nba playoffs 2009: day 17
After a very long seven games against the Chicago Bulls, the Boston Celtics get little rest and battle the Orlando Magic in the conference finals. The long first round could have taken its toll on the Celtics as they clearly struggled and looked slow in the first three quarters that led to the loss against the Magic, 95-90.
Dwight Howard also had a slow start after serving a one game suspension the previous game but still finished with 16 points and 22 rebounds. The Magic had a balanced scoring day as they had contributions from Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis and Mikael Pietrus who had 15, 18 and 17 respectively.
The Magic led by as much as 28 points but the resilient Celtics found energy late in the third quarter and just kept on coming back with a lot of scrappy plays that led to easy baskets.
“The last 16 minutes was a debacle,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “We were sort of trying to run out the clock, and you can’t do that in games like this. Especially in the playoffs, teams are going to keep fighting and keep coming back.
(2) Orlando Magic VS (3) Boston Celtics
Orlando leads series 1-0
In the playoffs, you need courage and you need heart to have that extra lift to help your team. And Yao Ming had that with him. He and Kobe Bryant bumped knees in the fourth quarter and Yao looked like the injury was serious. He was then taken out and came back at once after shaking it off and help his team steal home court advantage from the Lakers with a 100-92 victory.
“He didn’t even make it to the training room,” Artest said. “Time was of essence. Every second, it was killing him not to be on the bench or on the floor. He came right out. I was so proud of him. He showed so much courage and knew that we needed him.”
Artest was a big factor in this game with his in-your-face defense on Kobe Bryant. He did score 32 points but shot 14-31 from the field.
(1) Los Angeles Lakers VS (5) Houston Rockets
Houston leads series 1-0
Related posts:
- nba playoffs 2009: day 19 Paul Pierce only scored three points in this game...
- nba playoffs 2009: day 21 Heading into game three without Jameer Nelson or Rafer...
- nba playoffs 2009: day 25 The Orlando Magic were beaten by Glen “Big Baby”...
- nba playoffs 2009: day 13 The Boston Celtics-Chicago Bulls series has been one of...
- nba playoffs 2009: day 11 Another series is over as the Dallas Mavericks finished...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
