Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said the Celtics’ near comeback from a 28-point third quarter deficit in Game 1 might have had an upside.
“In a lot of ways, it was a good win to get. If they had not made the comeback, and we end up winning it by 20 or whatever . . . I think it makes it a lot harder for our guys to really focus and making improvements,” he said.
Might sound counterintuitive, but Van Gundy was encouraged to hear “an unhappy locker room” after the win.
“From a coaching standpoint, probably the ideal is to have a win and to have a group of guys unhappy and ready to focus,” he said. “It was an unhappy locker room after the game. Very upset with themselves. And you usually only get that after a loss.”
For the Celtics there was little time for a party after losing home-court advantage to the Magic.
Tuesday was supposed to just include a brief film session. It turned into a long study of video tape from Game 1 and some light work.
As pleased as the Boston fans might have been to see the Celtics trim a big deficit to just three points, coach Doc Rivers said he hoped his team wouldn’t get caught up in the “fool’s gold” of their late spurt.
“Let’s hope it was us and not them, because if it was us we have a lot of changes to make,” he said. “We need to see that same effort in the first and third quarters if we are going to win.”
Tugging on the cape Rivers wants to see his team attack the paint tonight — and not be leery of challenging Superman. Center Dwight Howard had three blocks in Game 1 and seemed to have the Celtics afraid to go inside.
That was especially true with backcourt mates Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo. Both were 2-of-12 from the field, with Allen taking nearly all jumpers. Allen said he thought they might have shown Howard “too much respect” in the middle.
“Yeah, because he’s down there and we know he blocks shots,” Allen said. “But you’ve got to put pressure on him. You got to jump and get him in foul trouble. If not, and the paint is clogged, you kick it out for an open shot on the perimeter. But those are the things we have to do.”
Rivers agreed, saying: “The best play of the night is when (Rondo) took it strong to the hole (and tried to dunk) on (Howard). He got fouled hard and knocked to the floor. But he can’t get anywhere by trying to shoot over the top of him. From what I hear he’s a pretty good shot blocker.”
