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Boston Celtics

Celtics Knock Out Magic in Rematch 103-91

December 24, 2007 at 12:30 am by Thomas Halzack

How about the Big Four?

Rajon Rondo tied his career high with 23 points including 2 three pointers tonight, to give the Celtics four 20 point scorers in the same game. He shot 8-10, including 2 of 2 from a part of the floor he has rarely shot from this year, the 3 point line. He added 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals in 38 minutes. Though he still has many things to work on, his improvement is rapid and eye opening. Consistency is the main goal now.

In the last game, Jameer Nelson got his way in the first half as Orlando built a nice lead, before holding off a strong Celtic run to hand Boston it’s very first loss. Tonight, Nelson played 21 minutes, scored 4 points and had 4 assists.

Rajon keeps punishing teams when they leave him open.

Ray Allen continues to hit big ‘run stopping’ baskets, as he hit 3 pointers twice when Orlando got the lead under 10 points in the fourth quarter.

The Celtics took this game very seriously as the starters all played heavy minutes, even Perkins (with 36 min.)

The Celtics shot .521 for the game and .421 from downtown. 4 of the 5 bench players showed negatives on the plus/minus stat. Only Davis was plus, ever so slightly, in short minutes. The starters were drastically on the plus side of the plus/minus statistic.

Paul Pierce led the scoring for the Cs with 24, and tied with Rondo with 6 assists. Kevin Garnett added 21 to go with 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks.

The Celtics went up by 20 in the 3rd quarter, before Orlando made its runs in the 4th.

So the Celtics get even with a foe they may possibly meet again in the play-offs. Orlando started very strong and is slumping now.

The Celtics are now 22-3 and face a 4 game road trip, starting the day after Christmas, against the Sacramento Kings. They play Seattle, Utah and the Lakers after that. Then they return home to face Houston.

The Celtics won only 24 games all of last season. They could come home and end 2007 with at least that many. What a difference a year and 2 stars make.

Thomas Halzack

Celtic fan since the latter years of Bill Russell’s unprecedented run. Played (not very well) lots of ‘school lot’ ball growing up on the mean streets of Stratford. Okay, so Stratford doesn’t have mean streets. Loved the game then. Still do. With a Stevie Wonder jump shot, I prided myself on defense. And pretty good passing. Though witnesses have yet to come forward to corroborate those statements. B-ball is the most interesting game in the world, requiring the widest variety of mental and physical skills of any major team sport ever created. The games within the game multiply its attraction. Birth of a Blogger About six years ago, I discovered internet message boards for Celtic fans. Four years ago, in cooperation with the Connecticut Post, we created CelticsCentral. The timing was fortuitous. As a writer with press credentials, I observed up front the Celtics amazing run to their 17th championship banner. I now write for Celticsblog.com, as well, one of the top sites for Celtic basketball information. I have written for CelticsStuffLive at Wicked Good Sports, Comcast Sports Net –New England. My writing has also appeared on Bleacherreport.com and Foxsports.com (Court Awareness) Agree or disagree, but feel free to join me in the conversation.

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Posted in General | 2 Comments

2 Comments »

T, my prediction is 3 of 4 out west – sacramento, seattle. then utah or la. Maybe with a little extra energy, luck, karma, 4 of 4. What you think?

R

Comment by R — December 24th, 2007 @ 4:11 pm
R-

3 of 4 sounds good. The Celtics have proven to be a good road team. 4 of 4 is very possible with this crew and the fact that these are not the Western Cenference powerhouse teams. Utah may become one, but they have issues right now.

A Celtics sweep would not surprise me.

Happy Holiday to all!

Tom

Comment by Tom Halzack — December 24th, 2007 @ 8:35 pm