No new NBA games does not have to mean the end of NBA action. We here at Awesemo are committed to bringing you contests while sports are on hiatus. And that continues today with Awesemo’s NBA2K Daily Challenge, which kicks off with the 2007-08 Boston Celtics taking on the 1994-95 Orlando Magic.
Here’s what we’re doing: over the next few weeks, we’re giving away $20,000+ in prizes in FREE TO PLAY contests based on simulated NBA games that will air on YouTube and Twitch streams involving your favorite Awesemo personalities. And it all starts today. There will be Daily Contests where you are asked to predict aspects of the day’s simulated game. Get the most correct answers and you’ll be eligible for great prizes. Prizes will vary from day-to-day, and today’s top prize is a Pair of Air Pods Pro. Enter now (and every day) by clicking on the following link:
https:www.awesemo.com/nba2k-daily-challenges
Between March 23 and April 3, we’ll also be running a $15,000 Bracket Challenge with $10,000 to first. Just make your bracket picks and if you get the highest score you could walk away with $10,000. Further details including how to enter will follow in the coming days.
Additional details regarding both the $15,000 Bracket Challenge and the Daily Contests, including full Terms and Conditions, are available here:Â https:www.awesemo.com/nba2k
Thank you for supporting us and we’re thrilled to have this opportunity to give something back. We aren’t going anywhere and hope you feel the same.
You can check out tonight’s stream below, kicking off at 6:30 EST.
Now, let’s dig into a preview of tonight’s matchup between the 2007-08 Celtics and the 1994-95 Magic.
The Teams
Like last night’s thriller, tonight’s matchup features another two teams that reached the NBA Finals in their respective seasons. However, this time we will see a team that was able to take home the championship that year. Both teams were defined by their star power, though each acquired their talent in starkly different ways. Let’s dig into these two perennial East powerhouses.
2007-08 Boston Celtics
For better or worse, the 2008 Celtics effectively get credit for starting the “Superteam Era.” While other teams had gone three-deep with All-Stars before, this Boston team was the first of its kind in that its formation was relatively inorganic. With Paul Pierce, their lone star, injured for much of 2006-07, the Celtics won just 24 games and were in line for the fifth pick in the 2007 draft. However, they sent that pick and a couple of role players to the Sonics in exchange for Ray Allen. Then a few months later, the Celtics completed the triumvirate by trading essentially half their bench in exchange for Kevin Garnett. With that, the Celtics were suddenly favorites in the East, spearheaded by three future Hall of Famers.
Unlike other superteams, it took no time for the Celtics to gel. They won their first eight and did not pick up a fourth loss until January, ultimately winning 66 games and securing the NBA’s top record that year. And despite all of that scoring punch up top, Boston thrived primarily with outstanding defense to the tune of the league’s top defensive rating that year. Come playoff time, Boston faced considerably more adversity than expected. They needed seven games to win their first two series over eight-seeded Atlanta and the LeBron James-led Cavaliers. They did a bit better in the East Finals, defeating the Pistons in six, before clamping down on Kobe Bryant in the Finals to win the franchise’s 17th title.
1994-95 Orlando Magic
The Magic are one of the first teams of the modern era to earn the title of “critically acclaimed.” In many ways, that is a backhanded compliment; it grants them the pride of being profoundly fun to watch, but also points a big red arrow to the fact that they were unable to win a title despite some of the biggest star power of the 1990s. They had one of the greatest centers ever in his early career when he could run the floor with anyone and go over, around and through opponents. They had the rarest of point guards, an uber-athletic 6-foot-7 dynamo who played fast and flashy. And they had the supporting cast with championship pedigree. But alas, their four seasons with Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway produced a pair of division titles and one Finals trip, nothing more.
Granted, that is quite the pessimistic way to approach this Magic team. After all, they were the unit that put a hold on Michael Jordan‘s return party in the Eastern semis in 1995. They also featured the most efficient offense in the league, spearheaded by O’Neal’s scoring title. 57 wins and a Finals trip in one of the stronger eras of basketball is nothing to sneeze at, and Orlando took out some good teams in Chicago and Indiana to reach the Finals that year. Ultimately, their lone Finals appearance is remembered mostly as a massive disappointment, headlined by Nick Anderson‘s four missed free throws in Game 1. And while O’Neal went toe-to-toe with Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston swept the Magic in four competitive games.
The Studs
Kevin Garnett – PF – Celtics
At a glance, it may seem like Garnett’s scoring ability was on the downswing at this time. After all, he averaged only 18.8 points a game after topping 20 in each of the last nine seasons. However, Garnett’s efficiency went through this roof this year, shooting a career-high 53.9 percent from the field. The added star power obviously improved Garnett’s shot selection and also allowed him to turn his attention to a vastly underrated part of his game: defense. Garnett did not wow with rebound or block numbers in his first year with the Celtics. In fact, both numbers dipped dramatically from his run in Minnesota. But Garnett became the anchor of the league’s best defense, both as a rim protector and on-ball defender. For his troubles, he earned Defensive Player of the Year in 2008.
Garnett’s best statistical years came in Minnesota, and his accolades bear that out — 10 All-Star appearances, eight All-NBA Teams, 2004 MVP with the Timberwolves. But today’s generation of fans may think of him more as a Celtic for his intense two-way play and his fiery personality. His cry of “Anything is possible!” after the Finals’ conclusion is still shown in show openers to this day.
Paul Pierce – SF – Celtics
With this new assembly of talent, Pierce made probably the greatest sacrifice to his role. Pre-superteam, Pierce was consistently scoring 25 points a game and putting up 18 to 20 shots. But in 2007-08, his numbers dipped below 20 points a game on fewer than 14 attempts. Even so, Pierce still led Boston in scoring and as the preeminent Boston star, he remained the face of the Celtics throughout their run at the top. That culminated this year in a Finals MVP after Pierce averaged 21.8 points and six assists in the six games. While Garnett’s numbers were arguably better during the Finals, Pierce’s role as the undisputed head of the Celtics superteam earned him top honors in the series.
Ray Allen – SG – Celtics
Like Pierce and Garnett, Allen’s numbers were considerably more gaudy in his previous stops prior to joining the Celtics. But Allen’s deadly sharpshooting served as the complement to Pierce and Garnett’s inside-out games. Before volume 3-point shooters were commonplace, Allen was the rare superstar who could score 20 a night taking 3’s on over a third of his shots. While he never hit the 20-point mark with Boston, Allen did so in eight straight seasons and retired as the NBA’s all-time leader in made 3’s.
Many may now look back on him as merely a really good shooter, but Allen was a top scorer in his prime who made 10 All-Star games over a 12-year span. In fact, he led the Celtics in minutes during the 2008 Finals, making over half his 3’s while taking seven per game. He was the clear No. 3 in Boston, but Allen’s scoring was the final piece that made the Celtics great that year.
Shaquille O’Neal – C – Magic
O’Neal’s meteoric rise to the top of the NBA is the stuff of legend. After going No. 1 in the 1992 draft, he inserted himself into the top center discussion from his first tip, mind you, in a league that featured Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and David Robinson. This was the greatest era of centers in the history of the NBA and O’Neal transcended it from the day he stepped on the floor. He averaged 23.4 and 13.9 with 3.5 blocks in his rookie year. Read that last sentence again. He then went on to average at least 26 and 10 for the next 10 years while also being one of the best rim protectors in the game. Meanwhile, in his first seasons, the Magic went from bottom feeder to playoff team to powerhouse in just two short years.
It is impossible to overstate how dominant O’Neal was throughout his career, and through different stops and stylistic transformations. His prime with the Lakers was all about size, power and nimbleness at 7-foot-1, 320. But his Magic days featured a slimmer Shaq, one who could run and leap like a much smaller man. His athleticism jumped off the court much more in those early days, and that is what made his combination with Hardaway such a fun, fast-paced spectacle.
Anfernee Hardaway – PG – Magic
Speaking of, Hardaway’s career is one of the great what-ifs in league history. He was big, fast, explosive and smart, averaging 21 and seven through these early Magic seasons. And yet, as injuries took hold and O’Neal slipped off to other pastures, Hardaway’s career faded. Those who watched his prime, however, remember him as one of the league’s brightest stars and most popular players, as evidenced by the fact he was voted to two All-Star games in injury-shortened seasons late in his Magic career. All in all, Hardaway was an exquisite matchup nightmare, too big for point guards, too explosive for bigger defenders, and his flash and vision served as the perfect complement to O’Neal’s dominance.
The Role Players
Celtics
Rajon Rondo –Â Rondo was a bit of a flier coming out of Kentucky. The Celtics grabbed him late in the first round in 2006 and made him a starter in 2007, and he proved to be a strong facilitator and sneaky scoring option down the stretch, while also providing great perimeter defense. Ultimately, Rondo would become the rare pass-first ball hog for Boston, but this early-career, role player version of Rondo was an invaluable piece to a championship team.
James Posey –Â Posey had better statistical years and he had been a quality starter in multiple stops. However, Posey’s career is probably best defined by his modest roles on two championship teams — this Celtics team and the 2006 Heat. He was Boston’s sixth man in 2008, providing a versatile presence off the bench who could hit 3’s and defend multiple positions as a 6-foot-8 swing man.
Magic
Nick Anderson –Â Unfortunately, Anderson’s legacy will come down to his free throw choke in the final seconds of regulation in the 1995 Finals. However, Anderson was a quality scorer who averaged almost 20 and six in the two years before Orlando drafted Hardaway. In 1994-95, Anderson was the Magic’s third-leading scorer and led them in 3-pointers made.
Dennis Scott –Â Scott was Orlando’s sharpshooter off the bench. A big swing man, he hit 42.6 percent of 3’s in 1994-95 on 5.7 attempts per game. He did not provide much outside of his shooting that year, but Scott could be a key scoring piece tonight as the Magic look to keep pace with Allen, Pierce and the hot-shooting Celtics.
Horace Grant –Â Grant joined the Magic after three titles with the Bulls and brought both championship experience and versatility down low. The agile power forward averaged nearly 13 and 10 in 1994-95, serving as the team’s fourth or fifth scoring option most nights.
Key Matchups
Shaquille O’Neal vs. Leon Powe
For whatever reason, Kendrick Perkins is not available on the Celtics’ 2K roster, so fans are deprived of the meaty matchup that could have been between Perkins and O’Neal. Instead, the Celtics will attempt to stop possibly the greatest physical marvel in league history with 6-foot-8 Leon Powe. Though Powe may have technically been the starter for the Celtics in 2007-08, he played a full 10 fewer minutes per game than Perkins and was nowhere near the defensive presence Perkins was. Still, Powe did provide a few highlight games in this Celtics season, including 21 points in 15 minutes in Game 2 of the 2008 Finals, so perhaps he can force O’Neal to expend some energy defensively.
Dennis Scott/Nick Anderson vs. Ray Allen/Paul Pierce
Last night’s matchup did not feature much 3-point shooting, but neither Seattle nor Philadelphia boasted much of that to begin with. And when the SuperSonics needed clutch 3’s, they could not hit them. Well, tonight’s two teams have some true heat checks, so there may be more shootout on the docket. Allen and Pierce are probably going to take more 3’s, but if Scott and Anderson can hit their spots, Orlando may be able to match Boston in this area.
