The reign as defending world champs came to a frustrating end tonight. In the end, the Magic simply had more weapons than the Celtics.
Orlando played superb defense in this series. Except for tonight, they (Courtney Lee and J.J. Redick) busted their ass and wouldn't let Ray Allen beat them. They doubled team Paul Pierce and dared the Celtics to find the open man. I'm still not sure why the Celtics had trouble doing that.
The Celtics defense began a painful decline once Kevin Garnett injured his knee. Their rotations were pitiful in this series. It's amazing the effect one man can have on a team.
While Mickael Pietrus buried big shot after big shot, the Celtics bench was non-existent.
This team just wasn't deep enough to overcome the injuries to KG and Leon Powe. I'll put the blame squarely on Danny Ainge. He never replaced James Posey and his answer to P.J. Brown was Mikki Moore. Tony Allen needs to leave town immediately.
Despite the injuries and tired legs, losing Game 7 by 19 points on your home court is an embarrassment. Up 5 to start the 4th, the Magic went on an 11-0 run to start the quarter and never looked backed.
Box Score | Recap
More game photos after the jump…
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