Brief Series: Balls Out Boston lets it all hang out to blow off limp Orlando’s bloomers 94-71 and go up 3-0, as they jockey for a flashy sweep before giving L.A. another crack
The Moon is setting on Orlando, and the end is near… No buts about it.
The Boston Celtics wiped the court with the Orlando Magic on Saturday night, 94-71, taking a Commanding 3-0 lead in their Best-of-7 Eastern Conference Final. The final 23-point margin was NOT misleading: Boston jumped all over the Magic right from the start, taking a double-digit lead before the first Beer commercial, and quickly pushing it to 24.
Orlando cut it to 17 (!) at the Half, but Boston built it back up to 32 before cruising home. The contest was such a “no contest” that the Celtics’ leading scorer wasn’t any of the Big 3, or even the new Big 4th, Rajon Rondo. Boston’s actual #1 scorer was reserve Forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis, with 17. That’s the same Big Baby that Jordan Farmar and UCLA knocked out of the ’06 Final Four when he played for LSU. Of course, Davis already got his revenge in ’08, when he was a Celtic Rookie, and they beat L.A. and Farmar in the Finals. But now, it’s looking like they might get a rubber match, if the Lakers can take care of Phoenix.
And if the Lakers DO take care of the Suns, they are in for the fight of their lives. With YOUNG Point Guard Rondo already playing as well as Utah’s Deron Williams — whom everyone was calling the NBA’s BEST Point Guard — the Celtics COULD have FOUR future Hall of Famers in their Starting Line-up. And that unparalleled group of 4 Starters has done something remarkable: They have made the NBA’s Top two seeds QUIT. First Cleveland and LeBron threw in the towel, and according to the ESPN Announcers, Orlando followed suit in Game 3. After losing the first two games IN Orlando, the Magic was basically facing a do-or-die situation on Saturday night, but they sure didn’t play like it. They got outhustled for loose balls, they made several mental mistakes in the first 5 minutes, they didn’t cover anyone (according to their Coach), and as the Boston crowd grew more intense, the Magic players looked more “beaten.”
The Celtics were able to rest all their stars, and completely empty their bench. Unfortunately for Boston’s ex-trojan Brian Scalabrine, who didn’t get in to the first two games, Coach Doc Rivers removed Scalabrine from the active roster for Game 3 and replaced him with Sheldon Williams, who logged almost 5 precious minutes of Conference Finals experience and glory. I don’t know if Scalabrine’s recent shoulder injury caused him to be demoted — I could not find a recent injury report on him. If that is the reason, then that sucks, and it isn’t funny. HOWEVER, if he was demoted BECAUSE he has sucked in practice recently, or didn’t work hard enough and Sheldon Williams just beat him out, then I think it’s hilarious, especially since it happened right before a game where he actually would have played… a lot. But he probably doesn’t care that much — They were still “garbage” minutes, and B.S. been around for a long time, and has played in some crucial postseason moments already. But if there is any comfort in the fear of Boston completely strangling the Lakers, it’s the distinct possibility that Scalabrine will play no part in it.
Here is one more photo of the Commando girl. If you want to be e-mailed a collection of photos from that “Convention” — NOT Hardcore Porn, but photos I can’t post on this site — please click on the “Donate/Contact Me” link, and do both. Include any specific requests in your e-mail.
