The Orlando Magic went 0-9 from deep in the first half against the Boston Celtics, and for a team that set the record for most three pointers in a season, that is pretty rare (in fact, they haven’t done it in more than 2 years – against the Nets 2/26/08).  Many people are praising the Celtics defense for these misses, but when looking at the attempts closer, you can see that all of these attempts were all pretty good looks that you can expect the Magic to make.

Attempt 1:

Here, Rajon Rondo sinks in trying to grab the offensive board (as we talked about in the past), and one way to make the Celtics pay for that is pushing it in transition which is exactly what the Magic do here.  Dwight Howard quickly outlets it to Jameer Nelson and with nobody picking him up, he attempts a wide open three.  A Good Look.

Attempt 2:

On this attempt, the Magic run a quick pick and pop with Nelson as the ball handler and Rashard Lewis as the screener.  After the screen, Lewis pops out to the three point line and makes the catch.  Ray Allen rotates to Lewis, leaving Matt Barnes wide open in the corner.  A Good Look.

Attempt 3:

The Magic run a pick and roll with Vince Carter on the wing and Dwight Howard setting the screen.  As Carter comes off the screen, Dwight Howard rolls hard to the basket.  This roll causes the defense to sink in, and that leaves Mickael Pietrus open in the corner for three.  Sure Pierce gets his hand up, but how many times have we seen Pietrus knock this shot down in the playoffs?  A Good Look.

Attempt 4:

Here Mickael Pietrus makes the catch on the wing, and pump fakes.  A hard close out from Pierce allows Pietrus to get in the lane and force the help to come.  Nelson gets a wide open three, but can’t knock it down.  A Good Look.

Attempt 5:

Here is that little pick and pop again with Rashard Lewis setting the screen (just like in attempt 2).  This time, with Vince Carter as the ballhandler, the defense wants to try and trap the screen.  Lewis is open for the pop and gets off a three without a defender getting his hand up.  A Good Look.

Attempt 6:

On this attempt, Jameer Nelson has the rebound bounce right into his hands and he pushes the ball up the court.  Mickael Pietrus does a great job of filling the lane at the three point line, and Nelson finds him.  Pietrus gets off the shot without a Boston defender closing out on him.  A Good Look.

Attempt 7:

This shot attempt is created by Vince Carter and his ability to attack the basket.  He gives a jab step, and that sends Ray Allen back 3 or 4 steps.  Carter takes advantage of the space by attempting a three, but he misses.  A Good Look.

Attempt 8:

Here, Mickael Pietrus comes off of a downscreen set by Jameer Nelson and takes the handoff from Marcin Gortat.  The handoff turns into a screen, and Ray Allen goes under it.  Because of Allen going under the screen, Pietrus has space to attempt a three, which he does.  He just can’t knock it down.  A Good Look.

Attempt 9:

With the half winding down, the Magic run a quick pick and roll.  There is some miscommunication defending it, and Nelson finds himself open at the top of the key.  He takes the shot, but misses.  A Good Look.

Like I said at the top of the post, the Celtics have been getting a ton of credit for forcing these misses, but that isn’t what happened.  The Magic just missed their shots, and you can’t really expect to have that continue (in fact they went 5-13 in the second half).   So was the Celtics defense bad?  No, and that is not what I am saying, however in my opinion they are receiving credit for the wrong thing.  What they should be getting credit for is limited the Magic’s opportunity at the three point line.  Their single coverage on Dwight Howard held the Magic to 9 three point shots in the first half, which is fantastic considering they average right around 27 attempts a game during the regular season.