*Originally written: May 29th*

Final Score: Celtics 96, Magic 84

The Boston crowd cheered for it, and the Celtics are going to have a chance to do it.

“BEAT L-A! BEAT L-A! BEAT L-A!” was the chant from the Boston crowd at TD Banknorth Garden, minutes before the Celtics closed out a 96-84 victory over the Orlando Magic in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Celtics avoided becoming the first team in NBA playoff history to lose a series after being up 3 games to none. Boston took a commanding 3-0 lead over the Magic, but Orlando fought back to take Games 4 and 5 to force a crucial Game 6 in Boston. The Celtics ended all thoughts of a comeback from the tipoff in this one, controlling the tempo and flow of play. Paul Pierce led all scorers, Nate Robinson provided a crucial spark off the bench, and the Magic could not get into any kind of rhythm.

Dwight Howard played well for Orlando, as the Magic big man proved his value once again in this series. He almost single-handedly took this team on his back and led them to a historic series comeback. But it just wasn’t meant to be, as the Celtics were far superior in this Game 6 at home.

Jameer Nelson, who has been the biggest catalyst of Orlando’s improved offensive attack in the last two games, was fairly ineffective in this one. But more importantly, Orlando could not hit shots from the outside. The NBA’s most prolific three-point shooting team struggled badly to hit their threes in this game, a common theme of their losses in this series.

Orlando goes home this offseason with questions about the makeup of their team. They made a key offseason move last year, but could not make it back to the NBA Finals despite the continued development of their best player (Howard). However, perhaps it wasn’t anything that the Magic did this year. The Celtics might have just been THAT good.

Boston has a motivated “Big 3”, an emerging superstar point guard, and an experienced roster with a ring from just 2 seasons ago. The Celtics will have an opportunity to add another one, as they head to the NBA Finals to face the Los Angeles Lakers.

Boston beat L.A. for that 2008 title, but it’s the Lakers who are defending NBA Champions and will have home court advantage.

Get ready for an awesome NBA Finals matchup between the league’s two historically greatest teams and biggest rivals.