Battered, the Celtics Have Enough to Advance

They had met before in the paint amid smiles and well wishes when Dwight Howard allowed Nate Robinson to leap over him to win the slam dunk title at last year’s All-Star Game. They found themselves there again Friday with a real title on the line — the Eastern Conference’s — Howard and Robinson, who share two of the N.B.A.’s highest verticals, but little else. The moment showed in Robinson’s intent and deliverance. Even though the encounter resulted in only a hard foul from Howard, it also reflected Robinson’s relentlessness.
Robinson served as a catalyst, pushing the Celtics to an 18-point early lead and the mainstays Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen delivered throughout for a series-settling 96-84 blasting of the Orlando Magic in Game 6 of the conference finals.
Boston won the series, 4-2, but not without some lost teeth, muscle spasms and concussions after winning the first three games and facilitating an Orlando resurgence.
The Celtics will play in the finals for the 21st time in the franchise’s decorated history against either the Los Angeles Lakers or Phoenix Suns. The Lakers can clinch the title on Saturday night.
If the Lakers win, the finals will represent a rematch of the 2008 finals that concluded with Boston hanging a 17th championship banner.
“Beat L.A.” chants erupted from the TD Garden crowd early in the fourth quarter.
Before the season, Celtics Coach Doc Rivers placed a blank championship banner at the team’s practice facility, representing the organization’s quest for another title. It seemed like a lofty goal during the regular season, in which Boston struggled for stretches before revving in gear for the playoffs, beating the Heat, Cavaliers and the defending conference champions.
The party started early and Robinson played master of ceremonies for a dizzying eight-minute sequence.
Robinson sent the T.D. Banknorth Garden into delirium in the first half. First came a pair of 3-pointers, then he outhustled Jameer Nelson for a loose ball, drawing a flagrant-1 foul when Nelson pushed him from behind. Next, Robinson dropped in a 23-foot jumper followed by a high-arcing one-legged floater.
With the game bouncing to his frenetic rhythm, Robinson attempted his dunk over Howard.
In between, Robinson flexed, chanted, danced and screamed. The scene only needed a bow for its completion. The display is mostly new here, but it had been done in New York before Knicks Coach Mike D’Antoni soured on Robinson and benched him for 14 games, prompting his February trade to Boston.
Rivers stressed as early as the regular season that Robinson would impact a playoff game. Until Friday, though, Robinson sat plunked near the end of the bench and contributed mostly by encouraging.
Robinson had played more than 10 minutes only once in the last 16 games and Rivers did not play him at all in seven of them.
When the blur of Robinson settled and he took a seat with 3 minutes and 27 seconds left in the second quarter, Boston led by 16 points and took a 55-42 halftime lead. Robinson had detonated for 13 points. His emergence even left Rajon Rondo, who provided Boston with a healthy start with 12 first-quarter points, on the floor at the end of the bench, nursing a sore back. The Celtics never looked back.
Allen nailed two 3-pointers early in the third quarter and finished with 20 points. Pierce secured a game-high 31 points and Garnett had 10 points and 5 rebounds. Robinson added 13 points.
The loss completes a reversal for Orlando after the Magic reached the finals last season and painlessly swept their first two playoff rounds against the Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks.
The Magic join the Cleveland Cavaliers as stranded passengers on Boston’s joy ride. Unlike Cleveland, Orlando’s core is under contract for the long term. Howard scored a team-high 28 points and earned the scorn of Boston fans for his hard fouls and the lingering sentiment for his inadvertent elbow that left Glen Davis with a concussion on Wednesday.
Davis checked in four minutes into the game for Garnett, who received his second foul by attempting to karate chop Howard’s arm free of him. On the first opportunity afforded him, Davis drove hard through the line where Howard fouled him. He followed with a layup on Boston’s next possession.
Rasheed Wallace, bothered by back spasms, entered for the first time with about a minute left in the first quarter, but was forced to leave the game in the fourth quarter.
The off-day talk also concerned the conditions of Davis and Marquis Daniels.
The Celtics’ medical staff cleared Davis to play after he warmed up and took jumpers on the court.
Daniels, Rivers said, briefly lost feeling in his hands after colliding with Orlando’s Marcin Gortat. He was also told he had a concussion and may be sidelined the rest of the postseason.

XOXO:

24 (Twenty-Four) Seasons 1-8 DVD Boxset


Detailed DVD Info
Category:Action Crime Drama Mystery Thriller
Name:24 (Twenty-Four)
Season:1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
TV Series Release Date:6 November 2001
Aspect Ratio:1.78: 1
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Language:English With Removable Subtitles
Format:Support Both NTSC and PAL
Discs:55 pcs

TV Series Info
Leading Role: Kiefer Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Carlos Bernard, Dennis Haysbert, James Morrison, Elisha CuthbertDirector: Robert Cochran, Joel Surnow


Plot Summary
In this concept drama, each season takes place within one 24 hour period. Jack Bauer is the head of an elite team of CIA agents who uncover an assassination plot targeting Presidential nominee David Palmer. Meanwhile, Jack's strained marriage to his wife, Teri, is pushed to the brink by the sudden disappearance of their troubled teenage daughter. What will the next 24 hours hold?


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