The co-captains stole the show and took charge to make this a series and put a little pressure back on Boston.
One of the keys to Wednesday night’s win, much like in Game 4 was we came out playing hard and won the first quarter, and never let up. In fact, we won every quarter of the game, and that was the difference tonight.
We got back to our three-point shooting and our hard nose playing with good ball movement. That’s what we do best. It was great to watch.
Jameer was unbelievable Wednesday night. He had 24 points in 30 minutes, including 4 of 5 from three-point range. He penetrated and created good shots for our shooters. He also stepped up and made big shots when we needed them to keep that lead above 6 or 10 points.
Dwight played huge for a second straight game with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. It wasn’t so much the points, but his intensity and aggression was outstanding. He also never got into foul trouble, finishing with only 2 fouls.
Barnes played great with lots of energy as usual. He also nailed some big three’s… hitting 3 of 4.
Rashard played his best game of the series with 14 points. Seven of the 14 came at the beginning of the fourth quarter, where he kept hitting shot after shot. He showed he doesn’t have to hit threes all the time. He had his low post game going great. That’s what we need to do when Garnett is out of the game is post Lewis up. He will make Boston pay.
Vince. Vince. Vince. I will say he played better in Game 5. But, still only had 8 points and shot just 3 of 10. But, if he’s not going to make shots, I would rather keep his attempts down and make smart passes and protect the ball and that’s what he did. He had 3 assists and no turnovers.
Our bench played great with a total of 37 points.
What more can you say about J.J. Redick. He came in and immediately provided a spark, hitting 3 after 3. He finished with 14 points in just 22 minutes. He also had the best plus/minus of the game with a plus-18.
Brandon Bass provided us with great energy as well scoring eight points.
J-Will had perhaps his best game of the playoffs as far as protecting the ball, smart decisions, aggression, and scoring. He looked like the old J-Will of the regular season. He finished with 5 points, 5 rebounds, no turnovers, and three rebounds in just 18 minutes.
Pietrus also had his best game of the series, scoring eight points and playing smarter on both ends of the floor.
I did get a little concerned at the end of the half, with about 4 minutes left, we were up ten. Van Gundy took Dwight, J.J., and Williams out of the game. I didn’t think it was the right move because we were playing so well at the time, especially Redick and Williams. It ended up working out, but I just questioned the move when we did it.
Also, I’m still not sold on the Gortat and Howard combo on the floor at the same time. We’ll see next game.
Well, it’s back to Boston. We know what we have to do to get it done. The Magic have the momentum, and Boston has to start thinking we have to win game 6, because we don’t want to come back to Orlando for Game 7.
Other notes… both Davis and Daniels left with a concussion. Wallace tweaked his back (The Celtics leading scorer with 21 points in Game 5.) Perkins also got two technicals and was ejected… that’s seven for the playoffs. If one of them isn’t rescinded that would be an automatic one game suspension for Game 6. We’ll wait and see what the league says.
Posted by Chris S.
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