What They're Saying: Magic vs. Celtics 3/25

The big game is finally here. Orlando sits one game behind the Celtics for the second spot in the Eastern Conference (and more likely than not, home court advantage in the second round. More than that, Orlando needs a win to officially clinch the Southeast Division title (Atlanta is also in San Antonio tonight and a Hawks' loss would also clinch it).

ESPN will be in town. You have the special eight o'clock start. Blue Man Group performing at halftime. Doesn't get much more like the playoffs before April. This is a HUGE game.

-Kyle Hightower of the Orlando Sentinel gives a report from Magic shootaround this morning. Rashard Lewis will start despite some personal issues involving the health of his daughter (all Magic fans wish him the best with that).

He also addresses the perception that Orlando is a "soft" team. While the Magic rely on finesse with their 3-point shooting, this has to be considered the toughest team built in the Mike D'Antonio small forward as power forward mold. Orlando actually ranks in the top five in defensive efficiency and can get dirty and plays some nasty defense to go along with its finesse offense. We will see which Dwight Howard shows up tonight. He has had his problems with Kendrick Perkins in the past.

-I will have more on this tomorrow, but Mike Bianchi writes about the future of the NBA and how it seems to be heading toward a lockout. He is very gloom and doom. But as I said, I have more coming on this tomorrow.

-Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel goes through the Magic's ring envy. A fair number of people in the Magic organization already have rings -- like Pat Williams, assistant coach Brendan Malone and Tyronn Lue. But the good news is they want one more and with the Magic. I still think they need someone contributing on the court (sorry Tyronn) who has championship experience. Call it my Horace Grant argument. I am sure I will be getting to it in the very near future.

-Boston Globe columnist Tony Massarotti wonders how big this game really is. He is thinking that home court advantage may not really be that important -- plenty of teams have won the title without it. He thinks as long as the Celtics avoid the Hawks, whom they play Friday, Boston will be just fine. I tend to agree. This game is much bigger for Orlando than for Boston.

-Marc J. Spears of the Boston Globe reports that Kevin Garnett will not have his workload increased tonight. Doc Rivers plans to play him seven minutes in the first quarter and seven minutes in the third quarter. Don't know if the atmosphere will change that. Garnett's workload will increase next week apparently.

-Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald reports that Stephon Marbury is still trying to find his way with the Celtics. We all knew it would be difficult for him to balance his score-first mentality with the Celtics' togetherness theme.

-This was up a few days ago on 3rd Quarter Collapse, but the discussion for the MVP award is really heating up. From all accounts it is a three-man race (really just two) between LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. Dwight Howard is probably fourth on that list and there are some who think he impacts the game in ways that stats simply do not calculate... or at least not in ways that results in an increase in points per game.

-Brian Robb of CelticsHub.com is a Magic skeptic (who isn't? Even Quick Change has to have a logical explanation... oh wait, THAT kind of Magic). But he is slowly coming around to believe Orlando can threaten Boston's title defense. The reason? Orlando's defense is not as bad as everyone seems to think. Looking forward to a low-scoring affair tonight.

-In case you haven't noticed, this is a big game. Just ask all these people how big it is like Zach Lowe of CelticsHub.com did... or accumulated.

-The Celtics are not a healthy team yet despite Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo's return. Celtics blog Red's Army is reporting that Leon Powe might be out until the playoffs. And if you scroll down past the cheerleaders, Red's Army is not a fan of Orlando either.

-I know I said earlier in this post that home court may not be important to the Celtics and that winning a title without home court can be done. But John Denton of Florida Today talked to Doc Rivers and the Celtics' coach admitted that home court advantage helped Boston win the title last year. Remember they did have to win two game sevens -- against the Hawks and the Cavaliers -- to reach the championship. For an inexperienced playoff team like Orlando, I think home court does matter.

-OrlandoMagic.com posted some quotes from the players after shootaround today. It is going to be rocking in the O-Rena tonight.

-Reuters reports of an interesting new partnership between the NBA and Cartoon Network. The television station will begin a series call "My Dad's a Pro" featuring sons and their pro athlete dads. It starts with Celtics guard Eddie House at the beginning of next season. I am just waiting for the episode on Shawn Kemp. That one will be REAL fun.