ORLANDO // Glen Davis wobbled his way to halfcourt, woozy. Unable to stand any longer, he went down - something the Boston Celtics are also doing themselves. An inadvertent elbow from Dwight Howard knocked Davis to the ground, but the Celtics are all in a bit of a daze after the Orlando Magic's 113-92 victory on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.
A series that was a game away from a sweep a few days ago now has the Celtics taking a 3-2 lead into a pressure-packed Game 6 in Boston on tonight. Game 7 would be in Orlando. Doc Rivers, the Celtics coach, said: "We need to win one game. And let's hope it's the next one." The Celtics are facing the possibility of playing without Kendrick Perkins after their starting centre picked up his seventh technical foul of the play-offs, a mandatory suspension unless it is overturned. The league reviews all technicals.
No team has won an NBA series after losing the first three games. The Magic, seemingly lifeless after a huge 94-71 defeat in Game 3, suddenly have hope to be the first. They broke out of their series-long shooting slump, making 13 of 25 three-pointers. "I just feel that if we keep believing in each other and trusting one another and playing as hard as we can, anything's possible," Howard said. Jameer Nelson scored 24 points, and JJ Redick had 14 as the Magic played at a frenetic pace that the Celtics could not match. Howard added five blocks as Orlando built an early 14-point advantage that was never seriously challenged.
Rasheed Wallace had 21 points, and Rajon Rondo scored 19 for a Boston team that once seemed on its way to another NBA finals. Now? The Celtics are stunned - and Boston fans who just watched their NHL team blow a 3-0 lead are getting uneasy. Howard's elbow inadvertently came down on Davis's face near the basket in the third quarter, and the forward was diagnosed with a concussion. Davis, nicknamed "Big Baby", tried to get up as play continued, almost falling flat as Joey Crawford, the referee, kept him from tumbling to the hardwood.
Davis did not return. Marquis Daniels, the reserve, was also hit with a similar inadvertent elbow from Howard, leaving him dizzy, and Wallace "tweaked" his back. Rivers said Davis "blacked out" on the court. "Point blank. I ain't speaking. I'm all right. I'll be back next game," Davis said, marching through a parting wall of reporters huddled around his stall in the locker room. "That's all you need to print."
Redick provided a big boost off the bench, making a pair of three-pointers to highlight a 20-8 run that put Orlando ahead 51-37 in the second quarter. His swishes and crisp passing kept the Celtics scrambling, and it filled a major hole with Vince Carter, the starter, continuing to struggle. In a packed Amway Arena, Wallace picked up his third foul during the spurt and taunted Orlando fans all the way to the bench.
Wallace shouted and screamed to the stands, pointing at his ring finger for the championship he has already won with Detroit - a title that has long eluded Orlando. Things got worse for the Celtics when Perkins was ejected after he picked up his second technical of the game and seventh of the post-season for arguing with officials. Perkins and Marcin Gortat were both whistled for double technicals.
That means Perkins, one of the best in the league at slowing Howard, will be suspended for Game 6 unless the NBA rescinds the technical. Tim Frank , the NBA spokesman, said a final review of the technicals was expected to be announced last night. The Celtics are two games from infamy, and the pressure is mounting. Only four times in the history of North American major professional sports leagues has a team won a play-off series after losing the first three games.
Such comebacks are something Boston fans know all too well. It has happened three times in the NHL ? most recently by the Philadelphia Flyers over the Boston Bruins this month ? and once in baseball, when the Boston Red Sox came back to beat the New York Yankees in the 2004 AL championship series. In 93 tries, it has never been done in the NBA. Here is the Magic's chance at history. "We just all believe," Nelson said. "We all believe. We know we can do it."
* AP