The Boston Celtics have put themselves in a hole again by losing the first game in their Eastern Conference semifinal to the Orlando Magic last night 95-90. No reason to panic as head coach Doc Rivers sounded optimistic that the Celtics could come back after as he said "we could not have played any worse." At this time of year it’s win or lose and anything else doesn’t matter so while Boston can take some solace in a come back that just fell short, the bottom line is still 1-0 Orlando.
Boston is going down a familiar road as they lost homecourt right away in the matchup against Chicago and eventually wrestled it back to win the series with Game Seven at home. But this is different, there is no Kevin Garnett and the Celtics did not beat the Magic in the regular season without KG. The Magic have been a good road team in the Stan Van Gundy era and own a combined 6-3 record against NBA heavyweights Cleveland Cavaliers (2-1), Los Angeles Lakers (2-0) and Boston Celtics (2-2).
The familiarity with the Chicago series was also evident in the play of Ray Allen in Game One. Allen went 2 for 12 from the floor against the Magic after starting the Chicago series 1 for 12. Boston did however get solid play from Stephon Marbury which is something that may benefit the Celtics later in the series.
The Magic received a good effort from J.J. Redick but the key in the game and possibly the series was the play of Mickael Pietrus. Van Gundy has always maintained that Pietrus makes the Magic more athletic and provides him with another player he can put on the floor who can score and create his own shot while not being a defensive liability. Hey I know that Mark Warkentein of Denver was named executive of the year with Danny Ferry from Cleveland finishing second. Third-place finisher Otis Smith has also done a nice job in Orlando as evidenced, in these eyes by the signing of Pietrus and the Magic’s record over the last couple of seasons. Orlando may get some more help on the perimeter as it has been reported that Courtney Lee may be back for Game 3.
The other series that started out west last night saw the Rockets grab a one-game lead on the Los Angeles Lakers as Houston did what they did to the young Trailblazers in Portland by winning Game 1 on the road. Yao Ming showed some toughness late in the game after banging knees with Kobe Bryant. After a short walk down the tunnel and deciding to play through way through whatever pain there might be, Yao and the Rockets pulled away in the fourth quarter.
There was much talk about the Lakers being different this year with Andrew Bynum being back in the line up for the playoffs but to this point, Bynum has been disappointing. I’ll give him the fact that Utah did not have a true centre and it wasn’t the best match up for him, but he needs to play better and be more productive in the series against the Rockets. Many people projected Bynum as a difference maker this year for the Lakers in the playoffs, well, he is not making much of a difference right now. Let’s not forget, this is his first postseason and he is not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he is only working with him.
Kobe Bryant had 32 points but the Rockets forced him to take 31 shots to score all his points and Houston, with two premier perimeter defenders in Shane Battier and Ron Artest, kept Bryant out of the paint forcing him to score on jumpers when he didn’t get to the free throw line.
As for the Lakers, they are maintaining they are OK and it’s only one game. Yes that is true but the Rockets are gaining confidence and while the Lakers swept them in the regular season, it means absolutely nothing right now. It was the fourth quarter that had proved to be Houston’s undoing in the regular season as the Lakers outscored them by an average of 12 points in the final frame. In game one, it was the Rockets winning the final frame and after surrendering the lead at 77-76, they finished on a 24-15 run.
Early in his career, many reporters surmised that Yao Ming knew had a better grasp and could make better use of the English language than he cared to share with them. At one point during a news conference he was asked how his use of English was coming along and he said something to the effect of "just fine, last question please". Well, he was at it again last night when asked about being an underdog and he responded in a humours fashion. Apparently, Yao knows and understands the NBA’s marketing slogan as well.
What everyone expected to happen came to fruition yesterday as LeBron James was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. King James had a terrific year but it’s not like he hasn’t had good seasons in the past. The difference this time is that his team won games. How many seasons did Kobe Bryant, and LeBron for that matter, have where they carried their respective teams but finished the regular season in the middle of the standings? The lesson is, until your team wins, MVP awards are not forthcoming and James displayed his own sense of humour stealing a line from the movie Friday. He acknowledged that he could not have won the award without his teammates but at the same time said "This is our award, but I’m going to keep it at my house."