Keeping Up With The Magic/Celtics Game 3

Keeping up with the spirit of these playoffs here at WFNY, here is the game 3 recap of the Eastern Conference Semifinals between the No. 2 Boston Celtics and the No. 3 Orlando Magic. The winner will take on the Cavaliers/Hawks winner for the right to represent the East in the NBA Finals next month.

Game 3 was a must-win for the Orlando Magic as the series moved from the Garden to Amway Arena in Florida, and Dwight Howard and company took care of business. With their backs against the hall, and while facing all of the momentum in the world coming off an impressive game 2 victory by the Celtics, the Magic picked up a big-time victory with the final score of 117-96.

As I mentioned in my post-game from game 2, the Magic absolutely needed to win this series to keep even with the Celtics. According to some of my research, initial home teams such as Boston win the series 85.7% of the time when they win game 3 to take a 2-1 lead overall. With winning this pivotal third game, the Magic turn the tables as when the initial road team wins game three to take a 2-1 they win the series about 60.9% of the time.

The Magic were able to turn the sides on another series of blow-outs by setting a franchise playoff record for field-goal percentage at 59.1%. JJ Redick, Courtney Lee and Anthony Johnson were the unlikeliest of playoff contributors coming into the year, but the trio combined for 29 points on 9-16 shooting including 3-4 from downtown to help make up for the loss of injured Jameer Nelson and suspended Rafer Alston.

In game 2, the story of the night was the incredible distributing of point guard Rajon Rondo of the Celtics. He finished with 18 assists, as the Celtics as a team picked up 34 assists on a total of 41 field-goal makes. Here in game 3, the Celtics as a team were held to 24 assists, mostly because of the play of Rondo who had 6 assists, 5 rebounds and was tied with Kendrick Perkins for a team-worst +/- of -20 in 34 minutes of play.

Heading into game 4, it now becomes a must-win situation for the Celtics. Coming into this series, I never really gave Boston a chance at all, but after winning game 2 on their home court I came to the conclusion that if they could just even things up and return home tied at 2 they would probably still win the series. It all comes down to game 4 in Orlando on Sunday, as a loss would force the Celtics to win three in a row, including a game 6 in Orlando.

One thing that will dominate headlines over the next day will be the possible suspension of Kendrick Perkins, who elbowed Mickael Pietrus early in the fourth quarter. Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com reports that Perkins may be suspended for game 4, which would put the Celtics at an even bigger disadvantage against the now stronger and more physical Magic. The loss of Perkins would be the third big man gone from the Celtics Championship roster of 2008, and would mean that none of the current forwards saw significant time in the playoffs last season. Glen Davis, Brian Scalabrine, and Mikki Moore will all see a lot of time in game 4 if Perkins is unable to go.

This series has taken a complete 180 degree turnaround since the completion of game 2. While the Celtics came to Orlando looking to build on their momentum and break this series open with some road wins, they will now be looking to fight for their playoffs lives in game 4. Without Kendrick Perkins they will be short-handed, on the road, and without momentum now as they look to find the magic in the attempts to repeat as NBA Finals Champions.