Diaz: Orlando Magic Will Win Eastern Conference Finals

Orlando Sentinel columnist George Diaz has come away from the Orlando Magic's last two games convinced that they will become the first NBA team to ever overcome a 3-0 series deficit. He says the Boston Celtics are no longer dictating the series, and that Orlando's adjustments have proven too potent for the Celtics to counter. An excerpt (brackets mine):

Starting with a worthless possession in the last seconds of regulation in Game 4 — when the Celtics could have sent the Magic home in four games — the Celtics have unraveled, piece by piece.

They are no longer stuck on Orlando's perimeter shooters. Notice the space between shooter and defender in Wednesday night's 113-92 victory, when the Magic hit a series-high 13 3-pointers. They are no longer stopping Orlando's smooth transition offense. The Magic are off and running at every miss, facilitating better shots. They are no longer the better bench team, with [Rasheed] Wallace (bad back), [Glen] Davis ( concussion) and Marquis Daniels (concussion) all struggling with physical issues.

Meanwhile, J.J. Redick is having a fabulous series, Brandon Bass is now a factor inside, and Mickael Pietrus is giving [Stan] Van Gundy quality minutes with defense and long-distance shooting.

He might be onto something. Prior to Wednesday's Game 5, John Hollinger of ESPN Insider explained that, no matter how you look at it, at least one team trailing 3-0 should have come back to win the series by now. His odds show that Orlando's chance of becoming the first club to do that stand at 14.5%, which isn't much, but is "still a grand improvement on zero." And John Schuhmann of NBA.com ran through the reasons why Orlando can make history in this post.