Lebron's 3 at Buzzer beats Magic

This is the stuff NBA legends and MVP's are made of. On Friday night, the Orlando Magic seemed to have the Cavs down against the ropes, facing a possible 0-2 deficit in their Eastern Conference Finals series. However, where there's a second left, there's a Lebron, and King James delivered in Game 2 with a last second 3 pointer. Moments beforehand, the Magic's Hedo Turkoglu hit a runner in the lane to give the Magic a 95-93 lead. Things seemed somewhat gloomy for Cleveland, but never in their building when you've got the MVP and premiere superstar in the league. Mo Williams waited it out on the inbounds and eventually found Lebron James up at the top of the 3 point line. Lebron caught and released in a fluid movement, hitting an amazing 3 pointer over Hedo Turkoglu in his grill. In Game 1 it was Rashard Lewis hitting a game winner, and now Lebron has matched it. Lebrons finished the game up with a game-leading 35 points. Fans were silent with a second left, but after the shot was official, the placed went wild. Fans were still celebrating in the streets outside the Q. Lebron saved the day and the series as they now will head to the Magic Kingdom to duke it out in the next 2 games, which promise to be just as compelling as the first 2.

We now have two very even pace starts to both the East and West series. In Game 2 out West, Denver was able to steal a 3 point win against the LA Lakers evening that series up. Orlando and Cleveland are also knotted up at 1-1. Stay tuned as this weekend will offer some very intriguing and hopefully equally as thrilling Game 3's!

Magic oust Celtics in Game 7

Don't call it a comeback, or a repeat Finals...The Orlando Magic put that notion to rest on Sunday with a victory over the Boston Celtics 101-82. According to reports after the game, the Celtics were never quite in it. The Celtics led the game just once and for only 37 seconds, after a Rajon Rondo jumpshot early in the first quarter. The Celtics will fail in their quest to repeat as NBA Champions, and a new champ will be crowned among the Final 4 of the Lakers, Nuggets, Cavs or Magic.

During the Game 7, the Magic built their lead up as high as 14 points before the Celtics rallied to cut it to 7 by halftime. Unfortunately, the Celtics just couldn't find the proper spell to counter the offense of the Magic. The Celtics' Big 3 was obviously hurt by the absence of the biggest of the 3, Mr. Kevin Garnett who was out due to injury for the entire playoffs. The other 2/3 of the tres amigos had a combined 39 points for the Celtics as Ray Allen led the team with 23 and Paul Pierce added 16.

Hedo Turkoglu was the lead scorer for Orlando with 25, while big man Dwight Howard notched another double-double of 12 points and 16 rebounds. Rashard Lewis also added 19 points in the win. Next up for Orlando will be the patiently waiting Cleveland Cavaliers. It'll be especially interesting to see what sort of inside game Lebron has when Dwight Howard is manning the paint. The Cavs are currently 8-0 in these playoffs, but expect the Magic to take at least 1 game in a very compelling Eastern Conference Finals. The Eastern series gets started Wednesday night.

Billups Down, Kobe Up

Game 3 in Orlando featured Rashard Lewis scoring a career-playoff high of 33 points, while the Pistons suffered the loss of their PG leader, Chauncey Billups for most of the game. Billups went down with a strained right hamstring after stepping on Jameer Nelson's foot in the 1st quarter. An MRI will be done on Thursday, and Detroit coach Flip Saunders said they are shooting for Billups to return Saturday for Game 4. Orlando stayed in control throughout most of Wednesday's game, up 12 at the half. Detroit started to come back in the third, closing the gap to just 4. But the Magic started off with an 11-0 run in the 4th. Dwight Howard finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocks. Orlando wins 111-86 to get back into the series.

In the 2nd game of TNT"s slate, the Lakers hosted Utah for Game 2. Kobe Bryant held the MVP award high above his head prior to the contest, then hit an incredible shot which banked high off the backboard during the game. Kobe scored 34 tonight after receiving his award, with Derek Fisher adding 22. The Lakers took this game despite the Jazz trying to get back into it several times. Los Angeles has yet to lose during the playoffs which goes to show just how good a team they are this season.

It seems like a Celtics vs. Lakers Finals may be inevitable as both teams push forward through the competition.

Lewis Makes Magic

Free agent forward, Rashard Lewis, has departed the new look Sonics in hopes of playing for a contender. His choice, the Orlando Magic.

According to ESPN.com:

"After being treated to an aggressive 24-hour courtship, Rashard Lewis told the Orlando Magic on Monday that he plans to leave the Seattle SuperSonics to sign a max contract with Orlando on July 11.

That's the first day free agents are allowed to officially sign new contracts. Free Agency Season in the NBA began Sunday at 12:01 a.m. and Lewis was in Central Florida by that afternoon to take in Orlando's persuasive recruiting pitch, including lobbying from franchise big man Dwight Howard.

"Orlando was my main focus and No. 1 on my list from day one," Lewis told Florida Today. "Me and my agent sat down and talked about it after the season and we determined that Orlando would be No. 1, and when they gave me that call on the first [of July] I was just so excited."

The exact value of a max contract won't be known until the league announces the salary-cap figure in effect next season on July 11, but it's believed to be between $75 million and $85 million over five seasons."

This is a great move for the Magic. To add a great outside shooter like Lewis to the inside ability of Dwight Howard definitely puts the Magic among the top teams in the East next season. It's going to get much more interesting now, and I'd even go as far as to put this young talented team up there with Miami and Chicago, if they can gel quickly.

Another team I still think holds a ton of talent and is probably being underrated right now; the Charlotte Bobcats. Look at the pieces they have in place and you'd have to think they are closing in on making a solid contending team. Mr. Jordan just might be making the right moves in Charlotte.