Bass Leads C's Past Magic

With 16 points and 7 rebounds, power forward Brandon Bass lead the Boston Celtics to a 91-89 nail-biting victory over his former team, the Orlando Magic. Bass also helped the team with a key late block in the fourth quarter. 

But it wasn't just Bass who played well for the Green. Avery Bradley, Jordan Crawford, and Jeff Green had very efficient offensive games while providing great defensive play. Avery Bradley, the defensive-minded guard for the C's, had a very important steal on rookie Victor Oladipo which resulted in an "and-one" dunk. Bradley's full court pressure really harassed and bothered Victor Oladipo for much of the game. Avery Bradley's stats included 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 block. 

Jordan Crawford, one of Boston's many "wild card" players, really showed up in a positive way in the game. The guard who is known for having turnover problems played a very clean game and even showed some signs of life defensively for once. His hands looked quick, for he had quite a few deflections which resulted in turnovers. The Celtics scored a season-high 25 points off of turnovers and a lot of that was in part because of Jordan Crawford.

Jeff Green also played very well, even though the stat sheet doesn't really stick out to you. He only had 10 points, but he sparked the team's momentum at times with his ferocious slams; most notably the dunk on Jason Maxiell. 

During the late fourth quarter, Orlando was clawing back at the Celtics lead. In fact, Arron Afflalo's jump shot that was just inside the three-point arc cut the lead to one point! If Afflalo shot the jumper about 6 inches farther from the basket than he did, the game probably would have had a different outcome. The game would be tied with under a minute left and coach Stevens would be forced to prove that he can coach effectively in tough situations.

But the shot was a two-pointer. And the Celtics hung on to their lead for the win. Although we are currently still in full-tanking mode, Boston's record improved to 2-4 on the season and under Brad Stevens.