No, not Magic Johnson, he hasn't played in 13 years. The Orlando Magic, a team that has only been around 20 years. That's three more than the number of championships won by the defending champion Boston Celtics, who they defeated 101 - 82 in Boston Sunday night. Hedo Turkoglu had 25 points, Rashard Lewis 19, and Defensive Player of the year Dwight Howard added 12 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks. The Magic led 66 - 61 after the third, but quickly jumped ahead by 16 two minutes into the final quarter and the game was pretty much over. The loss by the Celtics marked the first time the legendary franchise had lost a series in which they had a 3 -2 lead in 33 chances. The Magic will begin the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday in Cleveland, against the NBA MVP Lebron James and the Cavs, who had the best record in the league this year.
Earlier in the day, the up and down Los Angeles Lakers were impressive in their 89 - 70 dismantling of the Houston Rockets in Game 7 to advance to the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers finally looked like the team everybody thought would have a cakewalk into The Finals, beating the Rockets at just about every aspect of the game. Pao Gasol was dominant with 21 points and 18 rebounds and the game was never really in doubt. LA will begin the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday at the Staples Ceneter in LA. Denver has been the West's most impressive team thus far in the playoffs, losing only one game in each of their two previous series against New Orleans and Dallas. They even beat New Orleans by 58 points, 121 - 63, in New Orleans on April 27th.