Celtics-Magic Prepare to Sort Men From Boys

A shockingly dominant first half performance. A near collapse. A clanker of Game 2. A suspended point guard. This the Orlando Magic.

A pathetic shot out of the gate. A determined second-half rebound. A dominant Game 2 performance, start to finish. Swagger. Determination. A ring. These are the Boston Celtics.

As we head to Game 3 in Orlando of this seven game series, things are coming to a head. Games 1 and 2 were largely feeling one another out. And if you're a Magic fan, that process did not come out the way you'd have preferred. So what are we looking at in Game 3?

It certainly looks from here like the Magic are backed into a corner. They were throttled in Game 2. The Celtics have managed to keep Dwight Howard in check. Rafer Alston is suspended for one of the dumbest playoff technicals in history. Meanwhile the Celtics are showing championship swagger, getting their feet back underneath them, and playing crushing defense. But the difference in this game could be who comes back and not who's missing (outside of Kevin Garnett).

The assumption is that missing Rafer Alston will be a disaster for the Magic as clearly Anthony Johnson can't keep up with Rajon Rondo, who's been lights out in these playoffs. But the Magic get Courtney Lee back tonight. And Lee has the skills on both ends of the floor to challenge Rondo. He has the size and speed to keep with Rondo defensively, and a skillset to challenge him on offense. Rondo's ball handling may be superior, but Lee's midrange game is already lightyears ahead of Rondo's. But Stan Van Gundy will have to be willing to give those reins to the explosive rookie for that strategy to work. Because otherwise you have a rookie trying to get around Glen Davis and Kendrick Perkins screens to close out on Ray Allen. We saw how that worked for Derrick Rose. And that means we have Anthony Johnson trying to check Rajon Rondo. And we saw how that worked in Game 2.

From there, it comes down to whether Stan Van Gundy is willing to get outside of his patterns to win an important game. Marcin Gortat is a capable backup center who can provide a huge counterpunch if the Celtics predictably shift all their attention to Howard. Using Gortat as a cleanup man a la Fabricio Oberto or Kurt Thomas to San Antonio's Tim Duncan can regain an advantage inside for the Magic. Unfortunately, up until now, Van Gundy has refused to play the two together, and often hasn't played Gortat at all.

For the Celtics, it's just more of the same. Play dominant defense, they'll probably win. Get lazy and don't work for quality shots? You can't win a jumper race with the Magic. If the Celtics come out aggressive and poised, as they so often do, they can regain homecourt advantage tonight.