May 1, 2013; New York, NY, USA; Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett (5), Boston Celtics power forward Brandon Bass (30), Boston Celtics power forward Jeff Green (8), and Boston Celtics small forward Paul Pierce (34) celebrate against the New York Knicks during the second half in game five of the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. The Celtics won the game 92-86. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Celtics managed to survive another game against the New York Knicks. They gave their best offensive outing in this series. The Celtics shot 50% from beyond the arch and made every single one of their 17 free throw attempts at the line.

Though the Knicks only had 8 turnovers tonight, the Celtics still managed to come out with a victory. They kept the Knicks right where they wanted them, holding them to 39.5% shooting on the night.

The Celtics kept Carmelo Anthony in check once again holding him to 22 points on 24 shots. Raymond Felton had a nice game penetrating and getting into the paint, but that wasn’t enough to offset the shooting woes of J.R Smith and Anthony.

Kevin Garnett was phenomenal once again and provided the Celtics with the rebounding touch that they needed. He had 16 points on only 9 shots and he coupled that with 18 rebounds. Jason Terry and Paul Pierce combined for 9 three pointers tonight and Terrence Williams also gave key minutes as well.

Jeff Green and Brandon Bass were key cogs tonight as well getting buckets in transition and the half court. That’s something that the Celtics have failed to do in the previous games of this series.

Now with new life, the Celtics will take the series back to Boston and try to tie it up 3-3. If they can, they’ll have a chance to make history becoming the first team to ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in NBA history.

Apr 26, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics forward/center Kevin Garnett (5) hangs his head against the New York Knicks during the second quarter of game three of the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

So uhhhhhhh yeah.

I really don’t know if I can call what the Celtics just played Basketball since one of the primary objectives of Basketball is to put the orange ball in the round net thingy. A simple yet for the Celtics daunting task  made this game almost excruciating to watch. To put it into simple matters they’re old, injured and really they’re without they’re best player and when you combine all of those things in the playoffs the by-product is the sad, slow and depressing brand of Basketball you just witnessed.

Doc mad a puzzling decision to start Jason Terry(!!!!!) over Brandon Bass. It didn’t really pan ut as JET ended up with the worst +/- on the team (surprise surprise!!) The opening sequence for the Celtics merely foreshadowed the rest of the game as they hilariously missed their first three shots (all at the rim). I’d go on about the rest of the game but all you need to know is that they scored 31 points in the 1st half and shot 28-70 from the field(40%).

Alright lets review the keys to the game from my preview:

Take Advantage of Paul Pierce Being Guard by Felton/Prigion/Kidd:

Well this one didn’t go as expected. Since Paul started out at SF he was mostly guard by Shumpert for most of the game and the FT line switches didn’t really come up until the 2nd half. It was kind of sad to watch Paul labor out there as he’s been bothered by nerve issues and just playing too many minutes out of necessity. He’s been like this most of the way but it’s weird to watch it happen so often.

Hit Open Jumpers:

28-70……..Yeah so this one didn’t go too well.

Live with Tough Shot Making:

This wasn’t so bad but it would’ve been easier to deal with had the Celtics not been allergic to scoring points.

Historically this season is over. NO Team in NBA history has ever comeback from being down 3-0 in a series. At this point  it’s just a matter of not wanting to get embarrassed two times in a row. Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday 1pm EST.

Jason Terry called the Orlando Magic “terrible” and they did everything to prove him right. The Celtics (41-39) got one of their easier wins of the season, defeating the Magic 120-88. The 32-point margin doesn’t even do Boston justice as to how much of a blowout it was.

The Magic (20-60) can put most of the blame on their defense, which allowed the Celtics to shoot a staggering 59.5 percent from the field, and 62.5 percent from beyond the arc. Every Boston starter scored in double-figures, but it was Courtney Lee’s 20 points off the bench that led the Celtics.

Lee may be finding his groove again, after he scored 18 in yesterday’s game against the Heat. He had been struggling since returning from an ankle injury, but has looked good in his recent extended minutes.

After sitting out last night’s game in Miami, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett responded by scoring 12 and 14 points respectively. Better yet, with the Celtics taking a commanding lead from the first quarter, Doc Rivers was able to limit the veterans’ minutes.

Garnett played just 19 minutes, while Pierce tallied 27. Terry did not play at all, as he sat out for rest.

One guy who didn’t see his minutes restricted was Jeff Green. There had been some concerns whether Green would be able to play tonight after hurting his elbow in a scary fall last night. Green showed no signs of being hampered though, scoring 17 points in 37 minutes.

This should allow fans to breathe a sigh of relief. His level of play will likely mean the difference between first round exit or deep playoff run.

While it’s been a tough year for Orlando in the win and loss column, they appear headed in the right direction, with several young pieces to build with and an upcoming top five draft pick. Tobias Harris scored 22 in the losing effort, while Nikola Vucevic recorded yet another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

The win tonight has now secured the Celtics into the seventh seed in the East, and a likely playoff matchup against division rival, New York.