(Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)
The Celtics held the Magic to franchise low 56 points Monday night and they shot 24.6 percent from the field (16-65). The Celtics were without five players that included Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo. Paul Pierce and Brandon Bass each finished with 19 points and Kevin Garnett had 14 points (1o rebounds). Dwight Howard was the only Magic player in double figures with 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Stan Van Gundy on the loss:
“It didn’t start well, and it got worse as the game went on,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said.
“That’s the most dominating defensive performance at least that I’ve ever had against me. There’s no singling anybody out. It’s the first game, I think, in my career I’ve ever been through where literally not one guy played well. We didn’t play well. So there’s no finger-pointing, and it’s why you get dominated. Not one guy had a good night, and I’m foremost among them.”
Doc Rivers on the Celtics defense:
“We ain’t going to get much better than this defensively, and I think it’s a good blueprint for them,’’ Rivers said. “But it also tells them how hard it was. It’s hard work. I mean, Avery was dying out there. But two weeks ago we couldn’t have done this anyway, honestly, because of conditioning. We would never have lasted. So now it’s a good sign we’re getting in better conditioning.
The Magic will face the Celtics again on Thursday in Orlando, so they get the chance to redeem themselves.
