By SAM
GARDNER
FOXSportsFlorida.com Magic
Writer
Dec. 25, 2010
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Tired of being pushed around and overlooked by the NBA's elite, the Orlando Magic finally strapped on the gloves and fought back.
And over the course of two games in three days, a team that had become nothing more than an Eastern Conference afterthought stepped into the spotlight and forcefully declared itself a contender.
After a 123-101 rout of the NBA-best Spurs on Thursday, Orlando took the East-leading Celtics' best shot on Christmas Day and escaped with an 86-78 victory that moved the Magic to 18-12 on the season.
It doesn't seem that long ago that all of the talk swirling around Orlando was about the Magic's losing skid -- the Magic had dropped eight of nine games after a loss to Dallas on Tuesday -- but now that downtrodden attitude has been replaced with an air of confidence.
And it would appear that the ugly, abject version of the Magic has been laid to rest.
Perhaps the most impressive part about Orlando's newfound mettle and hasty return to prominence is the contrasting styles with which they showed they could win basketball games.
The Spurs game was a classic rout. Orlando couldn't miss, and San Antonio couldn't buy a bucket. After leading for most of the first half, the Magic blew the game open early in the third quarter and never looked back.
Saturday, however, was the antithesis of Thursday.
For starters, the Magic offense was dreadful. For more than three quarters, they couldn't hit shots, and -- as is usually the case when Boston is in town -- the game was played at a torpid pace.
Orlando trailed by as many as nine points in the fourth quarter, but it found enough offense from the right people -- namely Jameer Nelson and Brandon Bass -- and outscored the Celtics 15-1 over the final 3:06 to earn a gritty, grind-it-out win that could be the start of something big in Orlando.
Both San Antonio and Boston came into the Amway Center blazing hot. The Spurs were 25-3 and had won 10 straight games, and the Celtics were 23-4 and riding a 14-game win streak. Two more games in the loss column seemed likely, if not certain, for the fading Magic.
Then something clicked.
Maybe it was a disjointed Magic team finally getting a chance to practice. Maybe it was the team's new additions -- Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu -- finally loosening up and finding a comfort zone in the Orlando system. Maybe it was good old-fashioned luck.
Whatever the case, the Magic showed up to play, and showed that they're not playing around.
With Saturday's win, the Magic became the first team in 13 years to end two winning streaks of 10 or more games in consecutive contests.
Orlando is out of its funk, and things should get easier from here.
Five of the Magic's next six opponents have sub-.500 records, and it's not out of the question to think that Orlando could be riding a 12-game win streak when they travel to Boston for a rematch on Jan. 17.
By then Rajon Rondo should be back for the Celtics, and by then the Magic will be out of excuses should they come up short. By then, we'll know if Orlando is a worthy adversary of Boston and Miami in the Eastern Conference.
In the meantime, buckle up, because it's going to be a fun ride.
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