Cleveland Loses Game Six, Orlando Magic Advance To The NBA Finals

Victory is sweet.

Especially if you are an Orlando Magic fan.

From the supposed "master of panic," head coach Stan Van Gundy, to professional predictions of losing to Boston in the second round, to possibly getting swept by the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Orlando Magic really did it.

They surprised the world, and now the team will finally begin to reap the benefits of hard-earned respect, which they ever so rightfully deserve. 

When asked if Game Six was basically like a Game Seven to the Orlando Magic team, Van Gundy stated that he was pretty sure he did the math correctly, and that it was indeed a Game Six and not seven. 

Basically, Van Gundy and his team approached the game just like every other game during the playoffs thus far, with pure heart and determination to capture a victory.

And the Magic did just that!

A question was brought up about before the game asking if Superman was going to play like Superman tonight.

The truthful response to that would be an all-capitalized Y-E-S!

Howard scored a career playoff-high 40 points, game-high 14 rebounds, and four assists, on an outstanding 14-of-21 from the field and a phenomenal 12-of-16 from the charity stripe.

D-Howard came out monstrous from the start of the game, ending the first quarter with a ferocious 13 points and four rebounds.

He continued to play like an absolute beast throughout the remainder of the game, grabbing every rebound that he possibly could and simply overpowering anybody in his path.

Howard came up huge in the biggest game of his career thus far and has proven that he is virtually unstoppable down low in the paint. He is a force that cannot be reckoned with and definitely showed it tonight.

From the tip-off, the Magic quickly jumped to a small lead and never looked back. They shot 46.2 percent from the field, 41.4 percent from beyond the three-point arc (12-of-29 3PTM), and an excellent 81.0 percent from the free-throw line.

X-factor Mickael Pietrus continued his three-point surge, hitting four of the seven treys he took, ending the game with 14 points (outscoring Cleveland's bench total of 10 points once again).

LeBron James got it going early on and slowly drifted away during the second half of the game. He scored a whopping one point during the final quarter of the game (as opposed to his 17 points in the fourth in Game Five).

James finished with 25 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists on eight-of-20 shooting.

As a leader, James should have played with as much intensity as he had during Thursday night's fourth-quarter performance.

If he played half as good as he did during that game, the Cavaliers might have had an opportunity to shorten the Magic's lead to within single digits during the final minutes of the game.

Since it did not happen, the Orlando Magic have finally advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1995.

Orlando - 103   -   Cleveland - 90

Beware Los Angeles fans, the Magic just might give you a little deja vu (of last season, just in case you didn't get it) during the NBA Finals this year. 

 

P.S.: You can expect a preview, breakdown, and keys to the game for the NBA Finals within the next few days.