(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Do you know the Magic Man?
He just made 14 years of Orlando Magic NBA Finals futility vanish into thin air.
He craftily turned a playground legend into NBA hardcourt hero, at least for a night.
He can cunningly make Superman look mediocre or superb on a game-to-game basis.
But his best act of deception—fooling the masses into thinking he’s overmatched—doesn’t fail to amaze his audience no matter how many times he performs the stunt.
Stan Van Gundy’s wily ways resulted in a 108-104 Magic victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game Three of the NBA Finals.
Changing his lineup yet again, Van Gundy showed that the maneuvering and adjusting made by a NBA head coach still has more value than plunging stock in a bear market.
With the win, Van Gundy vanquished all the ghosts of Magic Finals past, erasing what had been a 0-6 Finals record and starting a new chapter of triumph for his underestimated squad.
Van Gundy made a myriad of decisions that led to a crucial victory and rescued the team’s season from the depths of a potential sweep.
As the world drooled over Jameer Nelson as the X-factor or key to the series, Van Gundy wisely went to a trusted accessory to execute a brilliant scheme.
Who needs an All-Star when you have an Al-ston?
Rafer Alston scored 20 points after being benched in critical situations earlier in the series. He began the game shooting 5-of-5 and finished with a 67 percent field goal percentage, outstanding for a guard.
Alston must feel like part of the Van Gundy’s act, if not his family, playing for both Stan and his brother Jeff in his nomadic NBA career, while sharing New York origins and the guard position with the coaching siblings.
When Van Gundy played Jameer Nelson and J.J. Redick for major minutes at the point guard spot in Games One and Two, the thought was that Alston was in his coach’s doghouse and would remain there for the rest of the series.
But Van Gundy always has a few tricks up his sleeve.
Some labeled Alston a shoot-first, playground player who couldn’t win in the NBA. The Van Gundys knew better—Alston has played for Van Gundy playoff teams in Miami, Houston, and now Orlando.
Although Alston had some tricks of his own, taking the ball behind his back on a drive to the basket, he controlled the flow of the game and pushed the ball the way the Magic coach had been begging much faster team to do all series.
The Magic Man also made sure Superman made an appearance for his Game Three routine.
Van Gundy had been accused of astonishingly handcuffing the Man of Steel earlier in the postseason.
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