The resurgence of the Boston Celtics continues. After a mid-season scenario that saw many questioning whether the Celts would be a playoff contender at all, the veteran team managed to knock off the Miami Heat 4-1, before surprisingly defeating the favoured Cleveland Cavaliers 4-2.
Now taking on the might of the Orlando Magic, who have swept through their first two playoff series against the Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks, the Celtics are showing veteran savvy. The most intimidating big man in the league and Defensive Player of the Year, Dwight Howard, was handled like a run-of-the-mill pivot by the men in green in Game 1 of their 2010 Eastern Conference Finals series. Superman 2.0 was held to 3/10 field goal attempts and forced into committing seven turnovers in a clearly uncomfortable performance.
The likes of Kendrick Perkins and Rasheed Wallace putting a body on Howard in the post, mostly in single-coverage defence, took him out of his game as the Magic lost 92-88 at home. Have a look at the learned commentary of Basketball Breakdowns (featuring Kevin Arnovitz and David Thorpe) on the performance:
