Per the Boston Globe, the Magic defeated the Celtics 101-82 Sunday night at Boston to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals to play the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the Houston Rockets 89-70 to advance to the Western Conference Finals to play the Denver Nuggets. Both Game 7s today were decided by 19 points.
Not even the timeout cheers from the home crowd were enough to help the Celtics vault pass the Magic, who led most of the game: 27-17 at the end of the first, 45-38 at the half, and again after the third 66-61 despite a buzzer beater from Magic Rajon Rondo. J.J. Redick made Orlando's ninth three-pointer of the game in the third quarter, helping Orlando shoot at a 56 percent clip.
"Celtics game 7!"
Twitpic posted by @CentralSQ
Boston got off to a rocky start in the first quarter with five turnovers and only shooting at 39 percent. The Magic made 5 of 6 three-pointers and shot 72.7 percent from the floor to lead at the end of the period.
The Celtics made a few efforts to come back, including a 10-2 run in the first half and Ray Allen at 20 points at the start of the second. However, by the middle of the fourth quarter five Magic players were in double-figures, led by Hedo Turkoglu with 18 points, a playoff-career high. The Magic led by as much as 31 points with just over 6:00 left in the game. Boston closed the gap to 19 but ran out of time at the end.
"Let's go Celtics! 5:15 on the clock. They need to turn it UP!"
Twitpic posted by @glunardi
We've got Tweets from Boston back to Orlando:
G_Dubs_26 This is not boston celtics basketball...
siractsalot777 celtics pull it within 5 at the end of the 3rd can they pull through and win......?
jinzilla20 at Home: hoping the Celtics have another miracle comeback left in them... aw crap :(
jbottle7 BTW Celtics are slacking, someone plz step it up!.
mizzkim Can't even lie, Orlando deserved this one. They came out & played like they wanted to win, unlike my Celtics. So disappointed. Oh well...
chrisberez Bruins out. Revolution suck. Big Papi can't hit. Celtics' chances looking slim. Tyler Perry still making shows/movies. Kill me. #fb
tethegreat so ii was wrong about the celtics! man what happened game 7 at home and the gettin they u kno what whooped
BRL08 Oh Well Looks Like The CELTICS Are Done... Go Get Yours Lebron ..
vickeyvale ayo im so super upset...boston is losing...this aint rockin...cavs are definitely bout to give it to the magic...
Along with some other Magic fans, ex-Magic player Shaquille O'Neal had an I-told-you-so moment:
THE_REAL_SHAQ Orlandos gonna beat boston bye thirty tomorro, yup I said it,superman 2, bout to go to wrk,u heardat @paulpierce
MrPoloSwag Lakers advanced to western finals, now time for the Magic to advance to the eastern finals
missshakira Magic handled their business. Hope they're ready for Lebron
DawgCPA Can't believe the Magic are man-handing the Celtics! Gotta love it! BTW, Marv Albert is an idiot! Could he be a bigger Celtic apologist?
Dflo224 Magic up 15 with 5 to go, if they blow this lead.....well ill just laugh bc neither one of these teams beating cleveland
sfgeek And the magic beat the defending champions by 19 points!!!
--------------------------------------------------------
At halftime, the Magic lead the Celtics 45-38.
Some commentary from the Orlando Sentinel:
orlandosports @dwighthoard shots are a little easier tan those 3s, dontcha think, Reggie? #Magic #Celtics trading buckets right now
"Ok I'm ready!!! Go Magic!!!"
Twitpic posted by @djchino102jamz
One Tweeter got a shot of Rajon Rondo:
"@celtics Game 7"
Twitpic posted by @lovelikejordan
Game comments from the Twitterverse:
Ricarius Celtics need stops or this is going to be a long night
Bizzle_HD Dwight Howard, pullin' a "Lions" there... [magic/celtics]
bstelton The Celtics should be down by 25 the way they have played so far...absolute garbage!
DJHerd Magic must stat down the stretch going thru Dwight Howard don't get caught in long shots, Celtics do great job with 4 in lane most of time!
LifeOnTheWagon it's like the Magic marched into the Garden dressed in riot gear with shields reading "submit," and the Celtics are kissing their boots
liveguy Marbury still got that quick first step. #nba #celtics
Qbacca1974 Could the Celtics make it any more obvious that trey by Alston just totally deflated them?
kezcommunittee Hope Magic pulls a game 7 upset against the Celtics.
--------------------------------------------------------
It's Sunday night and time for another Game 7!
The Lakers eliminated the Rockets earlier today, and now we'll see if the Boston Celtics or Orlando Magic will advance to play the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are perfect in post-season play.
Can Boston clinch Game 7 at home the way they did against the Chicago Bulls? Or do the Magic come onto Celtics' turf and eliminate the home team?
Twitpic posted by @karpaydm
The game begins tonight at 7 p.m. CT, but we've got some tweeting commentary already...
..in favor of the Celtics:
MattHobbsSports I'm calling it now. Celtics win game seven...only to later be pummeled into submission by Lebron & co. See you on the TV box tomorrow @6!
MarsMcFly Lets go Celtics!! I would rather have my Cavs play them then Orlando imo...
celtsfan25 CELTICS GAMES STARTS NOW!!! CELTS ARE GONNA WIN!!! hopefully ray allen will get his shot back and Paul Pierce will take over! GO CELTICS!!!
angie_BBY celtics game is on, hella nervous. LETS GO C'S !
jtench About to watch the Celtics. Hope they can pull this off tonight!
buddymontalvo I hope the Celtics don't pull a Houston Rocket no show in their game 7.
..And going for the Magic:
CyphSB Lakers win + Celtics loss = Perfect day
Jesslovesmusic workin on sales reports & watching the Magic destroy the Celtics.
Miggs21 Celtics could be in for a long night ......but the world does want a Cleveland-Boston series......keep that in mind
chrisfreeman Celtics will not win tonight. just saying.
bklynstar GO MAGIC. !!!!!!!!!!! But honestly how good would it be at the end it was melo and lebron or dwight and kobe or kobe and lebron!!!!!!!!!!!!
