Back to Boston

Yes the Magic won ugly the other night and sent their series with the Celtics back to Boston for a deciding Game 7. The game Thursday night was physical and made for some nice pictures on my part. I hung two remotes for the game. One was in the my usual spot on the basket to get the picture above and the other was off to the side of the court.

The second remote is what I attribute to the Magic's win. You see going into the game I knew that if Boston won they'd advance to the Eastern Conference Finals against Cleveland and I needed to make sure I got a jubilation picture of them.

After Baby's buzzer beater in Game 4 I watched the highlights on SportsCenter the next morning and saw Celtics coach Doc Rivers reaction to the win which was euphoric. I thought I need to have one camera just on the bench in the event I was unable to make a picture due to all the people on the court.

So right before the start of the fourth quarter I went up to the bench camera and double-checked everything. Well I guess expecting the Celtics to win and devoting one camera specifically for jubilation jinxed them and sent this series to a Game 7.

I just hope Sunday night someone has a bench camera set up for the Celtics inside the TD Banknorth Garden.

Big Baby's Buzzer Beater

Last night's Game 4 between the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic was one of the more intense games I shot in the past few years. This playoff series is emblematic of playoff basketball. The two teams are grinding it out on the court every game. Granted the first three games were one sided but game 4 was incredible and came down to the last second.

I didn't have much from the first half but neither did the other photographers. It was a sloppy first half and I only sent 5 images at halftime.

Then the game's intensity grew during the third quarter. The Celtics never seemed to put the Magic away. One team would go on a run and then switch. The play was physical and emotions were getting the best of some players heading down the stretch.

With 15 seconds to go in the game Magic forward Rashard Lewis saw an opening and drove to the basket to get fouled. After hitting both free throws Lewis and the rest of the Magic headed back down the court with a one-point lead.

Celtics Head Coach Doc Rivers called a timeout to draw up a last play. The fans knew there was too much time to feel comfortable with the lead.

The inbound pass went to Paul Pierce who held the ball to allow his teammates to run their routes and see who would take the final shot for the win. It would be Glen "Big Baby" Davis.

I choose to shoot the final play a little on the loose side with my 70-200mm at 200mm in order to get everything in the frame. It may have been a little loose but I was guaranteed to have the pivotal moment.

I followed Baby as he jumped and released the ball towards the basket. Rashard was too late to block the game winner. As Baby came back to the court I stayed with him in order to get his reaction. I was in luck because he was in front of the Magic bench. If Baby missed I would have the Magic's reaction or if he sank it I could get him running back to the Celtics' bench. Either way I was getting something good.

Big Baby watched the ball go through the net and exploded with emotion. He ran through the crowd of Magic and fans gathered along the side of the court. I just left my finger on the shutter as Baby broke through the crowd at the end of a good game. He just continued running towards me screaming in victory.

Whew! What a game. After looking over what the other photographers got I felt like I had some of the best shots of the key moment. I can't wait until they return on Thursday for Game 6.