Celtics & Magic Leads the East
November 23rd 2007 03:42
The 2007-2008 NBA Season is approaching the end of its first month of hostilities. Let's take a look at the two top teams who are presently lording it over in the Eastern Conference. The Atlantic Division leading Boston Celtics are becoming heavier favorites to win the East as the season goes along and the Orlando Magic are showing a lot of promise as they currently leads the Southeast Division.
Boston started the season like a house on fire with 8 straight wins with a winning margin of 15 points and they also proved that they can win in clutch situations with an overtime win against Toronto capped by a Ray Allen trey and a 1point win against Dwyane Wade and the Heat.
Their streak ended though on the hand of the Magic who were leading the Southeast. The 104-102 loss showed just how to beat the Celtics. Play good defense and hit well from the field. Orlando is the first team to actually convert 50% from the field against the Boston this season and forced 20 turnovers and lead the Celtics by as many as 20 points in the process.
Boston might have lost the game but they also proved that they can come back from an enormous deficit. The Celtics did it by doing short but sure runs until they took the lead 88-87 halfway through the 4th quarter by way of consecutive three pointers by Eddie House and James Posey.
Orlando also showed character by not folding in the homestretch. Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis made their free throws and Hedo Turkoglu hit his treys as Boston missed some important attempts allowing the Magic to hold on to the win.
After that loss at Orlando, Boston came back home and destroyed the Golden State Warriors with a resounding 105-82 count. Allen had 21 points while Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce both had double-doubles. Baron Davis was limited to only 13 points on an ugly 3 of 13 from the field. Golden State shot a horrible 18% from the 3line and 33% overall from the field.
The Celtics can be pretty intimidating these days what with the Big 3 averaging over 65 points a game and with Rajon Rondo improving gradually with his speed as his main weapon. Kendrick Perkins has also proved himself well defensively so far by being among the league leaders in blocks with 1.8 a game. Eddie House is also turning out to be a great off-the-bench contributor who can hit from the outside. This team dominates most of its games yet KG and the rest of the Celtics still knows that they have a long way to go in terms of how they want their team to be like in the long run. "We're not perfect," KG said after the loss at Orlando. "We didn't think we were going to go 82-0. But we are a team of character. We do play hard. We do play together - just not perfect." That's just five "we's" from the Big Ticket folks! "We're nowhere near where we want to be," said Pierce after the 1point squeaker over Miami. "We're far from a perfect team. We definitely have weaknesses right now."
What ever those weaknesses are, the Celtics sure are willing to improve after every game won or lost as they work to have their team chemistry complete as they peak at the right time in the very near future.
Meanwhile, after coming off that rousing wins against the Celtics and the promising New Orleans Hornets on the road, the Magic ran up against a brick wall in the San Antonio Spurs suffering a 128-110 defeat. Despite the loss, there is still the possibility for them to rack up good wins in the next couple of games. They will be heavily favored against Charlotte in their first home game back from Texas. Miami is on a slump right now so the they might take this opportunity to pull through this one before delving into a 5-game road trip which includes a visit to Phoenix.
The Magic has been shooting well lately and are proving to have a good offensive game their defensive game would have to be consistent though to string up more wins. Dwight is Orlando's pillar of strenght in the middle averaging 23.1 points and 14.4 rebounds topping the league in double-doubes with 10 so far in the season. Rashard Lewis is also averaging on the 20's, Hedo Turkoglu has been a great gunman and Jameer Nelson has been excellent as floor general for the Magic.
This blog will be making a more in-depth analysis about the Orlando Magic and we will be taking a good look at the leaders at the Western Conference next time.
Boston started the season like a house on fire with 8 straight wins with a winning margin of 15 points and they also proved that they can win in clutch situations with an overtime win against Toronto capped by a Ray Allen trey and a 1point win against Dwyane Wade and the Heat.
KG and the Celtics have a long way to go.
Their streak ended though on the hand of the Magic who were leading the Southeast. The 104-102 loss showed just how to beat the Celtics. Play good defense and hit well from the field. Orlando is the first team to actually convert 50% from the field against the Boston this season and forced 20 turnovers and lead the Celtics by as many as 20 points in the process.
Boston might have lost the game but they also proved that they can come back from an enormous deficit. The Celtics did it by doing short but sure runs until they took the lead 88-87 halfway through the 4th quarter by way of consecutive three pointers by Eddie House and James Posey.
After that loss at Orlando, Boston came back home and destroyed the Golden State Warriors with a resounding 105-82 count. Allen had 21 points while Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce both had double-doubles. Baron Davis was limited to only 13 points on an ugly 3 of 13 from the field. Golden State shot a horrible 18% from the 3line and 33% overall from the field.
The Celtics can be pretty intimidating these days what with the Big 3 averaging over 65 points a game and with Rajon Rondo improving gradually with his speed as his main weapon. Kendrick Perkins has also proved himself well defensively so far by being among the league leaders in blocks with 1.8 a game. Eddie House is also turning out to be a great off-the-bench contributor who can hit from the outside. This team dominates most of its games yet KG and the rest of the Celtics still knows that they have a long way to go in terms of how they want their team to be like in the long run. "We're not perfect," KG said after the loss at Orlando. "We didn't think we were going to go 82-0. But we are a team of character. We do play hard. We do play together - just not perfect." That's just five "we's" from the Big Ticket folks! "We're nowhere near where we want to be," said Pierce after the 1point squeaker over Miami. "We're far from a perfect team. We definitely have weaknesses right now."
What ever those weaknesses are, the Celtics sure are willing to improve after every game won or lost as they work to have their team chemistry complete as they peak at the right time in the very near future.
Meanwhile, after coming off that rousing wins against the Celtics and the promising New Orleans Hornets on the road, the Magic ran up against a brick wall in the San Antonio Spurs suffering a 128-110 defeat. Despite the loss, there is still the possibility for them to rack up good wins in the next couple of games. They will be heavily favored against Charlotte in their first home game back from Texas. Miami is on a slump right now so the they might take this opportunity to pull through this one before delving into a 5-game road trip which includes a visit to Phoenix.
The Orlando Magic will stay winning with consistency in both ends of the floor.
The Magic has been shooting well lately and are proving to have a good offensive game their defensive game would have to be consistent though to string up more wins. Dwight is Orlando's pillar of strenght in the middle averaging 23.1 points and 14.4 rebounds topping the league in double-doubes with 10 so far in the season. Rashard Lewis is also averaging on the 20's, Hedo Turkoglu has been a great gunman and Jameer Nelson has been excellent as floor general for the Magic.
This blog will be making a more in-depth analysis about the Orlando Magic and we will be taking a good look at the leaders at the Western Conference next time.
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