Stan Van Gundy, shown here in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, completed his pregame media availability moments ago (Photo by Gary W. Green, Orlando Sentinel)
BOSTON — Stan Van Gundy has said all season long that it’s difficult for a coach to predict 90 minutes before tipoff what his team’s mindset will be once the game starts.
But when I asked him minutes ago whether he has a sense of how his team will begin Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics tonight, Van Gundy turned the question around and made it more interesting.
“Whether it’s early or later on in the game, especially when you’re in the situation we’re in, the question comes whenever it is you get hit,” Van Gundy said. “The other night, it was early. It could be later. But whenever it is you get hit, that’s when the question comes, especially when you’re in a situation when you’re down. I think that’s more the issue than even the mentality going into the start of it.”
There’s no question the Magic haven’t answered that question well so far in this series, which they trail three games to zero.
In Game 3 on Saturday, the Celtics went on a 14-0 run in the first quarter, and the Magic wilted.
Orlando has trailed by double digits in the first quarter of both Game 1 and Game 2.
We’ll see what happens tonight.
Van Gundy also was asked for his reaction to Mike Brown’s firing, and as expected, Van Gundy said that Brown is a heck of an NBA coach.
“Whether you agree with the firing or not, I think it is very fair to say that he got fired on the basis of three games: the last three games of his series,” Van Gundy said, later noting that Brown had one of the highest winning percentages of any active coach.
Follow Josh Robbins on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins and e-mail him at jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.
