The Boston Celtics came back from 27 points Thursday night to beat the Orlando Magic 91-83. This is the third straight win for the Celtics without Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo. This is also the second straight win against Orlando, as the Celts opened up a can of whoop-ass on Monday when they beat the Magic 87-56.
The Celtics started off the week at Washington to face the lowly Wizards. They ended up winning this game by six but lost Ray Allen in the process. Allen sprained his ankle and sat out Monday and Thursday's games against Orlando.
On Monday the Celtics took on the Magic, who have one of the best records in the East. They started Avery Bradley and Sasha Pavlovic and still won by 31. The C's played great defense on Dwight Howard and closed out on the shooters. It also helped that Orlando couldn't hit water if they fell off a boat. The big thing that I took out of this game was the play of point guard Avery Bradley. He's had a tough start to the season mainly because he's been chucking from all over the court and he's not a shooter. This was the first game that I saw him play the position of point guard and not worry about his own shot. He pressured Jameer Nelson all game too. In my mind, he's one of the best on ball defenders in the NBA. If he can continue to play like this, then the Celtics bench will be much better off.
Last night's game was the most inspired I have seen the Celtics play all season. The Magic were rolling right through them and got the lead up to 27 points in the second quarter. The Celtics kept chipping away and got it down to 9 by the start of the 4th quarter. With clutch shooting from rookie E'Twaun Moore (4-4 from 3, 14 points) and the offensive wizardry of captain Paul Pierce, the Celtics pulled off the huge upset and ended up winning the game 91-83.
This brings the Celtics record to 8-9 and leaves them sitting in 8th place in the East. This also gave the C's two respectable wins so far in this young season. Friday night they play the Indiana Pacers, who they've already lost to twice. The Celtics historically have been terrible on the second night of back-to-back's but with these two wins against the Magic I think they're going to be fine. The Celtics should be seeing the positive side of the .500 mark very shortly, and I hope to continue to be the bearer of good news every Friday when I write a weekly update.
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