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.

Is anyone surprised this dunk started with a Vince Carter turnover?

Don't be so glum, guys. You'll still win this series.

After yesterday’s game, I started thinking to myself (a scary thought, I know):  What does the loss mean?

I had figured Orlando would roll over and die, so I was quite surprised when they landed the first punch and then kept punching.  For the first time all series, it seemed, the Magic showed a little heart.  In the second half, at least, both teams played at their absolute highest intensity level.  The play wasn’t always pretty, but it was gritty — just two teams duking it out with a Finals berth on the line.  If you couldn’t admire the tenacity being displayed yesterday on both ends, you shouldn’t be watching basketball.  Period.

But what did it mean that Orlando won a game, in Boston, with both teams playing as hard as possible?  That should be a bad thing, right?  Right?

That’s what I thought at first, before contemplating anything.  Before I let this game sink in, I was worried about the whole “If the Magic win Game Five, pressure’s on Boston for Game Six” thing.  I’d just seen my Celtics suffer a heart-wrenching defeat, so I was in a bad mood in the first place.  Couple that with Orlando’s intensity boost and I was in full-blown ut-uh mood.  In my bothered state, I forgot about a couple things:  One, the Celtics are still leading 3-1.  It’s going to take three more wins for Orlando to turn this series on its side.  Unlikely, even if the Magic were clearly the better team.  They aren’t.

The other thing?  The Celtics played poorly, very poorly, yesterday.  Rajon Rondo was not himself, Paul Pierce was great but fell into full-fledged “hero” mode, and the C’s generally posted one of their worst offensive offerings since the playoffs began.  It wasn’t that nobody made plays — some Celtics did, at times.  But the ball wasn’t moving, only Pierce was attacking, and Rondo was non-existent.  The Celtics executed as poorly as possible (“It’s amazing how poorly we played and yet were still in the game,” Doc Rivers said) and STILL could have won that game.

Why did they still have a chance, despite playing so poorly?  Because Orlando doesn’t have enough offensively.  It sounds weird to say because the Magic were one of the best regular-season offenses in the NBA, but they don’t have enough offense to consistently score against Boston.  Jameer Nelson is their only player who can consistently create offense for himself or others… and even he doesn’t do it on a consistent, game-to-game basis.  He was fabulous yesterday, but Orlando can’t expect that type of effort out of Jameer night in and night out.  And Vince Carter, brought to Orlando be the Magic’s Mariano Rivera, is more like Harry Houdini — the man disappears, especially when it matters most.  Actually you can’t say he disappears, because everyone knew he was on the court.  But we only knew he was there because he played so horribly.  Never a good thing.

The Magic’s lack of creators was the reason why yesterday’s game went to overtime and the reason why the Celtics lost a heart-wrenching game rather than a blowout.  Whenever the Magic seemed poised to pull away they hit a dry spell and Boston would come storming right back.  Even when the game was tied and Orlando had the ball with 28 seconds left, I felt no fear.  Honestly, I turned to my brothers and said, “Who do they go to right here?  If it’s Vince, they’re screwed.  If it’s anyone else, they’re just as screwed.  There’s no way they score right here.”  And they didn’t.  Jameer Nelson settled for an ugly jumper and the Celtics were granted another opportunity to steal a win.  They didn’t, of course, but only because the C’s showed no poise — literally none — on the offensive side of the court.  Had the Celtics kept their heads, even a little, they would have won last night and been waiting L.A. or Phoenix in the Finals today.

What you can take out of last night’s game is that the Celtics will improve.  They will play better.  They will sharpen their execution and move the ball rather than see it stick in one person’s hands.  Rondo will attack and run the offense more smoothly.  The Celtics will be better.

At the same time, I’m not sure the Magic have another level to obtain.  Jameer Nelson played out of his mind, Dwight Howard was as monstrous as he ever will be and J.J. Redick got hotter than the Ecuadorian sun.  Sure, Vince Carter was awful and could play a whole lot better but — if you’re a Magic fan — do you actually trust that he’ll do anything besides shit the bed in Game Five?  Me neither.  The Magic played pretty well last night while the Celtics played as poorly as possible, and the game STILL went to overtime.

If the Celtics don’t win Game Five, even on the road, I’ll be shocked.  Seriously.

Howard isn't smiling anymore. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Boston Celtics defeated the Orlando Magic 94-71, for a sixth consecutive playoff win. The Celtics take a 3-0 series lead and can end the series Monday  in Game 4.

Boston forced Orlando into 17 turnovers and the Magic shot only 37%, tallying just 10 team assists. Meanwhile, Boston turned the ball over just 9 times, shot 47% and passed for 23 team assists. Glen Davis led six Celtics in double-figures with 17 points. Rajon Rondo contributed 11 points, 12 assists, 4 steals, and  a crowd-pleasing, sprint-and-dive  hustle-play early in the second quarter.

“Pure grit; pure hustle,” Garnett said in a post-game interview aired on ESPN. “It was the play of the playoffs.”

Shortly after Rondo’s play warmed the Garden crowd, Davis scored 7 straight points, moving the lead to 43-19, sending the crowd into a frenzy, all but dashing the Magic hopes of a comeback. Orlando was noticeably deflated by the series of events, and gave a lackluster effort the rest of the game.

Magic star Dwight Howard finished with just 7 points and 7 rebounds in 39 minutes of play. Rashard Lewis continued his struggles behind the arc, missing all four of his 3-point shots in the game. Lewis is 1-12 on 3-point field goals for the series.

Game 4 is in Boston on Monday at 8:30 ET on ESPN. A potential Game 5 would be Wednesday in Orlando at 8:30 ET on ESPN.

Play of the Game: Early in the second quarter, Orlando lost the the ball into the backcourt. Jason Williams loafed to the ball, seemingly the only player with a play on the ball. But Rajon Rondo never gave up on the play; he sprinted into the forecourt, dove past Williams, outfought him for the basketball, picked it up and finished the layup–to the the delight of the raucous TD Garden fans.

“I just wanted it,” Rajon Rondo said.

Game Notes: Glen Davis lead the Celtics in scoring for the first time all season, tallying 17 points (he also added 6 rebounds). With the Celtics up 36-19 early in the second quarter, Davis scored 7 straight points, moving the lead to 43-19 , all but dashing the Magic hopes of a comeback…In the third quarter, Paul Pierce tipped a made Magic basket back through the other side of the hoop, trying to pretend the ball didn’t go in. He continued the act even further by not taking the ball out–until the referees stopped the charade and made Boston in-bound the ball. On the next play, Matt Barnes retaliated by shoving Kevin Garnett right into his coach, Stan Van Gundy, who received a solid forecheck from KG…Boston Celtics were up double-digits in points since 3:30 left in the first quarter.

Jameer: "Vince, you've got to tell this Bianchi clown that YOU'RE the choke artist, not the Celtics."

Via the Orlando Sentinel:

You want to know why this series isn’t over?

Because it’s headed back to Boston, that’s why.

And, don’t kid yourself. In Boston sports right now there is something in the air that smells more rancid than curdled clam chowder.

It is the civic scent of uncertainty; the atmosphere of asphyxiation; the helpless feeling, that any minute, the local sports team might start choking and gagging like a Boston terrier with a splintered pork chop bone lodged in its throat.

The Boston Celtics lead the Orlando Magic 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals and the general consensus is this series is over. Of course, that’s what the Boston Bruins thought a couple of weeks ago when they were up 3-0 on the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup playoffs and proceeded to pull off the biggest choke job we’ve seen in sports since Latrell Sprewell tried to strangle P.J. Carlesimo.

The Flyers won the next four games, including Game 7 in Boston, and the Bruins became only the fourth team in the history of American sports to blow a 3-0 lead in a playoff series.

Don’t think Magic point guard Jameer Nelson, a Philly guy, isn’t reminding his teammates of the amazing comeback pulled off by his hometown hockey team.

“Those guys on the Flyers were counted out and look what they did,” Nelson says.

First of all, this writer (Mike Bianchi) is an idiot.  He’s normally good, but this is awful.  I know he’s reaching to offer any sliver of hope he can to whatever Magic fans haven’t jumped off the bandwagon yet, but — DAMN! — this is a Manute Bol reach.  But I guess Magic fans have to make things up to give them hope — their play has offered none and neither does the depressing history of teams that have gone down 0-2 on their own home court.  So they turn to Boston’s hockey team to offer a ray of light.  I’ve got to tell ya, though — when a hockey team’s collapse is the biggest light of hope an NBA team sees, it’s never a good thing for said NBA team.  In other news, I have a chance to beat Nate Robinson in a slam dunk contest because — once upon a time — Chaminade defeated Ralph Sampson’s #1-ranked Virginia team.  And I can’t even dunk.

Now, let me speak on the “helpless feeling, that any minute, the local sports team might start choking and gagging like a Boston terrier with a splintered pork chop bone lodged in its throat.”  Child please.  Really, Bianchi?  You’re better than that.  You know everyone in Boston has complete faith the Celtics will finish off the Magic.  You know that any intelligent person in Orlando does, too.  Not for a second do I doubt the Celtics will win this series.  (My 23,478,392nd jinx since Tuesday — if the C’s somehow lose this series, the ghost of Red Auerbach is going to show up at my door with a chainsaw.)  They just took two games in a row, on the road, and have clearly been the better team.  Both games ended up being close, but the final scores weren’t indicative of how dominant the Celtics were.  They’re simply playing at a level right now that Orlando can’t obtain.  Do you honestly think a Bruins collapse has us thinking the Celtics will fall apart too?

So no, Mike Bianchi, you stupid, moronic nitwit, we don’t have any “helpless feeling” heading into Game Three.  We don’t think our Celtics are going to choke and gag, either.  Remember, Vince Carter’s on your team, not ours.