Celtics Lose an Ugly Game 5 to Orlando Magic

Final: Magic 113, Celtics 92. Call the Celtics troubling, call them disconcerting, call them frustrating. Just don't call them the Bruins.

The Celtics have lost back-to-back games to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals, and they've coughed up two-thirds of a 3-0 lead. We've already seen one Boston sports team carry out a playoff choke this spring, and now, another one isn't out of the question.

This one was ugly — the Celtics saw one player (Kendrick Perkins) leave with two technicals, another (Rasheed Wallace) foul out, and two more (Glen Davis and Marquis Daniels) taken out of the game with concussions.

A few days ago, the Celtics looked like a lock to vanquish the Magic and advance to the NBA Finals. Now? Nothing is certain.

Fourth quarter, 3:20, Magic 107-90: With the sixth foul on Rasheed Wallace, the Celtics are down to eight bodies. Two injuries, two ejections, eight guys left.

At this point, the Celtics can forget about tonight. Their only concern should be making sure everyone's OK for Friday night. They still have two chances left to close out this series, and they can't lose sight of that.

Fourth quarter, 5:22, Magic 104-86: Yet another huge shot from Jameer Nelson. That makes … too many to count.

The Orlando lead is now 18, their biggest of this series.

Looks like Game 6 is on. The only question is who makes the Celtics' active roster Friday.

Fourth quarter, 7:02, Magic 96-83: Just when you're ready to leave the Celtics for dead, Rasheed Wallace steps up and hits a wing 3. This one's not over yet. Not quite.

The C's have Hack-a-Howard in full force midway through the fourth quarter, and Dwight has been his usual mediocre self from the line, hitting six of his 10 attempts.

The C's are running out of bodies, though. Down to nine — Perkins ejected, and Davis and Daniels are now both done for the night with concussions.

Fourth quarter, 8:59, Magic 91-78: Rashard Lewis has caught a lot of flak in this series, but he steps up and hits two huge jumpers here, widening the Orlando lead from nine back to 13.

Before those two shots, there appeared to be a glimmer of hope for the Celtics. Now? It's hard to say.

As long as the Magic keep their guard up and stay composed for the last nine minutes, a Game 6 back in Boston looks likely.

Fourth quarter, 10:34, Magic 87-78: Marquis Daniels is the latest Celtic casualty, leaving the game with a slight limp. Davis is done, too, as word has it he's got a concussion. The Celtics are running out of guys.

The silver lining? The Celtics new lineup is their five best 3-point shooters. Nate Robinson, Mike Finley, Ray, Paul and Rasheed. If you're looking for a spark offensively, you can't do much better than that.

End of third quarter, Magic 84-75: Yet another casualty of the intense physical play of Dwight Howard — Howard sends an elbow to the head of Glen Davis, knocking out a tooth and leaving Davis visibly shaken up.

Howard has just been out of control in this series. Physical is one thing, but downright dirty is another, and Howard is starting to look like a borderline case. We've seen suspensions get doled out for far less than the elbows Howard is throwing.

The Celtics are still down nine, but they're playing with a chip on their shoulder now.

What a crazy game.

Third quarter, 3:14, Magic 78-69: If the Celtics can't figure out a way to string together a whole bunch of stops, this one's going to slip away mighty soon.

And it's no cakewalk to slow down an Orlando team that's executing this well. Jameer Nelson looks like Rondo with a jump shot, and Howard … well, he's Superman.

Rasheed and Big Baby now have four fouls each. And yeah, Perk is still gone. The Celtics are running out of bigs to control Howard.

Third quarter, 6:17, Magic 71-63: Another shoulder stinger for Paul Pierce, a scary incident for a Celtics team that's already been through a lot tonight. But the Celtics' captain is able to stay in the game. Let's see if he can still carry this team offensively.

Despite all the fouls, all the defensive miscues and of course the ejection to Perkins, the Celtics are still within striking distance. When you think about it, that alone is somewhat of a moral victory.

Of course, the Celtics would prefer a real victory.

Third quarter, 9:22, Magic 57-49: The Celtics clearly miss Perkins already. They've started the second half with Glen Davis on the floor guarding Dwight Howard straight up, and that doesn't look promising. Dunk city.

Not to be too doomsday-ish, but it's easy to see how things could unravel for the Celtics in this series. Howard can dominate tonight and potentially in Game 6 with Perkins suspended, and we could easily see ourselves in Amway Arena on Sunday, looking at a Game 7 with Orlando at home and holding all the momentum.

None of this is a slam dunk (sorry for the pun), but the slippery slope is definitely a realistic one to foresee.

The Celtics are definitely not a sure thing to meet L.A. or Phoenix in the Finals.

Halftime, Magic 57-49: Wow. Kendrick Perkins picks up two technical fouls in the span of two minutes, and he's done. Not only that, but that makes seven for the playoffs, meaning a possible suspension (depending on whether either call gets rescinded by the league).

Realistically, both calls have a chance of being rescinded. The first was an elbow at Marcin Gortat that could have been perceived as inadvertent, and the second was an unbelievable call. Perkins was complaining about a call, but he wasn't even looking in the direction of official Eddie Rush, much less speaking directly to him. And yet somehow, Rush loses his head and throws Perkins out of a pivotal playoff game. Inexcusable officiating, and the Magic catch a huge break.

Look for Dwight Howard to dominate in the second half with no Perkins to keep him honest. Superman already has 10 points, four rebounds and five blocks (yes, five blocks!) for Orlando. He's only going to get better with Rasheed and Baby guarding him for the rest of the night.

Second quarter, 3:29, Magic 51-37: This is scary for the Celtics — not only are they down 14 points, but it could easily be 18 or 20 if the Magic had hit a few open shots.

The Celtics just look dead defensively. All the things that characterize Celtic basketball — the moving, the rotating, the helping, the contesting — just not there. It's hard to explain this lack of effort in a pivotal game. If the Celtics don't wake up soon, they're looking at a must-win Game 6 back in Boston on Friday.

Second quarter, 6:22, Magic 47-35: The Magic look poised and in control; the Celtics just look frazzled.

What a mess of an offensive possession for the Celtics — Rajon Rondo tries to rush a coast-to-coast drive and gets denied, Kevin Garnett rushes not one but two jumpers, and Paul Pierce rushes an alley-oop pass to KG with absolutely no chance of success.

The Celtics are trying to do too much, too fast. That's no way to erase a double-digit deficit.

Second quarter, 9:33, Magic 37-33: Credit the bigs on Boston's second unit, Rasheed Wallace and Glen Davis, for stepping up and hitting enough shots to keep this thing close. But the Magic are still outplaying the Celtics.

It's a defense thing. Plain and simple, the Celtics are allowing Orlando's shooters to get far, far too many open looks. They've got to limit that, and Baby and Rasheed aren't getting the job done. Surprisingly, neither is Tony Allen.

Doc Rivers might need to keep his second unit on a shorter leash tonight. Back when KG and Perk were on the floor, the Celtics were holding their own.

End of first quarter, Magic 31-27: From out of nowhere, Matt Barnes has emerged as an offensive weapon for the Magic. That's scary. Orlando now has one weapon too many.

Barnes is 2-for-3 from long range for the Magic already, for six points. The Magic as a team are 5-for-9 from behind the arc, for 15 of their 31.

The Celtics have to contest those shots. And it certainly doesn't help matters that Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo and Glen Davis all have two fouls each. They want to stay aggressive, contesting shots and passes whenever possible, but they don't want to draw any more whistles. It's a tough balancing act.

First quarter, 3:22, Celtics 19-17: The Magic are daring the Celtics to become jump shooters. Paul Pierce is taking them up on that offer.

The Celtics' captain has already hit a pair of wide-open 3s tonight, including one here to reclaim the lead at 19-17. It's time to see whether Matt Barnes and Vince Carter have the energy to get out on the wings and contest those shots.

Both teams are trigger-happy tonight from long range. Whoever stays hot will win this game, whether it's Pierce or one of Orlando's many 3-point assassins.

First quarter, 6:28, 12-12: Kevin Garnett has a full head of steam to start off Game 5 — but as a result, he's also got two early fouls. Enter Glen Davis.

The C's will need a lot of KG tonight defensively — he needs to use his length to disrupt Orlando's ball movement and keep the ball out of the paint. If the Magic can get it inside easily, you're looking at a whole lot of dunks for Dwight Howard. He's already had two emphatic ones.

Time to see how big Big Baby can be.

First quarter, 9:12, Celtics 8-6: The Celtics are working hard defensively in the opening minutes. That's always a good sign.

They're not only working hard to contest every shot — they're also invading passing lanes and deflecting passes. If the C's can keep the Orlando offense from moving the ball effectively, they're going to be in very good shape tonight.

So far, the Magic have been forced to settle for a lot of jumpers. The good news for the Magic? They've hit two of them. So what's the moral here? If you hit enough shots, you don't have to execute well?

8:15 p.m.: An interesting pregame note to be aware of: Doc Rivers says he's talked to Kendrick Perkins about his growing playoff technical foul total of five.

Double-technicals have been the biggest issue, as Perk has had a habit of getting tangled up with opposing centers, most notably Orlando's Dwight Howard and Cleveland's Shaquille O'Neal. Perk's an intense player, both spiritually and physically, but he's got to tone it down just a tad.

Seven techs is an automatic suspension. One more for Perk, and he'll be treading on thin ice. Two more, and he'll be staying home.

6:30 p.m.: Not that the Celtics themselves care about this stuff at all, but if you're interested, here are a few historical numbers on the playoffs.

Historically, the Celtics have won all 32 series that they've opened with a 2-0 lead.

They've won all 10 that they've started up 3-0.

Historically in the NBA, no team has ever come back from down 3-0, and only 4.2 percent of NBA teams come back from 3-1.

The Celtics have never started out a series with three straight wins and been pushed to a Game 6.

If the Magic can pull this one out tonight, it would be a first.

3:20 p.m.: If you've spent the better part of the last week wondering what's wrong with Rashard Lewis, you're not alone. And as of today, you've got your answer: He's sick as a dog.

Word got out this morning that the Orlando forward has a viral infection, and he's been sick for the whole series. He's been throwing up, he's been feeling weak, he's quick to tire himself out.

But this is the playoffs, and as long as you can still stand on two feet, it's your job to play through it. The Magic will have to find a way to win this game, and these Eastern Conference finals, without Lewis at full strength. It won't be easy.

8 a.m.: Before the Celtics can start thinking about the NBA Finals and a shot at championship banner No. 18, they've got to take care of business in the Eastern Conference first.

The C's put their brooms back in their closets on Monday night, failing to complete a sweep of the Orlando Magic in the East finals. Dwight Howard piled up 32 points, Jameer Nelson added 23, and the Magic held on for a 96-92 overtime victory in Game 4 at the TD Garden.

The C's didn't finish Orlando off just yet. But they'll get three more chances.

The series now shifts back to Amway Arena, where the Celtics are 2-0 in this postseason. Time for the C's to take another swing at the Magic, looking to land that knockout punch.