a go-to, "create your own shot" type of guy. Arenas was a no-show. Richardson was decent but mostly a non-factor, and Turk played well but has never been labeled a go-to guy you could run an offense through. So we know at least for now as a team we have not improved in this department.
Arenas for one who you would think could drive, draw fouls, and be explosive, appeared passive, and non-involved as a scorer. The idea of Arenas makes sense if you want a guy who could create offense as a reliable second option. Someone who is a star who requires attention from the defense, and a game changer who can carry a team when option A is on the bench. We saw neither, Arenas thus far has been nothing more than a taller Duhon. The verdict is still out on Arenas, there is plenty of ball to be played and he still isn't accustomed to the system, yet I was under the impression that a scorer will find a way to score, find a way to get to the line, find a way to impact the game. It came much to hard for Arenas for me to feel any comfort in him as the sidekick to Superman.
The Boston defense appeared to be as stingy as it was 6 months ago. It is damn hard to score on them. When you go up 13-0 you had better take advantage because the Boston defense can become unbearable. In mind you this was without Perkins and Rondo. And while Shaq is pushing 40, his size still is a problem for Howard. Against Boston you can count on foul trouble for Howard and thus a dynamic offense is important. The new-look Magic may be a completely different offensive team when they face Boston again, but until then Boston appears to have the upper hand against Howard, and against the "3 point," threat.
The Magic however deserve some credit. Despite being down most of the game, the Magic fought their way back. The defense was stellar behind a focused and aggressive Dwight Howard who had a block on Pierce in where he ran 15 feet to track it down before perfectly swatting it into the 2nd row. Pierce smiled. As important as Dwight is on the offensive end, the Magic need him to anchor the defense and he did for the ladder part of the fourth period. Jameer Nelson, Brandon Bass, and J.J Redick made clutch shots when it mattered most. The Magic have turned to their youth for energy and playmaking and thus far it has worked.
As an emotional game, since both of these teams have playoff history and can say they highly dislike each other, the Celtics won the pace battle for most of the game. Looking at the scoreboard it is a Celtics score, yet the Magic can say they won the first and last five minutes of the game which in the end proved to be most valuable. The Celtics did see some new looks. Brandon Bass for one is a player the Celtics rarely saw last season in replacing Rashard Lewis. Lewis seemed to give Garnett more trouble defensively, however offensively and energy wise, Bass provided problems for a very visibly winded Garnett.
The season is long, this was just one game. Many questions are still yet to be answered about this new-look Magic squad, but it appears the Magic have the intangibles of a wining team. They fought their way to get this victory and even Howard himself made a comparison to this new team and the team of 2009 which made a finals run and took out the Celtics on their way.
