"The Magic Finally Showed Up" by Ronald Carthen

I thought we were going to watch the Celtics grab the brooms, sweep away the Magic and party all night in Boston, but Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson finally showed some heart and forced a Game 5 with a 96-92 win in the first overtime game in the playoffs this year.

Dwight dropped 32 points on 13-of-19 shooting, grabbed 16 rebounds, and blocked four shots, that's what I'm talking about. This is the Magic center everyone wants to see on a nightly basis. His dunks were very aggressive throughout the night, especially when he dunked on Glen Davis. I've been to a Magic game and believe me he had some of the most aggressive dunks I've seen in person. The only problem I had with him throughout the night was his free throws. He made only six of 14 free throws, including his last two missed free throws during a stretch that Ray Allen made back-to-back three pointers that help the Celtics trail 94-92 with inside two miutes left in the game. I couldn't believe when Jameer missed the layin and watched three Celtics defend him and not pay Howard any attention as he grabs the rebound and puts it in to get the win in Boston.    

Can we please give Jameer a standing ovation for finally showing up in this series. With the game tied at 86 in overtime, he opened with back-to-back three-pointers to give the Magic a six-point lead. He drop 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting, nine assists, and 3-of-6 from three-point range. He finally had the same confidence he had against Raymond Felton and Mike Bibby in the first two rounds. The Magic point guard finally wasn't scared to go to the paint and made better shot selections. Let's see how well he plays when he heads back home.

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen played well and comibed for 54 points but where was Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo. They both combined for just 23 points on 8-of-22 shooting. Ray's threes kept the Celtics in the game in overtime, but too bad it wasn't enough to sweep the Celtics. Pierce led the team with 32 points but you can tell he was tired. He missed two three-pointers with less then 30 seconds left in the game to try to cut the lead to one with nine seconds remaining in the game. 

I have a feeling that the Magic will win Game 5 at home and force a Game 6 back in Boston. No team in the NBA has ever come back down 0-3 to win a series (0-for-93 series). It's happened four times in sports history, three times in the NHL and once in the MLB. This year the Philadelphia Flyers were down 0-3 against the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but came back and won Game 7 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals and they are now facing the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup finals.

Get ready Celtics fans because you won't meet the Lakers just yet. The Magic now have the confidence to have the Celtics nervous on a possible history in the making.