Magic-Celtics: Dwight Howard Fends Off Boston to Take Game One

The shot clock wound down, and the Orlando Magic, having lost their momentum, were lost.

Small forward Rashard Lewis drove into a congested lane, desperate to ignite his floundering team.

He could not, but the rebound fell into the large hands of Dwight Howard—the Magic’s beast of a center—who took the contact from a helpless Brian Scalabrine and effortlessly made the layup.

Howard awoke his previously lackluster team just in time.

Guard and former Duke University star J.J. Reddick hit a three-pointer to start a run, then capped the 11-0 spurt near the start of the third quarter with another three-pointer. Orlando’s lead grew to 28 points, 65-37, silencing a shell-shocked Cetlics crowd.

Even though 20 minutes remained in the game, the margin appeared too great for Boston to overcome. It was not, to my dismay.

The Celtics ended the third period on a 25-7 outburst, anchored by point guard Rajon Rondo, who scored 10 points during their attempted comeback. Still, despite riling up the crowd, and outscoring the Magic by eighteen, they were behind by that same number entering the final quarter.

Safe to say, they would need a miracle and a monumental collapse by Orlando.

Boston got off to a tremendous start to the final quarter. Paul Pierce scored four points in a quick 8-3 run over the first two minutes, whittling the margin to ten. Suddenly, the Celtics were in contention, benefiting from this offense and the tenseness of the Magic, who went away from their strengths and committed a flurry of boneheaded turnovers.

Offense ran dry for a good portion of the fourth quarter, as the teams combined for seven points during a six-minute span.

Even after Howard’s aforementioned three-point play, Boston had life, and made the most of their opportunities. The deficit shrunk to four via three-pointers by Scalabrine and Pierce, two free-throws by Pierce, and a jump-shot by Glen Davis.

The Celtics' weakness cost them, even though a minute and half still remained to make a complete comeback. They have two stars, Pierce and Ray Allen, but to succeed, and pull out these types of games, they need their third.

Power forward Kevin Garnett sat on the bench in street-clothes, hampered by a knee injury that forced him to miss the opening series against the Chicago Bulls, and will keep him dressed in suits for the remainder of the postseason. Without him, Boston lacks size.

Davis, generously listed at six feet, nine inches, is their second-biggest impact player. The other, seven-foot brutish center Kendrick Perkins, is limited offensively. This has taken away the Celtics' inside-outside game that was profuse and dominant with Garnett in the lineup, and continued to doom them against the taller and more physical Magic.

Boston, because of their few options, tried to do too much, shooting three-pointers when they didn’t necessarily need to be taken. A two-point shot would cut the deficit in half and put the pressure back on Orlando, but this apparently was not an option for the home-team.

Rondo, frantically trying to find Allen curling around him at the beyond the three-point line at the top of the arc, instead found Mikael Pietrus, Orlando’s backup shooting guard. Rondo looked to have an open lane to the hoop, but instead forced a pass that shouldn’t have been made.  

Allen, with under a minute left, tried to hit a home-run when only a single was needed, rimming out an off-balance three-pointer. It was the aggressive move, but a better decision would have been for the quick two-pointer, and then force the Magic to make two free-throws amidst the raucous crowd.

Alas, this was not the same Celtics team that won the championship a year ago. No Garnett, no chance for Boston.

Howard exploited the size-differential all game long, grabbing 22 rebounds to compliment an efficient 16 points. The real story behind the win for Orlando was the play of Pietrus, who was taught by the offensive-minded Don Nelson in his five years with Golden State to shoot whenever an open opportunity presented itself. He lived by this philosophy in Game One, scoring a playoff career-high 17 points, taking 13 shots in 32 minutes.

The Magic not only boast a more consistent bench, but a better defense. Yes, the Celtics outscored them by 13 in the second half, but they were held to 38-percent shooting.

Orlando wasn’t much better, managing to make just 43 percent of their shots, but they received timely baskets, like that of Howard, to fend off Boston and take the first game of a series that will continue to be thoroughly enticing.