MAGIC OUST DEFENDING CHAMP CELTICS WITH GAME 7 VICTORY

The Orlando Magic actually played like an elite level team in Sunday’s game seven victory over the Boston Celtics at the TD BankNorth Garden.  The Magic shot out to an early lead and held off several Celtic comeback attempts, controlling the game throughout.  The result was a 101-82 win over the undermanned Celtics, giving Orlando a 4-3 series victory.  The Magic now advance to face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

Sports betting enthusiasts who backed Orlando were rewarded with a point spread victory, as Boston had been installed as -2’ home favorites in game seven.  The combined 183 points also managed to stay UNDER the posted total of 186’—it was the fourth straight game in the series to play UNDER, with five of the seven contests failing to exceed the total.  As has become a familiar refrain across the NBA during the 2008-2009 postseason, the pointspread didn’t factor in to any of the seven games with the outright winner also cashing bettors’ tickets. 

Hedo Turkoglu’s ‘double/double’ effort of 25 points and 12 assists gave him the top scorer honors for the Magic, while defensive mainstay Dwight Howard also added a ‘double/double’ with 12 points and 16 rebounds, along with five blocked shots.  Rashard Lewis added 19 points, Mickael Pietrus 17 and Rafer Alston 15 to round out the Magic double digit scoring.  The Celtics were paced by 23 points from Ray Allen, with Paul Pierce chipping in for 16 points and Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis adding 13.  Rajon Rondo was the only other Celtic to score in double digits with 10 points, though Kendrick Perkins had a solid game in the paint with 8 points and 15 rebounds. 

After the game, Orlando’s Howard took a moment to reflect on the reaction when he first suggested that he wanted to bring home an NBA title:

"Everybody laughed. I believe we can win a championship. We're not going to stop going after one until we get it. We have the right team. We have the talent. We have the coaches. It's just on us to go out there and play hard. I have a long way to go, but I'm still hungry."

"We learned a lot, coming in here and beating the world champs on their own floor. Everybody was talking about experience. The biggest thing was effort and energy. The team that played the hardest was going to win."

The Magic’s biggest obstacle to an NBA title awaits them in the next round—they’ll open the conference finals on the road Wednesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers who have rampaged to back-to-back series sweeps, with every victory by a double digit margin.  Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy is well aware of the challenge ahead of his team:

"Cleveland is playing at a much higher level than anybody else in the playoffs. We're going to have to take it up another notch. But that's for us to worry about tomorrow. I am going to enjoy this one until I get on the plane tonight and start watching film."

Oddsmakers might not exactly be laughing at Orlando’s NBA title prospects, but based on the numbers they’ve posted for the Eastern Conference Finals they’re not exactly enthusiastic either—Cleveland has been installed as -750 series favorites, making the Magic +550 dogs to advance.  The game one pointspread tells a similar tale with the Cavs a -9 point favorite, with the total on the game set at 184’.  The Magic have gone UNDER in 9 of their 13 playoff games, while Cleveland has gone UNDER in six of their 8 postseason games.  The most impressive stat at play is Cleveland’s ATS run—they’ve not only won all eight of their playoff games but have gone 7-0-1 ATS.