ORLANDO, Fla. — Overlooked and begging for respect all season, the Orlando Magic can no longer be ignored. After 14 frustrating seasons, the team has returned to the NBA Finals.
Dwight Howard dominated inside for 40 points, ex-Sonic Rashard Lewis added 18 and the Magic, a team that seemingly can make three-pointers drop from thin air, connected on 12 threes in a 103-90 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night.
The Magic will be making its first Finals appearance since 1995, one year before center Shaquille O'Neal bolted as a free agent for Los Angeles, leaving this Florida franchise in ruins.
It was a long, slow climb back, but Orlando has been rebuilt and will meet the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night at Staples Center in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Finals.
Disney World vs. Disneyland.
Oh, and memo to Nike executives: It's time to break out the Howard puppet. LeBron's puppet can go in summer storage. For now, the only matchup between James and Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant will have to be limited to those cute TV commercials.
The Magic made them irrelevant.
With the area's most famous athlete, top-ranked golfer Tiger Woods, sitting courtside, Orlando made believers of all those who wondered if it was better than the Cavaliers, a team that won 66 games in the regular season, or the defending champion Boston Celtics.
The Magic made both disappear in the postseason.
"I just think this team, all year long, has shown an incredible amount of heart," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. "This team just keeps fighting back."
James scored 25 in his worst game of the series. The league's most valuable player had to do much of the work alone, as Mo Williams lost his shooting touch and Cleveland's bench was badly outplayed by Orlando's reserves.
Former Sonic Delonte West scored 22 points and Williams had 17 for Cleveland, which went 0-5 in Orlando this season, including playoff games.
During the closing minutes, James was mocked by Orlando's crowd singing "M-V-P" as Howard shot free throws.
And after Superman muscled underneath for a thunderous dunk with 2:21 left, the crowd moved into Finals mode by chanting, "Beat L.A.!"
Afterward, James put on headphones and left Amway Arena without saying much. He skipped the news conference and briskly walked down the corridor with two security guards as escorts. He plopped into a chair to be scanned for the team's charter-plane ride, grabbed his bags and was gone.
Howard, who had 14 rebounds, made 14 of 21 shots from the field and 12 of 16 from the free-throw line.
"Total domination," Lewis said of Howard.
