Celtics Cruise to Their 4th Consecutive Win Over the Orlando Magic

Wow! Another great win by the Celtics tonight. Just like the last three wins, it was a total team effort. Seven Celtics scored in double figures and all ten players who got into the game scored. Richard Wallace scored a single point on a free throw, but brought such great energy off the bench he pushed the Celtics to a 20 plus point lead over the Magic at certain points in the game. Alas, I don't think the Celtics can keep up this momentum and unity over the course of the season, but it's really fun to watch. Just makes you wonder if Rajon Rondo will upset the chemistry when he comes back (I'm a glass half full kind of guy and believe he'll love running a team where every player is a contributor). Coach Brad Stevens again went with Bradley/Crawford running the backcourt for the first unit and with rookie Pressey running the second unit. Crawford had a double double (16 points. 10 assists) tonight and seems like he's growing into the role of playmaker. He has the confidence and ability to penetrate the key and disrupt the defense to either create scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates. I also enjoy watching Pressey, an undersized player, run the reserves. Sure he takes some ill-advised shots and sometimes gets stuck leaping into the air for his shot (a bad habit he can hopefully break), but I like his moxie (don't judge me by my use of this word. I'm old but not that old!). The Celtics in the win again won the turnover battle (13 to Orlando's 18) but not by as great a margin as in the last three games. But you can get away with it when the team is making 60% of its shots. Before the game, Coach Steven said Orlando has a lot of big bodies and they do a good job of collapsing and clogging the paint, so it was critical that the Celtics make their mid-range jump shots and push the ball up the court to find scoring opportunities before Orlando could set up their defense. The Celtics did exactly what their coach wanted from them and cruised to the win. It's early in the season and I expect the Celtics success will tail off as other teams find their strengths. But it sure is fun to watch a team without any All Stars reel off a 4-game win streak. I know there are some Celtics fans who think the team should tank the season and increase their chances of landing a high lottery pick in the next year's draft. But Boston fans won't accept a write off season anymore. Maybe we would have pre-2004 when the Red Sox were still under the curse of the Bambino. Blame it on Brady for stepping in as a back-up quarterback in 2001 and taking the Patriots all the way to their first Super Bowl Championship. Blame it on this year's 2012-2013 Red Sox going from last place to World Series Champions. And blame it on Danny Ainge for pulling off a blockbuster trade to bring Garnett and Ray Allen to the Celtics in 2007. For better or for worse, there's no more write-off-this-year-and-wait-until-next-year mentality in Boston anymore. I'm off the camp that thinks it's better. Nobody likes a team that is built to lose.