The Magic jumped out to a big lead early and held on late to beat the Celtics in game one. Both teams are fighting injuries with Courtney Lee and Kevin Garnett down and this set up opportunities for some others to step up. The Celtics had no one to step up in Garnett’s absence against the Magic and they exploited that enough to win game one. From what I saw though there are some huge holes out there that the Magic can take advantage of and really take hold of this series.
We really shouldn’t expect Rafer Alston to do what he did to Rajon Rondo last night in every game, but he needs some props for what he did. Rondo still had 14 points and 8 dimes, but Alston helped force Rondo into seven turnovers last night and that was great. Alston was all over Rondo and this could be a short series if he keeps that up.
Mickael Pietrus stepped up off the bench with 17 crucial points and played with the toughness and intensity that this team needs. Let’s not forget that Pietrus was a starter earlier on the season until an injury allowed Lee to take over, so this shouldn’t be a surprise.
My last thought on things is this. The Celtics have no answer for Rashard Lewis with Garnett out and that should lead to Lewis having some big games in this series. If Boston keeps matching Davis up with Lewis, he will go off. Lewis is too quick and athletic for Davis to handle and that should lead to more opportunities for both Lewis and Turk.
It is troubling that the Magic let another big lead dwindle down to five, but it was in Boston and it’s not anything to freak out about yet, but we’ll see.
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