Magic and Lakers finish off series and advance

This, as far as the Orlando Magic are concerned, was about so much more than just simply winning a first-round playoff series.
This was about a Magic franchise finally getting rid of 12 long years of misery in the postseason. This was about putting to rest the memories of Tracy McGrady gagging away a 3-1 lead to the Detroit Pistons in 2003. And maybe, most important of all, this was about the dawning of the Dwight Howard era and the exorcising of the Shaquille O'Neal curse over the franchise.
When the Magic defeated Toronto 102-92 Monday night it allowed them to defeat the Raptors 4-1 in the series and end the franchise's 12-year run without a victory in the playoffs.
Before Monday, the Magic hadn't won a playoff series since 1996. That, of course, was the same year that O'Neal badly jilted the franchise and bolted to the Los Angeles Lakers.
What followed was seven consecutive defeats in the playoffs and a wobbly, staggered franchise that seemingly couldn't get past the hangover of losing O'Neal.
But Howard changed all of that Monday when he became the first player to record three 20-point, 20-rebound games in a playoff series since Wilt Chamberlain did it in 1972 against the New York Knicks.
Howard demolished good friend Chris Bosh on both ends of the court in Monday's Game 5, scoring 21 points, grabbing 21 rebounds (10 of them offensive) and swatting three shots. Bosh was no match against the strapping 6-foot-11, 268-pound Howard, missing 12 of 19 shots. And his frustration of getting beaten up in the series was summed up when he was whistled for a technical foul after taking a crushing Howard shoulder directly to the chest.
Howard was aglow as Monday's final seconds ticked off the clock and the sellout crowd inside of Amway Arena throbbed with raw emotion. For four years, Howard has had to hear about the franchise's misfortune in the playoffs. And in this series he was more determined than ever to finally end the suffering.
"I was just very happy. We put in a lot of work in the offseason to get where we're standing today," Howard gushed, smiling once again. "Coach [Stan Van Gundy] had been on us from the first day about finishing and playing as hard as you can every possession. It hasn't hit me yet that we're moving past the first round, but it's such an unbelievable feeling. It's really hard to explain how I feel because we've done something that hasn't been done around here in a while."
And in Game 5 at least, they did it as a group. Jameer Nelson, who was said to be inferior to Toronto's tandem of T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon going into the series, had 19 points and a huge 3-pointer that put the Magic up 10 late in the fourth. Keith Bogans, who was benched throughout last spring's playoff loss to Detroit, had two more game-sealing 3-pointers down the stretch.
Rashard Lewis (18 points, 13 rebounds) and newly minted Most Improved award winner Hedo Turkoglu (12 points, nine assists and eight rebounds) played well in support of Howard and helped the Magic finally rid themselves of their playoff demons.
"I've only been here a few months so I haven't been through the pain that so many people in this organization have felt through the years," said Van Gundy, who sought out owner Rich DeVos and team president Bob Vander Weide for congratulatory hugs in the locker room after the clincher. "Twelve years is a long, long time. I just loved seeing some of the looks on the faces that I haven't seen in a long time.
"People who don't believe because they've been disappointed so much through the years should get on board with this team," Van Gundy continued. "If you can't enjoy this and enjoy this team then you really don't like basketball."
Finally, the Magic can enjoy the taste of some playoff success again.
If you told me before these playoffs that one No. 1 seed would roll to four easy wins, while the other would be tied at 2-2 thanks to two road losses in a raucous environment, I would have found that very believable.
But if you would have told me the Los Angeles Lakers would be the ones sweeping while the Boston Celtics were knotted up ... not so much.
Yet it's the Lakers who advanced to the second round with surprising ease Monday night. They used a dominating closing stretch from Kobe Bryant to hold off a Denver Nuggets team that, it must be said, didn't quit, winning Game 4 107-101 to complete the sweep.
While Bryant made most of the big plays, he was in that position because the revamped Laker team has become a lot more than just the Kobe Show. That was evident throughout Monday's contest, as Bryant was at something less than his best for the first 42 minutes but the Lakers still held a lead thanks to strong efforts from Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and the gang.
In particular, L.A.'s exquisite ball movement was a dominant theme throughout the series. This was a pretty good passing team even on opening day, but with Kobe fully bought in and the midseason trade for Gasol putting another deft passer in the mix, they've taken it to another level.