Dimemag.com listed the NBA’s 63 richest players in the league, and it got me thinking, Who are the most overpaid players at each position?

PG: Gilbert Arenas- Maybe not a point guard, but I’m putting him in this spot because he has played some PG, and there are no more overpaid guards than Arenas. Arenas has played just 42 games in the past three seasons due to injuries and last season’s suspension for bringing guns into the lockerroom. That’s a measly 14 games a season, meaning Arenas made more than $1 million per game played over the past three season. Arenas will be paid $18.3 million this season. Now that’s a cushy job.

SG: Michael Redd- Another player who is overpaid because of the amount of games he has missed. At least all the games Redd missed were because of injury. But when you’re paid $18.3 million this season, and you’ve played just 44 games in the past two seasons, I have no choice but to list you as the league’s most overpaid shooting guard. Sorry, Mr. Redd.

SF: Andrei Kirilenko- At $17.8 million, Kirilenko is the HIGHEST paid small forward in the NBA. Yes, you read that correctly. With career averages of 12. 4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.1 blocks, that’s an absurd contract.

PF: Rashard Lewis- Behind Kobe Bryant, the highest paid player in the league at $19.5 million. In the Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics, he shot 17% from three’s and averaged just 8.2 points. ‘Nuff said.

C: Eddy Curry- No list of overpaid players would be complete without Curry. Curry will make $11.3 million next season, yet he has played only 10 games over the past two seasons. In those 10 games, Curry has played less than 75 total minutes. Basically, Curry has played a game and a half over the past two seasons, making more that $20 million. I want to work for James Dolan. Maybe he’ll pay me and my brother $10 million per post.

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Sweet knee pads,Chief.

Gerry Callahan, Boston Herald – “But you know what Bird never did? This. What we’re watching the Celtics do right now, before our eyes, in this surreal spring of 2010. He never took you on the kind of magical mystery ride that Doc Rivers’ team is enjoying as we speak. [...] These Celtics already have eliminated the top two teams in the regular season. The Cavs won 61 games, and now their coach, Mike Brown, is on the street. The Magic won 59, and now they’re feeling as good about themselves as British Petroleum. This Green team is blowing holes in entire franchises. If LeBron James leaves Cleveland as expected, he always will remember what happened in his final game in front of the hometown fans. The Celtics beat him, and the fans booed him. Unlike Brown, Stan Van Gundy will survive in Orlando, but there is a casualty list just the same: On it are the reputations of erstwhile stars Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis. The Celtics didn’t beat them. They ruined them. The Keyser Soze Celts have destroyed many things in this postseason, including the old axiom that the best player usually wins in the NBA. Not this year. The team with the best player just keeps going home while the team with the toughest players moves on.”

Dave McMenamin, ESPN Los Angeles – “Bynum suffered a slight tear of the meniscus of his right knee in Game 6 against the Thunder and has been limited in the playoffs, averaging 9.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 24.2 minutes per game while recovering from a late-season strain to his left Achilles and navigating the pain and swelling that accompanied the right knee injury. ‘It was just getting worse,’ Bynum said after the Lakers film session in preparation for the Celtics on Monday. ‘The swelling wasn’t leaving so we had to do it … I was doing the treatment, but [the swelling] wasn’t going anywhere like in the previous three rounds so I just had to drain it.’ Bynum said he could not feel any immediate benefit from the drain because there was still medicine in the knee numbing the pain, but said he would find out if the procedure had a positive impact Wednesday, when he plans to return to practice. ‘It supposedly will make you feel more healthy, so that I’ll find out come practice day,” Bynum said. “I think that practice is going to be what kind of determines that for me, especially because I’ll be running on it and cutting and it will be a full, hard day.’ The procedure did wonders for Bryant, who described the draining as having “the nasty stuff sucked out of my knee.” Bryant averaged 24 points on 38.4 percent shooting in the first four games against the Thunder before having his knee drained and has been on a tear ever since, averaging 31.3 points on 51.5 percent shooting in his last 12 games.”

Rob Bradford, WEEI – “Speaking on the Planet Mikey Show Monday night, KTLA’s Ted Green said that he should ‘probably apologize for’ the line he wrote referencing Paul Pierce’s stabbing in his column for the LA Times. Green wrote of Pierce that the Celtics star’s ‘idea of a fun night is going clubbing and getting stabbed. Good times!’ ‘That one was something I probably should apologize for. That one was not only too close to the line, but maybe over,’ Green said. ‘The truth is I think Paul Pierce is a very, very good player. A Hall of Fame caliber player. I probably shouldn’t have gone to the stabbing card.’”

Mike Petraglia, WEEI – “Rivers was told by more than one member of the recently-excused Phoenix Suns that if you plan on carrying through with the directive of Celtics fans everywhere, you better bring your hard hats and be prepared to rebound against the defending NBA champs. That, of course, means being physical and not backing down. That also means that Kendrick Perkins needs to play with perfectly-controlled fury or risk his seventh technical foul, bringing with it an automatic one-game suspension. ‘Our talks [with Perkins] haven’t worked yet, so maybe I should have another one,’ Rivers said. ‘I’m concerned by it, honestly. What I’m concerned by with this is that it’s going to be a physical series. There’s going be guys that get tangled up under the basket, and there are going to be officials who are going to want to clean the game up. Perk may be in that. And the double technical — that’s why I’ve been on the double technical thing for a month now. This double technical thing should not be part of the seven techs, it really shouldn’t be. But it is and it’s a factor. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a factor in this series.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Rivers, four wins away from his second NBA title in three years, is more in the conversation than ever on the subject of the league’s great coaches. Paul Pierce certainly has his coach ranked high on the list. ‘I put him right up there,’ the Celtics captain said. ‘This is the only coach I ever want to play for again. He’s taken my career to the next level. He’s got to be up there with the top five coaches. You have to say Phil (Jackson), Gregg Popovich, he’s right there with them.’ Asked about Rivers’ deliberations about leaving the Celtics following the season, Pierce, who has an option on his own contract, joked, ‘I haven’t really thought about that. Are they concerned I might leave? That’s stuff for after the season.’”

Lisa Dillman, LA Times – “One of the lines of questioning with Pierce had to do with Rivers’ stabilizing force as coach, the ability to stay unruffled when things were at their darkest for the Celtics in an injury-riddled second half of the season. ‘You can see, at times, you play for coaches when things aren’t going right,’ Pierce said. ‘Practices get harder and yelling becomes louder. Doc is a cool customer. He didn’t panic. He didn’t get louder. He just stuck with the game plan. A lot of times when you go through a stretch we went through — we lost five games out of six, seven out of 10, you kind of tell through a coach’s body language that things are going [poorly] … you never really saw that with Doc.’”

Dan Ventura, Boston Herald – “Dwyane Wade and the Heat wilted in five games. LeBron James was so demoralized by the Celtics, he didn’t even reach the Cavs’ locker room before ripping off his jersey following the decisive Game 6. Magic center Dwight Howard and his renowned elbows were shipped back to Orlando after falling 4-2 in the Eastern Conference finals. As impressive as those conquests have been, there is a bigger obstacle standing between the Celtics and their quest for Banner 18 – Kobe Bryant. The Lakers guard enters the NBA Finals on a high note, having poured in 37 points in a 111-103 victory against the Phoenix Suns in the decisive Game 6 on Saturday night. Every time the Suns threatened to come back in the fourth quarter, there was Bryant responding with one contested bucket after another. ‘Watching that ending in Phoenix, I don’t know how those shots go in,’ Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. ‘But because it’s him, you didn’t even think it was a bad shot. It’s just what he does.’”

Shira Springer, Boston Globe – “‘We’re a different team,’ said Bryant, when pressed for comparisons between the group that lost to the Celtics and the one looking to defend its title. ‘[The 2008 Finals] really taught us what it takes to win in terms of rebounding, the energy, the intensity you have to play with.’ Added Odom: ‘Sometimes it’s crazy how the stars align and bring you to moments in your life. We have a chance to make history.’ Although Bryant kept his answers brief, Jackson acknowledged the Lakers star may have taken the 2008 Finals loss more personally. ‘He devotes so much of his life to this game,’ said Jackson. ‘It really does take an inordinate amount of time in his daily life. It’s not a pastime to him. This is a devotion, not just an avocation. When you throw yourself into it as deeply as he does, all those things count a little bit more.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Paul Pierce was walking his dog in a crosswalk, and they saw each other. The Lakers coach, not completely satisfied with the 2009 NBA title his team won at the expense of the Orlando Magic – a matchup Pierce likened in a memorable tweet to a poodle fighting a German shepherd – still wanted another shot at the 2008 champs. So Jackson told Pierce to get his team back together for the 2010 rematch. Pierce laughed yesterday at the news Jackson now is sharing this story with people. ‘Anytime you lose in a championship game, that’s something you can’t forget,’ the Celtics captain said. ‘You’re talking about the biggest stage. I played in a lot of championship games in AAU when we lost those games. It hurt more. You probably would rather lose earlier than in a championship game when you come so close. I know it’s something that sticks in their mind. They only play for championships, and they only hang championship banners. It hurts not only the Lakers, but the Boston Celtics.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “From the outside looking in, Artest is the perfect fit. ‘He makes a difference,’ said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. ‘I think that’s the one thing that’s been overlooked all year for them. I’ve heard all year how Artest doesn’t fit, hasn’t fit, and I’m thinking, he’s been perfect, because it’s allowed Kobe not to have to guard the best player every night. I think it’s clear, you can see it in Kobe’s offensive numbers, He’s as fresh as I’ve ever seen him in the playoffs and I think it’s due to Ron Artest. So that’s where he’s been perfect for them.’ Pierce’s playoff battles with Artest go back to 2003 when the Celtics bounced the Pacers in the first round. Pierce averaged 25.8 points in the six-game series, but his respect for Artest went without saying. ‘He’s one of the best defenders I’ve ever played against, and he takes pride in that,’ Pierce said. ‘Just being able to lock down opponents night in, night out. We’ve had some battles and it’ll be a tough challenge.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “The Lakers would have loved another clash with the Celtics a year ago. Some believe the Celtics would have made it happen had it not been for Kevin Garnett’s season-ending knee injury. ‘It’s driven all of us,’ said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. ‘We didn’t have that opportunity last year. The Lakers won, but we didn’t have that opportunity. Honestly, we weren’t playing that great anyway when we were not injured. But now we’re a little different than that team. The starting five is the same, but we have a different bench, we have different guys and so do they.’ For Pierce, who grew up watching the Lakers, the matchup is only right. ‘I want to go there and try to win a championship in my hometown again,’ Pierce said. ‘Just the rivalry period. Just the motivation of being in the championship. So many things motivate you for being in the Finals. I can just pretty much put all the things in a hat and pick one.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “The Celtics have won nine of 11 NBA Finals against the Lakers, making this not so much a rivalry as a domination. In the golden era of fantasy sports, when all-time teams can be pitted against each other via video screens, the Globe decided to match the 15 top Celtics and Lakers from those 11 Finals to see who would win a seven-game series. That’s Bob Cousy vs. Magic Johnson. Bill Russell vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Paul Pierce vs. Elgin Baylor. And before we begin, this is just players who faced the Lakers or Celtics in a Finals, so that leaves out Dave Cowens for the Celtics and Shaquille O’Neal for the Lakers.”

Andy Kamenetzky, ESPN Los Angeles – “When Ron joined the Lakers last July, it was with the unabashed goal of winning a ring. Dude mentioned this every possible chance. He’s now four wins away from getting fitted for jewelry, but ironically less willing to even fathom the moment. “I’m not looking that far ahead,” maintained Artest. I asked if the championship possibility is almost too real now, sitting right in front of him as opposed to a goal off in the distance. He offered an interesting analogy: ‘You set the goal. I guess it’s like when you’re cooking food, you buy the ingredients. You know what you want to make. I guess we’re cooking right now. It’s still cooking.’”

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – “When Ortiz met Davis at Josh Beckett’s charity bowling event during Davis’ rookie year, he was surprised to learn the “humongous dude” was actually one of the newest members of the Celtics. The two shared a brief conversation, one that has stood out in Ortiz’s mind for years. ‘He said, ‘I’m trying to work hard because I want to be one of them. I want people to remember me in this city as a great player, and I’m working hard to get to it,’” Ortiz recalled. ‘So I said, ‘Keep on doing what you’re doing and you’re going to be just fine.” Davis’ ambition reminded Ortiz of his own. As Ortiz listened to the young athlete, he was taken back to the time when he was an eager ballplayer who had just been traded from the Minnesota Twins to the Red Sox. He remembered how anxious he was to put his stamp on Boston, the same sense of excitement Davis exuded. ‘That’s the reason exactly why he caught my attention a lot,’ Ortiz said. ‘I remember when I first got here with the Red Sox coming from Minnesota and there’s nothing but history and great players around. I remember my agent telling me, ‘If you go to this city and play well and help the team to win a World Series, they’re going to remember you forever.’ And I busted my tail off just to do that because it was my goal. Now watching him doing the same thing, it brings me highlights and memories back.’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Methinks Dwight was talking about Vince.

It seems like Dwight Howard has some serious problems with his teammates’ heart. (Boston Globe)

Dwight Howard (31 points, 13 rebounds) gave standard answers to most of the questions on how the Celtics beat the Magic, but he did give a couple of revealing answers about his own team: “Next year we’ve got to have guys that are willing to give everything they’ve got to get wins,” said Howard. “In games like this or a series like this, it’s not about skill or talent, because it’s the Eastern Conference championship. Both teams are talented and skilled. It’s about who wants it the most and who is willing to do it for a series. Those guys played like they wanted to win the championship the whole series. That’s why they’re in the position that they’re in now.” Howard added, “Everybody wanted to do it on their own. That’s not what got us back to Game 6 ‑‑ this is Game 6. You know, just everybody wanted to do it by themselves. In a situation like this, you’ve got to keep fighting together.”

It doesn’t take Russell Crowe from “A Beautiful Mind” to understand that Howard’s speaking about Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis.  Orlando’s two most talented offensive players, Carter and Lewis went MIA for the playoffs’ third round.  The disappearances of Carter and Lewis helped expose the Magic for what they were — dangerous front-runners and not much else.

When the Magic were winning, everything looked so easy.  The ball would be moving, shots would be swishing, and defensive rotations would be impeccable.  But give them a deficit, and it was an entirely different story.  I don’t know whether it was because they didn’t have enough heart or because they were simply a poorly-constructed team, but the Magic struggled when they got down.  They were like the hard-hitting heavyweight with a glass jaw: When they got quick knockouts they looked unbeatable, but when pitted against an experienced fighter willing to stand toe-to-toe the Magic wilted.

Everyone wilted, that is, except for Howard.  Howard didn’t advance to the Finals this season but he really proved himself as a player and competitor.  It’s always been easy to complain about Howard’s competitive spirit — he’s always smiling, so it’s easy to use the smile as a convenient excuse to call out Howard’s heart and wonder why he isn’t snarling instead.

But this series, Howard was a warrior.  He battled against four big bodies focused on nothing but being physical with him.  A lot of Celtics fans will be upset about Howard’s elbows (and those fans probably have a good point) but the bigger story was Howard’s improvement.  His team didn’t win, but Howard grew up in this series.  By Game Six, he was an unstoppable force even against a Celtics frontcourt designed almost perfectly to stop him.

Say what you want about Howard’s smile, but at this point of his career all it does is hide the fierce competitor underneath.

Rashard Lewis said he wouldn’t play tonight’s game if it was regular season game, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Lewis has been battling a stomach virus all series long and will likely receive IV fluids before Game 5.

Robbins writes:

But the illness also has taken a toll. Lewis revealed today that he missed the Magic’s shootaround prior to Game 2 because he had to go to a doctor and receive an IV. He also acknowledged that the virus affected him in Game 3.

Lewis said, “I feel like my body shut down on me in Game 3 out there in Boston and [was] a little bit better in Game 4 just because of the fact that I was able to get some IVs right before the game.”

When asked if he would’ve played in the regular season with the illness, Lewis responded, “In the regular season, I probably would’ve sat out. But not to make no excuses, it is the playoffs, and you’ve got to just go out there and give it 100 percent. It’s the playoffs, so I’ve got to get out there and drag myself out there at some point.”

Lewis’ illness seems plausible considering how poorly he has played in the series. At the same time, Lewis seems to be using the flu as an excuse for his poor play. Lewis is a former All-Star who is currently under contract for $126 million. At this stage of the playoffs, almost everybody is banged up. Michael Jordan certainly never used the flu as an excuse. In the playoffs, players just have to suck it up and continue to play as hard they can, for as long as they can.

Superman got knocked down. Can he beat the 10-count tonight?

After losing Game 3 by 23 points, and putting themselves in an 0-3 hole that no NBA team has overcome, Orlando appears to be a drowning team.  Boston has come at Orlando in unrelenting waves of vocal defense, fluid offense, and total concentration.

Rajon Rondo’s now famous diving steal/ layup has become a microcosm of the series: Boston is outhustling and outworking a surprisigly blase Orlando Magic team.

This series has reminded me a lot of a boxing match. In Game 1, Boston punched the Magic in the collective mouth, sending them sprawling to the canvas. Orlando was not ready for Boston’s physicality, especially Dwight Howard who struggled with Kendrick Perkins’ physical defense and Rasheed Wallace’s judo-chops.

In Game 2, Orlando came back, cuts healed, energy restored, ready to avenge their round 1 knockdown. Boston and Orlando exchanged punches all game long, but, at the end of the game,  Vince Carter missed two crucial free throws with Orlando down three and Kevin Garnett and Rondo proved to be too much .

After losing the second round–the second game– on points, Orlando came out for Game 3 and promptly took a 27-12 beating in the first quarter. All of the sudden, the cuts reopened, the Magic’s legs collectively wobbled and Rajon Rondo knocked Orlando down once again with what has become the highlight of the playoffs.

The Orlando Magic still haven’t gotten up off the mat. So what do I expect to happen in Game 4? I think Orlando will throw in the towel. Nothing the Magic have said or done since getting knocked down by Rondo suggests a miraculous comeback. The Magic appear to be a dead team– ready for golf, fishing, and the off season.

Notebook:

Rajon Rondo has turned his cell phone off for the entire playoffs so that he can focus 100% on basketball…Brian Scalabrine praises Tom Thibodeau and says he’d be a great fit in Chicago…Paul Pierce thinks the Orlando Magic miss Hedo Turkoglu…Dwight Howard told a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel that “there is no need for us to be down”

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

The Celtics say the Pizza Man would help Orlando more than Vince.

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – “The sudden disappearance of Rashard Lewis is not the only thing missing from the Magic team that defeated the Celtics in last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals. This time around they are playing without Hedo Turkoglu, who left Orlando last summer and signed a mulit-year deal with the Raptors. Even though the Magic acquired Vince Carter in his place — a role Carter’s teammates say he has filled well — the Celtics have noticed a difference in matchups without Turkoglu on the court. It is one they have benefited from in the conference finals. ‘Definitely with Turkoglu, he adds a size matchup being at 6’10 he can play the two, the three, the one. Obviously a walking matchup problem,’ Paul Pierce said following practice on Sunday. ‘I just think the things that he does playing with the ball and off the ball in the post, he’s one of the more versatile small forwards in the NBA and one of the toughest that I’ve seen to guard. Them not having him, I think it really works in our favor.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Being optimistic, coach Doc Rivers figured the defense would be better in the postseason. Being realistic, he knew if the Celtics wanted to win, they had no choice. ‘It had to be [better],’ Rivers said yesterday. ‘During the regular season, teams were hitting 110. We clearly are a different team.’ Indeed, the Celtics have had the Magic boxed in for the majority of the Eastern Conference finals, taking a three-games-to-none-lead with a 94-71 win Saturday night. The Celtics, who can close out the series tonight at the Garden, have given up 100 points just three times in these playoffs — their only three losses. In their 11 playoff wins, the Celtics have held opponents to 84.9 points a game. The defense that struggled to keep teams from hanging 100 at the end of the regular season is now playing as well as it has all season. ‘We’re playing well,’ said Rivers. ‘We’re playing as a group. There’s a lot of individual defenders on our team. [Rajon] Rondo can be terrific. So can Kevin [Garnett] and Perk [Kendrick Perkins]. But the reason we’re playing well is because as a group, we’re doing it together. We’re doing it in system.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘I still don’t think [Kevin Garnett is] 100 percent – maybe about 85 percent,’ Perkins said. ‘He’s showing flashes of his old self, though, like how he shows in the pick-and-roll. He’s defending the pick-and-roll and getting back on the isolation. I don’t know how much better he can get at it. All I know is that he’s doing that great now.’ And as far as defending Orlando is concerned, the Celtics are getting all they need from their defensive heart. ‘It’s obvious, how much better he is now,’ Pierce said. ‘You’re seeing it in the way he rebounds the ball and sprints down the court. Let’s face it: Without Kevin we can’t win a championship. I’m replaceable, Ray’s replaceable, Rondo. But you can’t replace Kevin.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “‘We have a lot of different leaders on the team,’ Rondo said. ‘It starts with me, but Kevin is our vocal leader. Paul is our captain. And Ray is our leader as well. It’s no particular person that’s the exact leader.’ In an interview with CSNNE.com, Allen had similar comments about the C’s leadership this season. ‘Each guy on this team is an individual leader,’ Allen said. ‘Having a voice and leading. And sometimes not having a voice, and just leading by example. There’s a lot of different scenarios.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “On a club with this much talent, the sight of the Magic failing to play for each other is a clear sign that no magnetic force in sneakers has yet emerged. Watching them get humiliated Saturday night, the mind wandered back to the 2007 Red Sox falling behind Cleveland in baseball’s playoffs. David Ortiz called a players-only meeting, grabbed his jersey and said that wearing the Sox suit made one ‘a bad (very long expletive).’ Who among the Magic, we wondered, would step up and make that speech? (Insert audio of crickets here.) The players said they’d had an upbeat practice, but afterward they looked more like they were at a wake. Their own. Perhaps the corpse of the previous night’s debacle hadn’t yet cooled. ‘I’ll be honest,’ said Van Gundy. ‘I’m somebody who says I’m never shocked, but I was shocked (Saturday) night that we didn’t handle the situation better and play with more intensity and determination. I was shocked by our lack of effort throughout the game (Saturday) night. That shocked me. Look, they thumped us pretty good. Everything’s got to change, from our defensive disposition to our effort to our offensive energy and decision making.’”

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – “The Celtics are one game away from eliminating the Magic and advancing to the NBA Finals, and they believe credit should be given where credit is due. ‘I believe we deserve all the credit,’ Ray Allen said following practice on Sunday. ‘It’s only two teams playing. We’re putting them in the situation that they’re in, and we’re adjusting and trying to find the ways that we can confuse them as much as we can, and make it tough defensively on them and offensively. They’re not going out there and doing it to themselves.’”

ESPNBoston.com – “Rajon Rondo is enjoying a playoff run for the ages. He is averaging over 17 points, 10 assists and five rebounds per game. He is just the fourth different player to have those numbers in playoff history. The others are Magic Johnson (nine times), Isiah Thomas (1985) and Bob Cousy (1959).”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “The Magic are being counted out, and their effort in Game 3 gave neither their fan base nor anyone else reason to believe the series will extend beyond tonight. ‘We can still play great basketball and we will [tonight],’ said Nelson, the lone Magic player who has consistently played with desire in the series. ‘It’s just been mental breakdowns. Before practice, I was frustrated a lot. But it’s over with. There are numerous things we could have done a lot better. Our effort wasn’t there and film doesn’t lie. We can complain and say things during the course of the game, but when you sit there and watch film and you see things, that’s the mental toughness we’ve been lacking for the first three games. This is not the team you’ve seen win 59 [in the regular season], and the first two series. But we’ve got to prepare ourselves for this game and put those three behind us.’ So the goal, at least for now, has been reduced from winning the NBA Finals to winning one game.”

Michael Vega, Boston Globe – “Did the Bruins’ playoff demise serve as a cautionary tale for the Celtics after their 94-71 victory in Game 3 Saturday night gave them a three-games-to-none lead over the Magic? ‘Well, it should be,’ said coach Doc Rivers yesterday during practice in preparation for tonight’s Game 4 at the Garden. ‘I know you guys will make it [a cautionary tale], so I don’t even have to worry about that. The greatest part — and probably the toughest part — about playing sports or coaching sports in Boston is the history. Everyone’s going to remind you of the good history, and everyone’s going to remind you of the bad history. So, in some ways, it could be a benefit for us.’ Though Kevin Garnett acknowledged ‘closeout games are the hardest, the most difficult’ games to win, he was quick to point out, ‘This is not hockey,’ when asked if he had any concerns about the Celtics suffering the same fate as the Bruins. ‘I’m not even looking at that,’ he said. ‘The Bruins are not the Celtics and the Celtics are not the Bruins. It’s apples and oranges.’”

ESPNBoston.com – “[Stuart] Scott: ‘How does Orlando try to win Game 4?’ [Magic] Johnson: ‘Honestly, they can’t. I’m going to just be honest. When you think about the Boston Celtics defense, they’ve taken away everybody, especially the role players. … They’ve broken Orlando’s will to win. I don’t see the spirit, I don’t see the will of this team coming out to beat the Boston Celtics.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Celtics coach Doc Rivers suggested Sunday that reserve guard Tony Allen has been playing through ankle pain that left the team wondering if he’d even be available for Game 3. ‘Tony’s ankle has been bothering him a lot, but he’s playing through it,’ said Rivers. Allen missed the first 20 games of the 2009-10 season with a sore right ankle after rushing himself back from offseason ankle surgery and aggravating the injury during the only preseason game he appeared in.”

Rich Levine, CSNNE – “In 2010, it’s about greed. It’s about wanting more, but knowing, deep down, that if it doesn’t work out, there’s still that one; that no one will go home completely empty-handed. That’s not to say that the motivation isn’t there. This team has a whole new set of doubters to prove wrong. A second title would take them to borderline dynastic. But there’s still nothing like the first, and no way to re-create that urgency. That doesn’t mean the Celtics are doomed. It’s just another reason why, as the captain said, this year’s completely different.”

Steve Buckley, Boston Herald – “This past regular season, with too many people hurt, too many questions, too many observers whispering they’d be one-and-done in the playoffs, the Celtics were just 24-17 at home. By comparison, the Toronto Raptors, who at 40-42 had only the 19th best record in the NBA, were 25-16 at home. Yet there was Kevin Garnett Saturday night, taking in Gino Time as only he can. For not only are the Celtics ‘back,’ they have conquered whatever problems they brought out to the parquet during the regular season. When they take the court tonight for Game 4 against the deflated, sad Magic, the Garden will be primed and ready to be the launching pad to the team’s second trip to the NBA Finals in three years. It wasn’t long ago – just weeks, really – that people were asking which of Boston’s four pro sports franchises was the closest to winning a championship. Few had the Celtics on the list, even after they dismissed the Miami Heat in just five games in the first round. The Celtics made believers of everyone when they humiliated the Cleveland Cavaliers in the next round, but there was one home clunker in the mix: a 124-95 loss to the Cavs. But think big picture: The Celtics are 6-1 at home in the postseason.”

Mark Heisler, L.A. Times – “Just what the Lakers needed, a real series. Now a virtual certainty that they will play rough, tough Boston — should they advance, of course — the Lakers found themselves needing a quick knockout in the Western Conference finals, but they didn’t get it Sunday. Instead, the Phoenix Suns climbed off the canvas and smote them, 118-109, meaning that the Lakers either put the Suns back on the ropes Tuesday or the series will go from ‘real’ to ‘tied.’”

Paula Boivin, Arizona Republic – “If you can judge a man by his shoes, then you can judge a basketball player by his locker. Amar’e Stoudemire has a diagram of John Wooden’s pyramid of success taped inside his space. On a shelf is a book called ‘Becoming Vegan.’ The man has spoken a lot about becoming a more complete player. On Sunday in Game 3 against the Los Angeles Lakers, he finally delivered. Forty-two points. Eleven rebounds. And a big-time nasty attitude. This is what the Suns have wanted from Stoudemire, what they needed if they hoped to avoid a Lakers sweep. It is the type of game that tips the scale toward staying as the front office contemplates how hard to court him. ‘He got his way (Sunday night),’ Lakers forward Pau Gasol said after the Suns 118-109 victory. ‘We’ll get our way next time.’ Will they? Those are words Stoudemire should embrace. He did it Sunday night. The Suns need him to bring it again.”

AP – “The Cleveland Cavaliers have fired coach Mike Brown after five seasons for failing to win an NBA title with LeBron James. ‘After a long and deep analysis of all of the factors that led to the disappointing early ends to our playoff runs over the past two seasons, we concluded that it was time for the Cavaliers to move in a different direction,’ Gilbert said Monday in a statement released by the team. ‘The expectations of this organization are very high and, although change always carries an element of risk, there are times when that risk must be taken in an attempt to break through to new, higher levels of accomplishment. This is one of those times.’”

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