EC Playoffs Round 3, (2) Orlando vs. (4) Boston

[PurpleHaze]

Did anyone notice (and I can't believe TV commentators ignored it) how Dwight Howard was joking, laughing, clowning, in the final two minutes of the game last night? It was at least a couple times during dead balls, at FT line and heading into time-outs. Either it was nervous giddiness, dude had already given up, or he's just a weak minded would-be closer. In total contrast was Kevin Garnett who ALWAYS has that very serious game face on and was as intense as ever down the stretch with several big hoops, boards, etc. Dwight Howard needs to PROVE he's really Superman down the stretch in this EC final or it could be over really quick for bumbling Orlando.

 

[Gargamel]

Did anyone notice (and I can't believe TV commentators ignored it) how Dwight Howard was joking, laughing, clowning, in the final two minutes of the game last night? It was at least a couple times during dead balls, at FT line and heading into time-outs. Either it was nervous giddiness, dude had already given up, or he's just a weak minded would-be closer. In total contrast was Kevin Garnett who ALWAYS has that very serious game face on and was as intense as ever down the stretch with several big hoops, boards, etc. Dwight Howard needs to PROVE he's really Superman down the stretch in this EC final or it could be over really quick for bumbling Orlando.

I thought he had given that stuff up this year. Funny how coincidental the league can be, how after Shaq left, Orlando got another 1st overall pick to replace him with another "big kid" who sucks at the line and is criticized for not being serious, for not having a diverse bag of offensive moves, for not being a crunch time player, and soon...for not being able to win the big one. And he cops the Superman gimmick too, no less. Hopefully one day he signs with LA as a free agent, eh?

Then you have Utah continuing the same template set by Stockton and Malone, albeit with a soft poor man's Cummings as Malone.

 

[Sparky6string]

Boston looks to do to Orlando what Orlando did to their previous two opponents. That's quite a team- I'm impressed. Kinda reminds me of the 1995 Rockets going into the playoffs as the 6th seed.

 

[Sparky6string]

 

[hoopsfan]

^^^ Funny how his headband goes flying!

 

[mac]

Is it just me or has Nelson been terrible? He never finds a single open guy, he plays down to Boston's pace... for an allstar PG he sure makes hell a lot of dumb decisions

 

[Aenadin]

Is it just me or has Nelson been terrible? He never finds a single open guy, he plays down to Boston's pace... for an allstar PG he sure makes hell a lot of dumb decisions

no its not just you.... but is it just me or is nelson overrated? what I saw after the three games was that howard needs to learn more advanced post moves and call me crazy, a dependable mid range game..... the C's were defending him GOOD.....

question

would the C's hold up well against the lakers? well defense wins championships and they have really good D....

if the lakes and the celts meet again its going to be a good match

by some miracle the suns make it... they will go home early.. no way can they score on that d

 

[Big Cuz 15]

magic getting PWNED in this series. who is the guy who will carry the team when everybody sucks? i thought dwight was unstoppable in the paint..

 

[est.1999]

Question: and I'm too lazy to do research

Has a team ever been swept while having home court advantage in that series?

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

 

[pdxKingsFan]

An even better question would be how many times did Shaq's teams get swept while holding home court advantage?

I seem to remember that prior to winning it all his teams liked to get swept quite a bit.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Shaq was swept out of the playoffs five out of six years before winning his first championship (and once afterwards). Two out of those seven seasons, his team had home court against the team that swept them.

 

[est.1999]

Haha thanks.

 

[Dunkster]

Orlando wins game 4?

That is what I call heart... Odds against you, and you keep fighting. I hope our kings take note...

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Here we go again Boston fans... (for those that don't follow hockey the Bruins lead the Flyers 3-0 in their series and lost game 4 in OT en route to an epic collapse a mere 2 weeks ago).

 

[Double-K]

I'm not happy at all. Not because I take sides of either the Magic or the Celtics, but because I want to see a dominant side from the East to take the Fakers down!

 

[sterö]

how could Pierce win the 3pt shootout??

 

[PurpleHaze]

how could Pierce win the 3pt shootout??

Maybe becaues nobody was guarding him

 

[PurpleHaze]

I'm not happy at all. Not because I take sides of either the Magic or the Celtics, but because I want to see a dominant side from the East to take the Fakers down!

Maybe you don't have to wait for that to happen Phoenix Suns tie 'em up 2-2 and back to LA for critical game 5...

 

[juicij36]

So, that's why there was no timeout @ the end of regulation. You want me @ the game WED to close it out on the road! Now I understand Doc.

 

[est.1999]

Ok now that date on the picture is just creepy

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Maybe he can tell us who we drafted?

 

[juicij36]

^^^
LOLLOLLOL
LOLLOL
LOL

C-Webb claimed on Gametime (NBATV) last night that if BOS loses game 5. Yes, tonights game, ORL will win the series.

 

[matthew76]

ouch..... big baby down

 

[Variant]

Well, if no Big Baby (due to concussion) and no Perkins (due to suspension), this could very well go seven and Orlando could very well pull off a the 0-3 comeback.

They'd get whooped again in the Finals by the Lakers though.

 

[SacKings7]

Anybody know how many teams have come back from 0-3 to force a game 7? I doubt it's very many, but this is extremely possible in this series. Magic have ALL the momentum right now, and if they beat (possibly) a shorthanded Celtics team on the road then they get to come back home for game 7.

Goooooooo Magic!!

 

[rhythmless]

One of the worst officiated games to come out of the NBA in recent history.

In 5 years, Bill Simmons will still be referencing this game. Guaranteed.

It's really sad for Orlando too, because I think they could have won without the horrible calls.

Pierce should have gotten a flagrant as well on Redick. Just absolutely horrible. Oh look... a Joey Crawford crew... who woulda thought?

 

[mac]

Pierce is not helping me like him any bit more. He's just such a punk.

*end rant*

What do you guys think of Redick's play? I ask this here since I presume anyone posting in this thread would have watched the games... I believe he'd be a good fit for us, and is far from one dimensional.

 

[Superman]

Pierce is not helping me like him any bit more. He's just such a punk.

*end rant*

What do you guys think of Redick's play? I ask this here since I presume anyone posting in this thread would have watched the games... I believe he'd be a good fit for us, and is far from one dimensional.

I like him, and if we had a big man who was demanding attention in the post, he'd get a lot of open looks, but he'd be redundant on our team as it's currently comprised.

 

[Superman]

One of the worst officiated games to come out of the NBA in recent history.

In 5 years, Bill Simmons will still be referencing this game. Guaranteed.

It's really sad for Orlando too, because I think they could have won without the horrible calls.

Pierce should have gotten a flagrant as well on Redick. Just absolutely horrible. Oh look... a Joey Crawford crew... who woulda thought?

They got beat by 20 points. How big of a factor could the refs have been? I didn't see the whole game, so I'm not sure, but if you get beat by 20, I think you have a lot to look at other than the officiating.

I will add, though, that this would be an ideal game for the NBA to "affect", because it adds some interest to what had been a pretty dull series, and Boston has a chance to win Game 6 on their own floor, although Orlando is 5-1 on the road in the playoffs.