A lot of the reaction to the Orlando Magic's defeat of the Boston Celtics yesterday--some of which erivera7 touched on earlier today--has been overwhelmingly negative... for the Magic, who apparently cannot win for winning, so to speak. To wit:

• Ian Thomsen, SI.com:

  The win pulled Orlando within 2 games of the second-seeded Celtics heading into the final quarter of the season. But who out there views Orlando as being in the class of the champions or the top-of-the-conference Cavaliers? Coach Stan Van Gundy thinks his team deserves more appreciation for its toughness. "That's something I never hear about,'' he said after this game. "All anybody talks about is three-point shooting. But look at our defensive numbers and see where we rank.''

• Brian Robb, CeltisHub:

  Finally I still do not see this Orlando team as being much of a threat for the C's come playoff time. The undermanned Celtics played one of their worst tames [sic] of the year today (10 assists and 17 turnovers) and still only lost by 3. I give kudos to the Magic for holding on to win the game but I can't see them competing with this Boston team at full strength in a 7 game series.

• Red's Army headline: "Orlando Should Be Embarrassed"

If that's the reception the Magic get when they win, I can only imagine what they would have heard if they had lost. Nearly blowing a 22-point lead against a team missing two of its best players merits some ribbing. I get that. And ultimately, I agree with Thomsen's thesis, which is that the game's result shouldn't change anyone's perception of either team. Nonetheless, I'm reminded of a quote from one of my favorite films, Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums. Here's Eli Cash, portrayed by Owen Wilson:

Why would a reviewer make the point of saying someone's not a genius? Do you especially think I'm not a genius? . . . You didn't even have to think about it, did you?

In non-Celtics news, The Puns Are Starting To Bore Me wants to know why Courtney Lee isn't getting more involved offensively--11 shots in his last three games combined, compared to 18 in the game before that alone--and passes on this interesting fact:

The team does not struggle offensively without Courtney scoring, however, it doesn't hurt when the rookie gets hot. In games when Lee scores 10 or more, the Magic are a whopping 17-1. You can't argue with those results.