Final Score: Magic 99, Bobcats 90

The Orlando Magic were just too talented, deep, and balanced to be tested by the Charlotte Bobcats. Despite a full, 48-minute effort from Charlotte in all 4 games of the series, the Bobcats never came close to taking down the defending Eastern Conference Champions in any game.

Monday night's Game 4 saw Orlando continue its trend of balanced scoring and strong team defense. Four of the Magic starters scored 14 or more points, with MVP candidate Dwight Howard the only starter in single digits. Meanwhile, the Bobcats had only 2 major contributors, a common theme for them throughout the series.

Vince Carter led the way for Orlando with 21 points. Jameer Nelson, who has been the best player in the series, added 18 points. Rashard Lewis had 17, Matt Barnes scored 14 with 8 rebounds, and Mickael Pietrus had 13 points off the bench. Dwight Howard had just 6 points and fouled out, but contributed 13 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.

Orlando, the league's top three-point shooting team during the regular season, shot half of its field goal attempts from behind the deep line. They hit 13 of 33 three pointers, a huge advantage over Charlotte's 5 for 19 effort from three. Mickael Pietrus has been a sharpshooter from deep, and all 14 of his made field goals in this series came from the three point line.

The Bobcats' leading scorer was forward Tyrus Thomas, who had 21 points and 9 rebounds off the bench. Gerald Wallace had 17 points in a classic effort from the high-energy leader of the team. But nobody else joined him in the starting lineup with big games. Top scorer Stephen Jackson struggled mightily, with 8 points on 2 of 11 shooting. He added 8 assists but had 4 turnovers.

Boris Diaw added 13 points and Raymond Felton had 11, but they only reached double figure scoring with garbage time baskets in the final minute.

Orlando just dominated this series in all 4 games thanks to their terrific balance on both ends of the floor. Coach Stan Van Gundy preaches sharing the ball on offense and strong help defense on the other end. The Bobcats lacked good individual scorers, so their movement of the ball and set-play based offense did not work out like they wanted it to against Orlando's D. Having the Defensive Player of the Year owning the defensive paint also definitely deterred Charlotte's offensive sets.

The Bobcats failed to win a game in their first ever playoff appearance, and now might have lost their motivational coach. Larry Brown appears destined to take the vacant Philadelphia 76ers job according to new reports today. Brown's potential departure would be a huge loss to the Bobcats, who really grew up as a team this season and played with terrific hustle all season. Who knows whether a new coach will be able to get the same effort from this group of guys next year.

The Magic become the only team to sweep in the first round of the NBA playoffs, and are the first team to advance to round 2. They now will have substantial time to rest and wait for their next opponent. The Hawks and Bucks are tied at 2 games apiece in their series and will certainly be worn down before taking on a rested Orlando. The Magic are looking like strong contenders to defend their crown in the East. Of course, they will eventually run into the Cavaliers and a guy named LeBron James in the Conference Finals.

But before getting to future predictions, it's time to congratulate the Magic on a 4-game sweep of the Bobcats. It was a hard-fought series by the underdog Bobcats, but no game's result was ever in doubt. Orlando is supremely talented from top to bottom and will be a very tough team to beat in the playoffs this season.