Best Sixth Man in the Game? Best Sixth Man in the Game

At what point does Stan Van Gundy tell Vince Carter to take a night off? He is like sand on the skates of the Orlando Magic offense. Hasn't looked comfortable all season but for a few game streaks here and there and has been pretty awful during the playoffs. His bad play was masked by the weak first and second round opponents however it has certainly been exposed in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Now, as the Magic continue to push the Celtics into the record books (first NBA team to blow a 3-0 series lead, in fact this is the first C's team to need a game 6 after going up 3-0 so they are already in the record book for that) the Magic continue to rely on Vince's backup, former Duke stud, JJ Redick. Not only is he playing better than Carter, he might be playing better than anybody on his team outside Dwight Howard and, in games 4 and 5, Jameer Nelson.

Redick's solid play is being rewarded with 25-30 minutes per game and constant stream of compliments from Marc Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. Many will see the box score and say so what, the guy is averaging 10 points a game, a handful of rebounds and he's turning it over 3 or 4 times. To them I say you are missing the point. Check out JJ's plus/minus. It's OVER 20. Until game 5, he was the only Magic player with a +/- in positive territory. The minute he touched the floor last night the Magic surged to an 8 point lead, eventually pushing it to 11 or 12. The C's make a run to start the 2nd half, guess who's not on the floor? That's right, #7.

This isn't just a solid contribution from a guy told he would never get regular minutes in the NBA. A guy who couldn't play D, was too soft to play the wing, too slow to guard the 2. A guy who couldn't create his own shot, couldn't drive the lane. No this is a career defining performance reframing the way any intelligent fan thinks of JJ Redick from now through the rest of his career.

I would like to say it's something new but it's not. We saw this last year when JJ's limited minutes kept Kobe in check during the Finals. I would even go so far as to say the only thing he was given credit for, his ability to knock down a 3 from anywhere on the court, has actually regressed some since his glory days as a Blue Devil. Instead, it is his defense, ball movement and pass first team work that makes up the bulk of his game today. Ask Ray Allen how fun it has been when JJ's been on him.

So when the Magic come back and send the C's into an imfamy shared with the Bruins and Yankees, Orlando fans can thank their lucky stars on the continued maturation, professionalism and flight to stardom of one JJ Redick.

Also, Dwight Howard being able to swing his elbows with reckless abandon helps too.