Scanning the blogs and beats following the Celtics' 95-94 win over the Magic in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals ...

CelticsBlog: "Mentioned this last night but it bears repeating. I don't mean to take anything away from Big Baby and his huge shots but Paul Pierce(notes) deserves to be praised for his pass last night. Some could argue that he made the only reasonable play, but reason is tough to come by in the waning seconds of a game. How many impossible last second shots has Pierce made in his career? How many has he missed for that matter?  He's done it his whole career. The Celtics run a lot of different plays using a myriad of screens and movement. But when Doc wants to give Pierce the ball, it's usually the modified give-and-go (meaning "give it to me and go over there out of my way"). He's a master at timing and spacing and creating just enough room to get off his shot. He just chose not to this time. He had Superman in his face so he let someone else play hero this time."

The Official Dwight Howard Blog: "That was an absolute dagger of a shot that Big Baby drilled on us, but I just had to sort of chuckle about it. I mean, that shot maybe goes in one out of five times and he beats us with it. We took away Ray Allen(notes), we got the ball out of Pierce’s hands and Baby drills one from 20-feet. You gotta give him his props because he hit the shot, but we like our chances with him taking that shot. Just thinking that we were one shot away from being up 3-1 in the series is the killer for us. So close to up 3-1 and now we’re in a dogfight."

Third Quarter Collpase: "As crushing a defeat this is for the Magic — it's their third loss at the buzzer in these playoffs, out of four total losses — there's hardly reason to panic. Boston needed a clutch jumper from its fifth offensive option in order to win this game on a night when its opponent shot poorly and missed an unusual amount of open shots. There's not much else to say. [...] You have to credit them for battling back in the fourth period, which they entered trailing by 8 points. No panic in this team. Some silly mistakes doomed the Magic late, though. With the Celtics struggling to score, the Magic continued trying to launch backbreaking three-pointers, to get themselves — and a nervous Amway Arena crowd — back in the game. It failed, as the team shot 1-of-7 from downtown in the period. In fact, the Magic were trigger-happy from three-point range all night long. Doubly frustrating is that this reliance on the longball came on a night when Boston's three reliable bigs — that'd be Davis, Kendrick Perkins(notes), and Brian Scalabrine(notes) — were mired in foul trouble. A few more timely drives to the basket could have given Orlando this win."

Doug Smith: "I don’t think there’s a guy in the playoff who has surprised more people with his play than Glenn Davis of the Celtics — the third-option-turned-hero of the season-saving win on Sunday night in Orlando. His shooting range is a lot better that many people I talk to thought and his quickness belies his girth; the kid’s going to make some serious coin this summer. He’s a former second round pick who makes $711,000 this year and will be a restricted free agent in July. If the Celtics don’t lock him up, someone’s going to come calling offering a large chunk of the mid-level exception to get him."

Kyle Hightower, Orlando Sentinel: "The Magic don’t want to be known as a team that thrives just on 3-point shots. But Sunday was another example of what happens when the treys aren’t falling — games are a lot closer. Orlando was able to hang tough and nearly pull it out thanks to a 44-42 advantage in the paint. Still, a 5-for-27 night beyond the arc somehow sticks out on a stat sheet."

Dan Shaughnessy, The Boston Globe: "Baby went into Muhammad Ali overdrive after draining the shot. 'You better know about me!' he screamed to Magic fans in the section behind the Celtics' bench. 'It's what I work on all the time,' he said later, in a more composed moment. 'It was just a feeling. I knew, 'Hey, you've got to shoot this.' When I shot it, I didn't even hesitate. It was just a feel. You always envision hitting the game-winning shot.' This was the gut-check game we've all been waiting for in the Celtics-Magic series. If you closed your eyes and blocked out the yahoos, you could almost pretend you were in Chicago. It was a game with 16 ties and 17 lead changes — none bigger than the final one. It was a night when the Celtics reminded all that they are the defending NBA champs."

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: "Stan Van Gundy better be careful. If he keeps blaming himself everyone else is going to start blaming him, too. Numerous times over the last two seasons, when his team has lost a tough game, the Magic coach has fallen on the sword and taken the blame. He did it again after Boston's Glen 'Big Baby' Davis hit a buzzer-beater on the baseline to defeat the Magic 95-94 in Game 4 Sunday night. Here's the column I wrote from the game. 'My coaching decision on how to play the last play ended up getting us beat,?' Van Gundy said of the Magic's defensive alignment. 'This was on me. The only guy who made a mistake on the last play was me.' Maybe I'm an ol' softy on coaches, but I'm not buying it. I don't think Van Gundy lost the game; I think Big Baby won it."

Hardwood Paroxysm: "SVG gets this loss. No question. He buried this team. He overplayed Rafer Alston(notes), who somehow managed to miss runners, jumpers, three pointers, one handers, two handers, gimmes, tough shots, and granny shots. Yet SVG kept going to him. At what point is SVG going to realize that his best chance to win is Lee, Hedo, Lewis, Gortat and Howard? He lets the Boston bigs double team Howard, then refuses to give Gortat the chance to play cleanup man. He watches Alston kill possessions, with the Celtics giving him shots and him still missing, and yet sticks with him over Anthony Johnson(notes). The pride of coaches in the playoffs just floors me. This one is on you, Stan Van Gundy."

The Puns Are Starting To Bore Me: "There are losses, and then there are games where it doesn't feel like a loss. It feels like someone promised you a steak dinner after a hards day work, and then you come home and see a Swanson in the microwave with your name on it. The Magic, who have always been good at this, teased the fans into thinking that they would take care of business on their homecourt and would end this series in Boston on Tuesday. Not the case. Now the Celtics have regained control of home court advantage, and the Magic will have to look into their bag of tricks (see what I did there?) to see if they can pull of a road win."

Talk Hoops: "Orlando and Boston have traded barbs, blows, and adjustments throughout the first four games of this series. Orlando found a way to shut down Ray Allen, Boston found a way to get him going, and Orlando found a way to take him away again. Boston also found a way to get Eddie House(notes) to show up in this series and Orlando countered in Game 4 by having Courtney Lee(notes) stick to House and not let him attempt more than one shot in 17 minutes. And Boston has been pretty physical with Dwight Howard(notes), which caused the Magic to react by moving him around more. So what will be adjusted in the next game? I'd expect the Celtics to find new ways to get Pierce the ball when Orlando finds a way to deny him entry. Big Baby will be keyed on defensively, which could open things up for Rondo and Ray Allen. And the winner of this game will take control of the series."

Related: The Internets are alive, 2009 NBA Playoffs