In the last two rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs and heading into the NBA Finals, most people are picking against the Orlando Magic. This was a team that won 59 games during the regular season, but they hadn't done anything yet.
In the Eastern Conference semifinals, they took on a higher seeded Boston Celtics team that just happened to have won last year's NBA Championship. Despite not having Kevin "Anything is Possible" Garnett, the Celtics were that experienced team. Orlando won in seven games, showing amazing guts by winning two elimination games. The last one was in Boston.
On to the Conference Finals and the 66-win Cleveland Cavaliers. A Cavs team that had blitzed through the first two rounds in the minimum eight games. The won all eight by double digits and were very rarely pushed. Orlando jumped all over the LeBrons and took a commanding 3-1 lead before closing out the series in impressive fashion in Game 6.
On to the Lakers who shouldn't scare the Magic. You got Kobe? Orlando just faced LeBron. Lakers got Finals experience? So did the Cavs and Celtics.
Trust me, I'm not picking Orlando to win. I'm a Lakers fan and I love LA's chances at winning another title. But I'm not thinking that Orlando is just some team that lucked into getting here. They have deserved it. If they beat the Lakers and win the title, you have to respect that.
All season long there were the "Big Four" teams of the Cavaliers, Lakers, Celtics and Magic ... though some people didn't think the Magic should belong in that class. Four more wins and they'll be in a class all by themselves.
In the Eastern Conference semifinals, they took on a higher seeded Boston Celtics team that just happened to have won last year's NBA Championship. Despite not having Kevin "Anything is Possible" Garnett, the Celtics were that experienced team. Orlando won in seven games, showing amazing guts by winning two elimination games. The last one was in Boston.
On to the Conference Finals and the 66-win Cleveland Cavaliers. A Cavs team that had blitzed through the first two rounds in the minimum eight games. The won all eight by double digits and were very rarely pushed. Orlando jumped all over the LeBrons and took a commanding 3-1 lead before closing out the series in impressive fashion in Game 6.
On to the Lakers who shouldn't scare the Magic. You got Kobe? Orlando just faced LeBron. Lakers got Finals experience? So did the Cavs and Celtics.
Trust me, I'm not picking Orlando to win. I'm a Lakers fan and I love LA's chances at winning another title. But I'm not thinking that Orlando is just some team that lucked into getting here. They have deserved it. If they beat the Lakers and win the title, you have to respect that.
All season long there were the "Big Four" teams of the Cavaliers, Lakers, Celtics and Magic ... though some people didn't think the Magic should belong in that class. Four more wins and they'll be in a class all by themselves.
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