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8 hours ago

Highlight: Rondo Leads The Break

I love this decision-making from Rajon Rondo. While leading the break, you can see him eyeballing Ray Allen, who runs the wing and spots up on the arc. The Sixers have a 1-2 disadvantage but are mostly concerned about Allen’s three balls, which allows Mickael Pietrus to make an unmolested baseline cut behind the defense. [...]

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22 hours ago

Celtics-Sixers Game 5 Tips off at 7pm

A note to all you local C’s fans out there that may be attending the game tonight at TD Garden. The game will start just after 7pm and will be broadcast nationally on TNT. However, unlike most TNT regular season games during the season, the tip will not come 15-20 minutes after the scheduled start [...]

4
9 days ago

(Video) Rajon Rondo Continues To Dominate In Postgame Interview

Rajon Rondo is a tremendous player, but he tends to have a little bit of an issue scoring the ball late in games. I won’t go as far as saying he is scared, but he does pass up shots and defer to teammates in crunch-time….well a lot. Last night though may have been his coming [...]

3
9 days ago

Video: Full Kevin Garnett Reaction After Game 1

Garnett followed up his season-best effort against Atlanta in Game 6 with a new season-high in points and another sensational double-double, as well 60 percent shooting (12-of-20) from the field. Over his past two contests, Garnett is averaging 28.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, two steals and four blocks a game. After the game, KG was candid [...]

3
9 days ago

The Enemies List: Philadelphia, Part II

Before every playoff series this season, we’re doing some rundowns on the opposing roster for each team. Now that the Hawks have been dispensed with, we’re onto the Sixers. Here’s Part II. Players are listed in alphabetical order. Andre Iguodala: There are five guys in the league who have a claim on the title of [...]

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10 days ago

NBA: Hawks Should Have Had Free Throw on Last-Second Foul

Mike Fratello had it right: the NBA announced today that Al Horford should have been given a free throw on Marquis Daniels’s off-ball foul at the end of Thursday’s game. At the time, ref Eric Lewis ruled that Daniels’s foul had occurred after the throw-in, making him probably the only person in the arena who [...]

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Let’s get it on! Celtics @ Magic Preview

Boston at Orlando
8pm ESPN

Celtics: 54-18 (25-12 on the road); Off. Efficiency 110.5 (5th); Def. Efficiency 101.5 (1st)

Magic: 52-18 (27-7 at home); Off. Efficiency 110.0 (7th); Def. Efficiency 102.1(2nd)

Quick Notes On Tonight’s Showdown

  • KG will stick to his comeback routine by going 8 minutes in both the 1st and 3rd quarters, so we will once again be seeing a lot of Big Baby tonight. He had a very nice performance during the last time he made the trip to Orlando (16 points in 21 minutes) so I’m sure Doc is hoping he can contribute something similar again this evening.
  • Celtics lead the season series 2-1, so a win tonight for the C’s would give them an extra game in the standings as well as the tiebreaker, if the teams have matching records at the end of the regular season. Thus if the Celtics can pull out the victory tonight, it would go a long way for giving them some breathing room in the battle for the 2 seed during the final 10 games.
  • Despite the tiebreaker implications, this game will likely mean more to the Magic than to the Celtics. Orlando is still a team on a mission to gain respect in the Eastern Conference. Need proof? Here’s what Stan Van Gundy had to say when talking to the Orlando Sentinel earlier this afternoon.

“All I hear is that we’re soft and everything else or that we just win games by jacking up 3’s. Very few people have realized that we’ve won games at the defensive end of the floor. I think Dwight has been consistent defensively, I think Rashard has improved dramatically defensively and we have better options to go big.”

Talk like that makes tonight feel like a statement game for this Orlando team, so look them to bring the intensity from the opening tip against the Celts. Should be a good one to watch. For a more in-depth look at the improvement of this year’s Orlando team take a look at this expanded analysis from earlier today.

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