(Sports Network) - The Orlando Magic staved off elimination in their last outing. Now, Stan Van Gundy's club hopes to take another step toward history as it returns to the Magic Kingdom for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics.
Game 5: Orlando Will Look To Avoid Elimination Against Boston For Another Night
The Magic, who are trying to become the first team in NBA history to rally from a 3-0 series deficit, took their first step on Monday when Jameer Nelson scored six points in overtime and Dwight Howard added the final four for Orlando, as the Magic stayed alive with a hard-fought, 96-92, win over the Celtics in Game 4 of the set at TD Garden.
"We feel like we are a championship team," Magic forward Vince Carter said. "We have built this base from day one and we have played outstanding basketball the second part of the season. We have had a lot of success the first two rounds of the playoffs. Why go lay down now? Fight the fight and see what happens."
The Magic, who had won 14 straight games dating back to the regular season coming into this series, rebounded from an ugly 94-71 loss on Saturday that put them in the huge 3-0 hole.
Howard, who managed just seven points and seven rebounds in Game 3’s disappointing showing, helped the club avoid the sweep with 32 points and 16 rebounds.
Nelson chipped in 23 points and nine assists and hit a pair of three-pointers to open the overtime scoring. Orlando led from there, as Boston shot just 2- of-10 from the field in the extra frame.
“We kept fighting and fighting and fighting. That’s what it took to get an overtime win,” Van Gundy said. “We guarded them pretty well. It’s the first time in the series we made it tough on them.”
Ray Allen scored all six of Boston's OT points and finished with 22 total. Paul Pierce ended with 32 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics, who had their six-game winning streak snapped.
"I thought we executed poorly throughout the game. It was amazing how bad we were execution-wise and still had a chance to win the game," Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said.
“There were a couple of plays down the stretch offensively that we botched,” Allen added. “We were rushing. We’re kicking ourselves because we had opportunities.”
Despite the rather large odds of a Magic comeback, fans in Beantown are a still a bit wary since the Boston Bruins led the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 in this year’s NHL Eastern semifinals and lost the next four, completing the collapse in TD Garden.
That series marked only the fourth time in the history of major North American pro sports leagues that a team won a playoff series after losing the first three games. It has happened three times in the NHL and once in baseball, when the Boston Red Sox came back to beat the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series.
Van Gundy thinks it’s about time someone did it in the NBA.
“At some point, somebody is going to come from 3-0 down and win a series,” Van Gundy said.
Last season, the Celtics took a 3-2 lead over Orlando in the East semis but lost the next two games, including the first Game 7 loss at home in the franchise’s storied history.
The Magic also won three of four games vs. the Celtics in the regular season this year and has taken both previous playoff matchups between the two franchises, last year’s semifinals set and a first round win back in the 1994-95 season.
Game 6 in the best-of-seven set, if necessary, will be Friday back in Boston.
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