National Basketball Association

Celtics overcome injuries, make statement vs. Magic

Published Dec. 25, 2009 12:00 a.m. ET

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Game Time: Celtics 86, Magic 77

With so many games left to play before the money season commences, this contest might appear to be just another interesting, but mostly inconsequential, clash of titans.

In truth, this was an extremely meaningful win for Boston — if only because Paul Pierce was out and Kevin Garnett was physically impaired with a deep thigh bruise.

At the same time, this was a devastating loss for Magic because they were fully armed and playing at home.

Here’s why Boston won

Rajon Rondo made several miscues — eight turnovers, three forced shots, five forced passes, three missed layups, shooting 3-for-8 from the stripe and converting only 1-5 jumpers. But he was also a one-man gang: Scoring (17), rebounding (20), assisting (eight) and stealing (two). Indeed, it was Rondo’s relentless penetrations both in half-court situations and in early offense thrusts that went a long way toward compensating for Boston’s lack of rhythm on offense. The game ball belongs to Rondo.

Ray Allen had a miserable first quarter, shooting a brick among his 3 misses, and scoring zip. But Doc Rivers continued to call his number, and after a late-game timeout, Allen curled off a weak-side down-screen and bucketed what proved to be the game-winning jumper.

Besides Rondo, Tony Allen was the only Celtic who attacked the rim with aggression and consistent success — 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Early in the game, Tony Allen also played effective defense against Vince Carter. If only he could shoot, Allen could be a star-quality performer. However, only one of his makes came on a jumper, and his missed springers included a lead balloon and an air-ball.

There’s nothing overly impressive about Kendrick Perkins’ numbers — six points on 3-for-4 shooting, four rebounds, two assists and four blocks. But his man-to-man defense was instrumental in smothering Dwight Howard’s offense. And in addition to his multiple swats Perkins also had a forbidding presence in the lane, intimidating five more interior shots.

Rasheed Wallace’s quick hands likewise helped make a non-factor of Howard on offense. In fact, Howard’s only field goal came against Shelden Williams. Moreover, Wallace was on the receiving end of several of Rondo’s assist passes, with most of his five makes resulting from his activity in low screen-and-rolls. In all, Rasheed was 5-for-7 from the field with eight rebounds, two steals, one block and nary a tech!

Credit the solo defensive efforts by both Perkins and Wallace that allowed the Celtics’ other defenders to enjoy the luxury of staying in touch with Orlando’s deadly one-on-none perimeter shooters.

Garnett wasn’t much of a factor—10 points on 3-for-9, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Like Wallace, KG was fed most of his points on cookies provided by Rondo. But Garnett did make two of two from the stripe in crunch time.

Brian Scalabrine hit an important trey, and was routinely abused in iso situations by Carter. But Scalabrine kept the ball moving and ate up 16 minutes for his short-handed team.

Eddie House hit a jumper (1-for-3) and scampered around the court with minimal effect.

If their offense was severely limited and mostly off-key, Boston’s defense was A-OK. They managed to shut down the lane, ambush passing lanes, and also challenge Orlando’s 3-point shooters.

Overall, a gutsy win for the Celtics. One in which their air-tight defensive efforts overcame their faulty offense (and Orlando’s stingy defense). Most impressive, though, was Boston’s toughness, resourcefulness, poise, and resilience.

Everything added up to a convincing proof that Boston has the stuff to win the championship.

Here's why Orlando lost

Quite simply, Boston’s defense was much better than the Magic’s offense.

In his post-up touches versus Wallace and Perkins, Howard was 0-for-9. For sure, Howard cleaned the glass (20 rebounds) and aggressively protected the rim (four blocks and at least eight intimidations). But he was also sucked away from the action too often, especially on the low screen-and-rolls that became Boston’s go-to plays in the fourth quarter.

Rashard Lewis didn’t find the range until late in the game. Jameer Nelson couldn’t hit his shots, finishing 3-for-11. Mickael Pietrus wa a distinct non-factor, as was Jason Williams and J. J. Redick. Matt Barnes did energize the offense but shot only 2-for-8. And Ryan Anderson played well in spots — 2-for-3 from the field and two rebounds — but was untrustworthy on defense.

Because of Boston’s strangling defense, the Magic was only periodically able to breathe life into their half-court sets. The most telling stat of them all is Orlando’s registering a mere seven assists (as compared to Boston’s 19).

Without the ball zipping in-and-out and from side-to-side, Orlando had difficulty finding open looks. No surprise that they missed two-thirds of their field goal attempts.

Accordingly, the only semi-effective offense that the Magic could generate was isos for Vince Carter — 27 points on 10-for-20 shooting. Good for Carter, but not so good for the Magic.

Contrary to the Celtics, Orlando’s defense — as good as it was — wasn’t stout enough to carry their sputtering offense.

“Statement games” are generally manufactured by the media to hype relatively meaningless early-season contests. But the Celtics proved that even without their best player (Pierce), with their resident MVP and Defensive POY (Garnett) unable to move freely, with Glenn Davis making an ineffective return from his goofy injury and with Marquis Daniels also on the shelf, they still had enough going for them to hang a home loss on the Magic.

In other words, this particular game revealed that, at this stage in the season, Orlando is far from being a championship-caliber ball club.

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