POST GAME ORLANDO

HOW DOES ATLANTIC DIVISION CHAMPION SOUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Balanced attack lead the Celtics to an important win against Orlando. PIERCE - 29PTS/BRADLEY - 23PTS/BASS - 21PTS. GOTTA LOVE IT!

Important Games - Philly over Cleveland/Atlanta over Detroit/NYK over NJN

KG wins second Auerbach Award

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com


BOSTON -- Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett became the first two-time recipient of the team's Red Auerbach Award when he was presented with the honor for the 2012 season before Wednesday's visit from the Orlando Magic.

The honor, presented each year since the 2005-06 season, is bestowed upon the Celtics player or coach who best exemplifies the spirit of what it means to be a Celtic through performance on the court and off. The award is named in honor of legendary coach, general manager, and president of the Celtics, the late Arnold “Red” Auerbach.

Garnett also won the award in 2008. Other past winners include, Paul Pierce (2006), Al Jefferson (2007), Ray Allen (2009), Rajon Rondo (2010) and coach Doc Rivers (2011).

Rivers and Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge presented the award to a smiling Garnett before Wednesday's game.



NEXT GAME - FRIDAY @ ATLANTA - 7PM - ESPN/CSNE

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POST GAME WEEI 850


FAST BREAK: CELTICS CLINCH FIFTH STRAIGHT DIVISION TITLE

By Ben Rohrbach


Captain Paul Pierce followed up his 43-point effort on Tuesday night in New York with 29 points and a career-high 14 assists on Wednesday night in Boston — including the dagger with 7.6 seconds left — to guide the Celtics to a 102-98 win over the visiting Magic and clinching a fifth consecutive Atlantic Division title in the process.

Avery Bradley (23 points) tied a career high, Brandon Bass contributed 21 points against his old team, and Kevin Garnett amassed 15 points and nine rebounds, as the Celtics (37-26) clinched the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference — even without Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus in the lineup against Orlando.

Old friend Glen Davis totaled 27 points and seven rebounds in Dwight Howard‘s absence, but the Magic (36-26) dropped a game behind the Hawks (37-25) — 116-84 winners over the Pistons — for the fifth seed and the right to face the Celtics in the first round. With three games left on their schedule, the C’s travel to Atlanta on Friday night trailing the Hawks by a game in the loss column for home court advantage in their potential playoff matchup.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Shoot first: The Celtics shot a blistering 73.7 percent in the first quarter (14-19 FG), staking themselves to a 33-22 lead that even survived a second-quarter starting lineup of E’Twaun Moore, Keyon Dooling, Marquis Daniels, Greg Stiemsma and Garnett. In the first 12 minutes, Bradley, Garnett, Bass and Pierce shot a combined 13-of-16 and scored 31 points. That allowed the undermanned C’s to play with a lead for the majority of the night.

Brad-ical: As discussed in Wednesday’s Irish Coffee, Bradley entered the game averaging 14.2 points on 53 percent shooting in 15 games since joining the starting lineup on March 25. Those averages will only increase, as he scored 17 points by halftime on 8-of-10 shooting, eclipsing 15 points for the fifth consecutive game.

Captain steering: With Rondo resting a sore back and wrist, Pierce assumed the role of distributor, and played it well. He made Rondo’s streak of 23 straight games with at least 10 assists seem easy, as the Celtics captain amassed 11 dimes by halftime. He also added 13 points in the opening 24 minutes to earn a double-double and take the Celtics into the break with a 55-51. Considering it’s been a roller coaster season that started with a heel injury and recently featured a toe injury, Doc Rivers & Co. must be pleased to see Pierce — who dropped 43 points on the Knicks on Tuesday — peaking at the right time.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Big Baby’s Superman impression: In January, when he made his return to Boston in a Magic uniform, Davis finished with six points on just 2-of-9 shooting. The second time around was far more successful. In the first quarter alone, he amassed 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting — exceeding his season average of 8.9 points entering the game — to go along with three rebounds, two steals and a block in the opening 12 minutes.

3-pointers, version 2.0: It wasn’t quite the barrage of 14 first-half treys unloaded on the Celtics by the Knicks, but the Magic shot a healthy of 4-of-8 from long distance in the second quarter. Jameer Nelson and J.J. Redick did their best Steve Novak and J.R. Smith impression, combining to shoot 4-of-5 from 3-point range in the frame. Together, they erased an 11-point Celtics lead, tying the game 47-47 on Redick’s triple from Nelson.

Depth perception: Not only was Rondo unavailable after a nasty fall in New York, but Allen missed his sixth straight game with an ankle injury — and 12th in his last 17 — while Pietrus rested his knee for a second consecutive night four games after missing 10 straight with a concussion. The injuries don’t appear to be severe, and Rivers is likely playing it safe by resting the trio prior to the playoffs, but the Celtics can’t afford to be without any of the three in the postseason. While the bench exceeded its atrocious output of two points against the Knicks, the reserves didn’t exactly breed confidence, even if Moore and Daniels combined for nine points.

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Rapid Reaction: Celtics 102, Magic 98

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

Traded for each other in December, Brandon Bass and Glen Davis tangled Wednesday at TD Garden.
BOSTON -- Rapid reaction after the Boston Celtics defeated the Orlando Magic 102-98 Wednesday night at TD Garden:

HOW THE GAME WAS WON
Captain Paul Pierce played both distributor and scorer by producing game-highs with 29 points and 14 assists over 35 minutes, while Avery Bradley (23 points) and Brandon Bass (21 points) helped spark the Boston offense. Old friend Glen Davis scored a team-high 27 points for the Magic, who also got 21 points, 9 assists, and 4 rebounds from Jameer Nelson. Boston shot 54.3 percent from the floor overall (38 of 70) and, despite nearly letting the game get away in the fourth quarter, clinched the Atlantic Division title with the win (owning the key tie-breakers over the New York Knicks).

GIVING THE GAME WHAT IT NEEDS
One night after becoming the first Celtics player to score 40+ points during a regular season game in the Big Three era (dropping 43 points in a loss to the Knicks), Pierce handed out a career-high 14 assists. With Rajon Rondo getting a night off after falling hard on his back in New York, Pierce morphed into the role of point forward. He handed out eight first-quarter assists and had 11 helpers at the intermission. All of which surely left him wondering what all the fuss is about with Rondo's 23-game streak with double-digit assists.

PIERCE HITS THE CLINCHER
When he wasn't dishing the ball around, Pierce hit a bunch of big shots. None might have been bigger than the step-back jumper over Davis with 7.6 seconds to go. The Magic had rallied from a double-digit hole to make it a two-point game in the final moments, but Pierce came off a high pick-and-roll with Garnett and rattled home the jumper to essentially seal it.

TURNING POINT
The Celtics were down a point with under three minutes to go in the third quarter, but scored 14 of the game's next 15 points spanning into the fourth frame. Frustration boiled over for the Magic when Paul Pierce drove into Ryan Anderson before kicking it out to Brandon Bass for a 19-foot jumper. Anderson vented and earned a technical foul in the process (Pierce made the freebie for a 79-70 lead after three quarters). The lead ballooned to 12 early in the fourth quarter (only for Orlando to make that late charge that Boston fended off).

BOLD PLAY OF THE GAME
As part of that game-clinching third-quarter run, Greg Stiemsma put his shot-blocking talents on display (with Bill Russell and the 1962 championship team watching, no less). First Earl Clark tried to go up near the rim, only to have Stiemsma snuffed it out while barely leaving his feet. Pierce took the rebound the opposite way and produced an old-fashioned, three-point play. Anderson tried for a driving layup on the Magic's next trip down only to be denied by Stiemsma's fourth block of the night.

BIG BABY'S BIG NIGHT
After sitting out the Magic's last game against Philadelphia with a right knee ailment, Davis wasn't about to miss this Boston homecoming (particularly with a chance to shine without Howard on the floor). He scored Orlando's first six points and spearheaded the offense all night, making 12 of 16 shots for his 27 points. He added 7 rebounds and 3 assists over 35:14.

WHAT IT MEANS
Despite playing without Rondo, Ray Allen, and Mickael Pietrus, the Celtics won the battle of shorthanded teams (the Magic were without Howard and Hedo Turkoglu). It wasn't a particularly pretty fourth quarter, but the Celtics won yet another grind-it-out style game. The Celtics now have the division crown and the No. 4 seed in their pocket with three games to play. With Atlanta's triumph over Detroit, the Hawks are still a ½ game up on Boston in race for the better overall record (and potential homecourt advantage in the first round). Orlando slips a full game back of the Hawks while jockeying for the No. 5 seed (though the consolation prize isn't bad as many pundits see the third-seeded Pacers as potentially a less daunting opponent than playoff-experienced Boston). The Celtics get a day to rest before traveling to Atlanta for a potential first-round preview.

This was a really good win by the Celtics. No hang over from the ny game.

now the Celtics need to get healthy. Would like to see Hollis get some run over the remaining games. Celts are too thin in the front court.

Dboss

just think guys, if we win our next 19 games. we're The Champs again.

Matty wrote:just think guys, if we win our next 19 games. we're The Champs again.

Really only need 16 of the last 28*

*MAX NUMBER

beat

Orlando is a terrible team.
SVG is a mediocre coach.
Reddick is a Hollywood level actor / flopper.
Anderson is a CRY BABY

Oh, and Quintin Richardson is still an overweight, bloated, overrated, punk - who Paul Pierce kills over and over again....yet he keeps on talking. What a first class scrub.