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.

Boston at Orlando, Game 5

The Celts missed out on their chance to close it out in a sweep, with a tough OT loss on Monday night. They were probably all just concerned with the series finale of 24, like I was. What's gonna happen to the world now that the Ruskis most likely tracked down Jack Bauer and killed him?! Yikes!

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. This series is all but over. I have no fears about believing that Boston will close this one out in 5. I don't think that I am jinxing them or anything like that. I'm just confident. To me, they've been the best team in these playoffs. Rondo had a very lackluster performance in game 4, and like Doc said afterward, everyone was kind of trying to win it by themselves. They need to get back to that team play that looks so unbeatable when they're on.

Here's how I see it playing out:

I think Dwight Howard will probably have a great game, but the problem with your center having a great game is that it doesn't really help anyone else play better - not offensively anyway. He might open up shots on the perimeter, but I think the C's are actually content letting him have his 25-30 points and sticking with the shooters on the outside. Unlike most teams, Boston has 4 big guys to throw at him, and basically go 1-on-1 with Howard. (Also 24 fouls!) He was huge in game 3 and that game wasn't even close!
Rashard Lewis is nowhere to be found, and Nelson quite simply can't hang with Rondo when he plays like he has been (minus game 4).

Ron Jeremy, I mean Stan Van Gundy, is the most annoying coach in the NBA. Maybe some people enjoy his rhetoric and sense of humor, and look at me post-game interviews, but I find them nauseating. And I think he and his staff have been pretty well shown up so far in this series by Doc and company. That should continue and then we should get some real stupid sound bites after the game (and series). Like Shaq once said, the guy folds when pressure is the highest. You ever watch him during time-outs. He's all screaming and yelling, and what are his players doing? Watching dancers and t-shirt throwers, etc. I know most NBA timeouts are useless other than rest, but this guy really seems to accomplish nothing.

The lockdown D will show up again, containing the Orlando guards and forwards, producing TO's and easy buckets. Look for lots of fast-breaks ended by pull-up treys from Ray Ray and Pierce spotting up in the corners.

Prediction
Celts 93 - Magic 81

Celtics win series 4-1

Tommy Award - Paul Pierce

The Importance Of Game 2 For The Celtics

In the back of your mind, you have to wonder if the Celtics are going to revert back to the team that went 27-27 during the last 54 games of the regular season or will continue showing the impressive determination that they've displayed since the opening tip of round 1.

I think we'll get our answer tonight. If the Celtics come out firing on both sides of the ball again and go up 2-0, we'll obviously know this team has truly reached back to 2008 and is a legitimate threat to the Lakers in the Finals. If they drop a stink-bomb a la game 3 of the Cavs series, it's by no means the end of the world and they will still have home court for the rest of the series. However, it would show us that they're still lacking that consistent killer instinct.

Beyond the impact of tonight's game, I think this will be close.

The key offensive player for the Magic will play better. No, not Dwight Howard or Vince Carter. Rashard Lewis is the one who sparks this team and he will start hitting shots tonight. On the other side of the ball, Ray Allen probably won't be dropping 25 again tonight.


Even if those two aspects of game 1 even out, if this game is close, it won't matter. The Celtics have two things the Magic don't have:

1. A go-to guy in the waning minutes of a game, Paul Pierce. And don't even try to tell me Vince Carter is that guy. Since he's been in the league, he's proven time after time that's he's not.

2. The ability to lock-down defense around the arc. The Magic won't be getting any open 3's to decide a game like the Celtics gave them last year. A healthy KG and Rasheed Wallace make that difference because it lets the other Celtic players run out to those Magic shooters.

I don't see why people think that Dwight Howard will play all that much better in game 2. Is he going to learn some post moves in the span of two days? Or how to shoot a 5-foot jumper? I'm going to go out on a limb and say no.

Based on the past 4 games, I see no reason to predict a Celtic loss. This will come down to free throws again and the Celtics on top 95-90.