Final Score: Celtics 94, Magic 71

No NBA team has ever come back to win a playoff series after being down 3-0. Don't expect that to change in this one-sided series.

The Boston Celtics dominated the Orlando Magic from the opening tip in Saturday night's Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, taking a 17-point lead into halftime before winning by 23 points. Boston now leads the series 3 games to none, and has a chance to close it out with a sweep in Game 4 on Monday night at home.

The Celtics had six different players score in double figures, and played fantastic team defense to hold the Magic to just 37% shooting. Boston shot 47% from the field, including a sharp 6 for 11 from behind the arc. Orlando, on the other hand, shot a miserable 8 for 30 from three-point land.

Another statistic that clearly showed Orlando's inferiority on Saturday night was the assist-to-turnover ratio. The Celtics had 23 assists to just 8 turnovers. Orlando? They had 10 assists and turned it over 17 times.

It was an all-around dominant performance from Boston, who shot better, played better defense, hustled far more often, and executed much more smoothly than the Magic. Orlando showed no signs of urgency or desperation in this game, despite it being a clear must-win.

Orlando would even feel okay with themselves if they made this a close game and lost. Indeed, no team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit, but they could have at least built up some momentum to take into Game 4. And a win on Monday night would bring the series back home to Orlando, and you never know what could happen from there.

But at this point, it doesn't seem like there's any chance of Orlando pulling out a Game 4 victory in Boston. A clean sweep seems inevitable.

Glen Davis lead all scorers in this one, scoring 17 points for Boston as one of six players in double figures. Ray Allen had 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Paul Pierce had 15 points and 9 rebounds. Kevin Garnett contributed 10 and 6. Rasheed Wallace added 10 points off the bench. And Rajon Rondo scored 11 points with 4 steals, while dishing out 12 assists. He had more helpers than the entire Orlando team.

The Magic had just three players score 10 or more points. Vince Carter had 15 points and 5 rebounds. Mickael Pietrus had 12 points off the bench. And point guard Jameer Nelson had 15 points but managed just 1 assist. How a starting point guard, and a very good one, at that, can play 32 minutes and only have 1 assist is truly astonishing.

Dwight Howard had just 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks in this game. His effort was there, but the performance was not.

"We gotta bring more to the game," said Howard afterwards. "The one thing that has been working for us all year is our effort. And that's not working for us right now. [. . .] Everybody's gotta go home tonight and tomorrow and think about what everyone needs to do individually to get a win on Monday."

It's going to take a lot for Orlando to get a win. The Celtics are rolling, and show no signs of slowing down. The suffocating team defense, combined with the unselfish smooth ball movement on offense is making for some fun Boston Celtic basketball.

The Celtics certainly look like a championship caliber team. They'll get a chance on Monday night to reach the NBA Finals and then get some extra days of rest while they wait for their opponent.