Give the Magic credit, they didn't lay down, roll over, or get swept out of Boston.
J.J. Redick redeemed himself in game 4. Without his three pointers the Magic never would have had a second chance in OT. Jameer Nelson also found his three-point stroke. Howard played to his strengths. He scores more points by being in position for offensive rebounds, and it seemed as though he was there to dunk with authority immediately after every missed shot. Just once I'd like to see Perkins gather a rebound and throw down with that type of authority.
Now folks are going to be all over Pierce for losing his dribble in the final seconds of the game. Sadly, this is the problem with the Celtics team. If Pierce had been in the same position at the end of regulation I would have trusted him more to get to the basket or to draw a foul. In OT, I think Pierce's age and past injuries catch up with him, and he simply does not have the stamina to take on a team by himself. Ray Allen should have taken the final shot. Ah well.
So now the series moves back to Orlando, and I'm willing to bet that Rondo is going to have a bounce-back game, and he will carry the team to the Finals. That is, assuming the SI cover curse doesn't smite him. Damn you SI!!!
Red Sox! The Red Sox took two out of three from the Phillies (made Doc look like he was a Blue Jay again) and then Buckholz dominated the Rays last night at the Trop. It's a damn shame that the Rays are in 1st place in the most competitive division in the major leagues, and there are still more Sox fans at the field than Rays. For Shame Tampa Bay! For Shame for St. Pete!
Then again, if you saw Pedroia's fly ball out turn into a base hit because the stadium architects didn't foresee having massive speakers, random catwalks, and other ridiculous obstructions hanging from their dome, maybe the fans have the right idea. A great team with no fan base will lead to a new ball park sooner or later.
Papi, You're batting .361 with 8 homers in May. Peach-Mango Salsa must have some powerful anti-oxidants in it...or something. Whatever your secret ingredient is, it's delicious.
Youuuuk! Your average in May is even better than Papi's. .380-something, if I'm not mistaken. With 7 home runs of your own in the month, You're slowly shifting from an OBS guy to a true slugger. Well, you're still an OBS guy, so I'll enjoy this best of both worlds thing for as long as I can.
Pedroia, it took a little luck, but its nice to see you out of your 0-19 slump. You might have struggled against the Phillies, but your defense was gold glove caliber in that series. If you were saving your hits for the Rays series...I like your plan.
Ellsbury, Welcome Back! I bet it felt right patrolling Center again. With the way Hermida is hitting with runners on base, he can stay in left field, and you can have Center back. Cameron can take all the time he wants to come back from his ab strain. Cameron is better defensively than Hermida, but guess what...the Sox climbed above .500 in the W-L collumn when all those defensive stars fell to injury, and the offense came around. Runs win baseball games. 0-0 results in nothing besides extra-innings.
So now that the Pitchers are coming around, and the line-up is settling into its groove, watch out....Blue Jays? well, one step at a time friends. One step at a time.
