The Orlando Magic were without Rafer Alston, their starting point guard because of a one-game suspension. They lost Dwight Howard, their All-Star center, to foul trouble in the second half. Their other point guard, Anthony Johnson, had a late-game meltdown.
While everyone waited for the Magic to fade Friday night, they turned to their Twin Forwards, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu, who carried them to an impressive, 117-96 drubbing of the Celtics.
The Magic played much of Wednesday's game as if they were content going back to Orlando with a split. Unfortunately, not even returning to their home court might help their chances for Game 3 if Rafer Alston is suspended, which is a distinct possibility after his inexcusable slap to Eddie House's head late in the third quarter.
After losing Monday night, the Boston Celtics brought a must-win mentality into Game 2 of their best-of-seven series against the Orlando Magic, knowing another loss would drop them into a hole from which they could not climb out.
It had an early-series, now-or-never feel for the Celtics, who rolled to a surprisingly easy 112-94 victory.
BOSTON -- And so it ends, without a single overtime period or defibrillator, restoring normalcy to the surreal and pumping life into the NBA's defending champions. It's quite doubtful the wheezing, battered Celtics will repeat this postseason, what with The LeBronster on vacation and absurdly rested, yet the memories they created with the Chicago Bulls are indelible.
Earlier this week, the NBA detailed a content partnership with the Turner-owned Cartoon Network. The first fruits of the deal have a face now, as the NBA has announced Eddie House and his 7-year-old son Jaelen will star in a live-action show called My Dad's a Pro beginning this fall.
House plays for the Celtics, a journeyman who has done time in Miami, Sacramento, Phoenix and New Jersey. His stint in Phoenix, in particular, has helped build a persona as a real personality -- Jack McCallum's Seven Seconds or Less paints House (or "Casa," as he had been dubbed) as the locker room's real wild card. He's built on that reputation in Boston as the Celtics' designated assassin -- he isn't exactly shy about letting the world know when he hits a big shot.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Doc Rivers has already made it clear how disappointed he is that Ray Allen won't be joining Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce for the All-Star game in Phoenix, but I had a chance to hear from Allen himself what he thought about the situation. While certainly disappointed, he refuses to begrudge any of the guys who got the nod ahead of him.
"I'm happy for Paul, I'm happy for Kevin, I'd like to see Eddie [House] participate in the three-point contest, and [Rajon] Rondo be part of the skills challenge," Allen said before Friday's game against the Pistons. "I think we definitely should be represented [as] one of the best teams in the league. That's the bright side of it."
But now comes the downfall: Starbury has, by all accounts in the New York Times, fallen victim to great hubris. Or he just really hates Eddie House.
Marbury celebrated his first start with some solid play and a vicious verbal duel with House while House was sitting on the bench. It lasted several minutes and several possessions.
After Marbury drew a foul on Kendrick Perkins and hit two free throws, he turned and screamed at House, from midcourt: "You're a bum!"
When play returned to the Celtics' side of the court, House chirped, "Don't worry about me. You better worry about Ray Allen," whom Marbury was guarding. Marbury shot back, "You're nothing!" then added, "You're caught up in basketball. Get caught up in life."
I have several problems with this trash talk scenario. First of all, Eddie House ... dude, brah. Come on. I know you are in fact Eddie House, but you can't run your mouth back at a guy with a giant "3" tattooed on his head by telling him to look out for someone else.
But perhaps worse than that, Marbury now appears to be some crusader of "life". Which is the bad half of the yin-yang type personality he has. Don't get me wrong -- I want unfiltered, unexpected homeless shelter acts. What I don't want is any on-court moral chastising of other players about how to reach a proper balance between work and life.
We're barely three games into the pre-season, and I'm already tired of hearing the name Bill Walker. It's not that I don't appreciate the youngster's talents, because I do: he's clearly got some skills or he wouldn't be on the court for the World Champs, even in these exhibitions. What needs to stop though is the unnecessary taunting of legitimate NBA All-Stars after making plays that might have been spectacular at Kansas State, but are simply average at the NBA level.
Walker gave LeBron James an unnecessary shove after a mediocre dunk the other day, then took exception to getting knocked down by Tracy McGrady after he had delivered a hard foul to T-Mac on the other end first. Video, via BDL.
Apparently things stayed heated throughout the game, with Yao getting into it with Walker later and Paul Pierce and Ron Artestgetting down as well.
Dude, it's pre-season, and you're a rookie. Stop starting brawls in the first quarter and show a little respect, my man. Unless of course, being an unlikeable front-runner with an imaginary chip on your shoulder is a pre-requisite for making the team. In which case, I completely understand ... especially when that team is the Celtics.
Boston wasted little time in flexing their muscle over the Lakers in Game 6, and turned the event into nothing more than a celebration for the Celtics and their fans. The home team absolutely destroyed the Lakers in their coronation game, leading by as many as 43 points in the fourth quarter before finishing the season off with a championship and winning by a score of 131-92.
Kobe tried to start things off like he did in Game 5, by hitting some long three pointers and getting himself 11 points in the first quarter. But his long shots, even though they went in, were more an indication of the bad Laker offense than they were of Kobe's desire to dominate early. Pau Gasol was completely worthless in the early going, missing shots and turning the ball over repeatedly while at the same time allowing Kevin Garnett to go off.
From the second quarter on, it was all Celtics. After back-to-back three-pointers from James Posey and Eddie House which extended the lead to nine, you could just tell that this game was completely out of reach for the Lakers. The lead reached 23 by halftime, and the Lakers never came close to threatening after that. The Celtics' defense was stifling, and none of the Lakers' role players were able to do anything, resulting in the Lakers getting run off the floor and extended garbage time in the season's final game. I'm sure that's just how the Celtics' fans wanted it.
So far, this series has been as exciting and drama-filled as we could ask for. Game 2 is tonight in Boston, let's get a little roundtable action going again. Your panelists are Matt Moore, Brett Edwards, and Tom Ziller.
ORLANDO -- This was a study in resiliency.
Desperation often becomes a wonderful motivator.
Earlier this week, the NBA detailed 
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- 
Yesterday 
