This Could Be It…..No Really: Game 4 Preview

Posted by Brian Robb on May 10, 2009 21332 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2009%2F05%2F10%2Fthis-could-be-itno-really-game-4-preview%2FThis+Could+Be+It.....No+Really%3A+Game+4+Preview2009-05-10+18%3A10%3A08Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D2133

When you lose the first game along with home court advantage in a seven game series, a lot of “must win” talk will follow your squad around. Game 2? Gotta have it to avoid 2-0 hole. Game 3? Need to take it to regain home court advantage. The Celtics went one of two in those attempts and will now arrive at Amway Arena tonight down 2-1 series, a desperate team.

You may be as tired and skeptical of the must win talk as I am but the harsh reality and numbers awaiting the Celtics if they fail to pick up the W tonight make it crucial that they come out on top tonight. Only 8 teams have made the vaunted comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA playoffs.

Now, by no means would I count this Celtic team down for the count if they fell tonight. God knows they have proven to be one of the most resilient teams Boston fans can remember watching. However, this resiliency has also been matched by inconsistency and I wouldn’t hold my breath when watching this depleted squad try to put together three straight complete games against Orlando.

So now that we have all the doom and gloom out of the way, let’s shift our focus back to tonight and figure out what the Celtics need to do to turn it around from an atrocious Game 3 performance and pick up a W. Some things to look out for after the jump.

Ray Allen: To put it simply, this team is not good enough right now to overcome an extended shooting slump by Jesus Shuttlesworth. Ray is shooting under 25 percent (9/40) from the field so far this series including 3/19 from downtown. For as good as he was against the Bulls, he’s been that bad against the Magic. I still have full confidence that Allen can and will snap out of the funk, but he needs to be a positive factor for this team tonight. It won’t be easy with Courtney Lee as a likely candidate to mark him for the majority of the evening.

In game 2, Ray’s jumper was hot and cold from the outside as the game progressed, by Allen still managed to be effective with some dribble penetration that enabled number 20 to get some easier looks. I would hope for more of the same tonight from Allen if his shot looks off right away in order to get some kind of rhythm going. Like Paul, we’ve seen many times this year it only takes one shot to get Ray going so here’s hoping that sequence comes sooner than later in the game tonight.

Defense: The Celtics haven’t played much of it well during these playoffs but their worst display came Wednesday Night. They may have given up more points in games against the Bulls, but those came either in overtime contests or clutch contested shots from Ben Gordon and company. There was neither of those in game 3 as the Magic had countless open looks from inside the paint and on the perimeter.

I don’t care if the Orlando shooters were hot, a 59% shooting percentage means lazy disorganized defense by your opponents. Tonight the C’s must get out there and contest the 3′s as most as possible in addition to rotating more efficiently when needed. This team will set the tone tonight based on how they look while defending their basket.

Sense of Urgency: The Celtics have shown a disturbing trend of sloppy and uninspired play out of the gate in these first 2 rounds, much like they did during the regular season. They were lucky to be able to get away with it against a young and ultimately inferior team in the Chicago Bulls. Orlando is a much different animal than the Bulls and will continuously punish you if you give them an opportunity and in turn spot them a lead.

The Celtics do not have the talent or firepower as seen in games 1 and 3 to recover from large deficits like this, even more so in a hostile road environment. They must come hungry tonight and avoid the hole they have been digging themselves all playoffs long to give themselves a legitimate chance of winning this series.