By Andy Hutchins
– Editor
The Magic suffered a second embarrassing loss to the Celtics in four nights.
Follow , and
Like SBNation.com on Facebook.
Jan 26, 2012 – The Orlando Magic’s chances of getting revenge on the Boston Celtics for an embarrassing loss on Monday night seemed fairly good, as the Magic opened up a 27-point lead with just three minutes to go in the first half. But then everything came crumbling down, and the Celtics rallied behind Kevin Garnett and E’Twaun Moore, allowed just 25 second-half points by the Magic, and came back for a 91-83 victory.
Garnett had 12 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, four blocks, and three steals, filling the stat sheet in virtually every category, and Moore came off the bench to play 18 minutes and score 16 points for Boston, compiling a massive plus-27 number in his limited action. Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 24 points.
Plus-minus has its flaws, too, such as showing Dwight Howard with a minus-25 for his play in a 16-point, 16-rebound outing. Howard was joined by every other Magic starter in double figures, but he was the only one to shoot 50 percent from the field. And Orlando, often reliant on the three-pointer, wasn’t very accurate from deep, making just five of 17 tries.
The Magic scored more points in each of their two quarters in the first half than they did in the entire second half; in fact, Orlando’s 58 points in the first half against the Celtics on Thursday were more than they scored in their full game against Boston on Monday, in an 87-56 loss that set a new franchise record for scoring futility.
For more on the Celtics, head to Celtics Blog; for more on the Magic, visit Orlando Pinstriped Post.
Read More: Kevin Garnett (F – BOS), Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics
Follow , and
Like SBNation.com on Facebook.
Do you like this story?
Not much else going on in the NBA world today.
