They’re not going to frame this one and hang it in a museum, but the Celtics will take what ended up being a blowout win over the Magic. Six different Celtics scored in double figures, led by Jeff Green. Paul Pierce nearly got a triple double. KG dropped a double-double. And the Celtics overcame a 3rd quarter lull that saw the lead cut to 3 to win this one 97-84.
The Green:
Three of the double-digit scorers came off the bench. The second unit really did a great job in this game. The Celtics started each half cold, but the second unit came in with energy to beat a depleted Magic team.
Paul Pierce’s 11 rebounds gave him 3-straight double-digit rebounding games. He hadn’t done that since 2005.
The Celtics 30 assists tonight is their second highest assist total of the season.
Fab Melo made his NBA debut. He was credited for a steal.
The Gross:
The Celtics let Kyle O’Quinn score 11 fourth quarter points as they relaxed with a 20 point lead.
They weren’t very good from 3, only shooting 4-18 (22%). They were also bad from the line (9-14, 64.3%).
The Greenlights:
Jeff Green goes boom
[youtube id=”D4xAGKi5u58″ width=”620″ height=”360″]Avery Bradley with the long pass to Jeff Green… strong finish
[youtube id=”ECdrHdIm2Nw” width=”620″ height=”360″]Jeff Green dunked a lot tonight
[youtube id=”qxeFssYnVxs” width=”620″ height=”360″]Courtney Lee finds Chris Wilcox for the dunk
[youtube id=”-wjZCGkRkfw” width=”620″ height=”360″]The Grid:
- The Celtics bench outscored Orlando’s 43-31, and it wasn’t really that close as E’Twaun Moore and O’Quinn scored 17 of those point when the game was essentially over.
- Everyone except Fab and Jason Collins scored. Everyone except Fab got a rebound. Everyone except Fab got an assist.
- 56 of the Celtics the Celtics 97 points came in the paint.
- Paul Pierce played 28:46. Kevin Garnett played 22:42. In fact, besides Courtney Lee (38:58), no one played more than 30 minutes.
Three wins in a row for the Celtics. Granted, two of them came against very bad teams, but we’ll take it. Next up, though… the Clippers on Sunday. I know they got crushed tonight in Toronto, but let’s see how this new “try to be uptempo” style the Celtics have to play works against a team that is all to happy to partake in that kind of game.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!