The bucket was part of a 12-2 run that ultimately allowed the Celtics to stretch their lead to 24 points. They would go into the half up 17, and ultimately breeze to a 94-71 victory.
That play was the early backbreaker.
“I just wanted it,’’ Rondo said. “I just wanted to make a play on the ball. I think he had the angle on me and I decided to dive for the ball and it just so happened I came up with it and made the play and scored the ball.’’
The play was a microcosm of the night. The Celtics were rabid for a win. The Magic never matched their energy.
“My reaction was just like everybody else’s,’’ Kevin Garnett said, recalling the play. “Pure grit, pure hustle play. I told him after the game when he was in the back, that was probably the play of the playoffs to me. That was just pure hustle. Pure ‘I want it more than you’ type of play.’’
Then Garnett added, “I thought it was a foul, too.’’
For the second time this postseason, the Celtics have a three-games-to-none lead — a hole no NBA team has climbed out of — with a chance to close the series tomorrow night at TD Garden.
“I thought there were several in the first half, hustle plays like that that all went their way,’’ said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. “They were a step ahead of us on every play. I thought they worked harder than we did. I thought they outcompeted us. I think that play was just one of the plays you could point to as indicative of what was going on.’’
Glen Davis scored a game-high 17 points off the bench, his 10-point second quarter fueling the Celtics’ first-half push. Rondo put up his sixth double-double of the postseason (11 points, 12 assists). The Celtics dominated in the paint (34 points) and made the Magic pay for their 17 turnovers (19 points).
