ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic are “upstarts.” They are dealing with a level of “immaturity.” They aren’t ready to take the “next step.”

That pretty much sums up the national perspective on the Magic, a team that, roll out the next cliche, is “just happy to be here.”
Rubbish.
Orlando 99, Cleveland 89.
The Magic have a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals after the victory at Amway Arena Sunday night.
No surprise here. The Magic are a better basketball team. Let’s discuss.
Let’s play a game within the game, shall we? Take away Dwight Howard from the Magic. Take away LeBron James from the Cavaliers. Which moving parts would you prefer to work with to build a team?
Did Orlando fade away Sunday night when Howard was in foul trouble? Did Orlando buckle when Rashard Lewis picked up his fifth foul late in the fourth quarter? Did they lose composure despite a number of chippy calls, including a flagrant foul on reserve Mickael Pietrus?
And most importantly, how can you take a team with a guy nicknamed Sideshow Bob, a character on “The Simpsons”, that seriously?
After clowning around with their first two playoff opponents, the Cavs are officially in the NBA playoffs. No one is denying the Cavs props after a fabulous run in which they won 66 games and lost only twice at home during the regular season. But they’re not in Washington, Memphis or Sacramento anymore.
They are at The Am, home to a team that won 59 games in the regular season. They don’t get a cupcake in the playoffs.
They are playing a team that has beaten them 10 of the last 14 times, and would have gone 11 of 14 if not for LeBron James’ 3-pointer as time expired Friday. I’d take my chances on those odds anytime.
“We were able to overcome the dagger of the other night,” Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said, sarcastically.
The Magic can win if Howard has an off-night offensively. It took a miracle buzzer-beater from James to beat the Magic Friday night when Howard only scored 10. They won without him when he fouled out late in the game Sunday night.
As for the Cavs, take away LeBron, and the rest of the James Gang isn’t shooting very straight.
LeBron has scored 125 points in three games. That’s 43 percent of his team’s points. He’s a superstar, but he’s having to play like a beast of burden.
No different Sunday, when LeBron finished with 41, and Mo Williams was next with 15. Anderson Varajao, a k a Sideshow Bob, finished with four, typical of the weak supporting cast.
And it’s going to be extremely hard to carry this team past the Magic. They’d be looking at a 3-0 hole if it wasn’t for LeBron’s miracle shot.
There are other problems for the Cavs. Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu can get a shot off any time they want because the Cavs can’t match up with them very well unless LeBron is in the mix. Lewis hit the winning shot in Game 1, and Turk would have been the Magic Man in Game 2 had LeBron not happened.
But how often will His Highness rescue the Cavs? Can Cleveland only be saved if the Magic get called for fouls every time they blow “air kisses” at LeBron? Even if, how can Cleveland be saved if LeBron’s supporting cast continues to stumble?
“Not only are we confident,” Magic guard Rafer Alston said, “we’re a tough cover when you have one of the most dominant big men in the game and we’ve got a lot of shooters.”
Upstarts. Immature. Not Ready.
These are all annoying buzz words in the Magic locker room. No matter what gets said publicly, no competitive athlete likes to have this pop psychology thrown at their face.
“It does add fuel to the fire to try to prove everybody wrong,” Lewis said. “You want to go out there and prove a point, but at the same time, they were the best team in the Eastern Conference and we’re right behind them.”
Now, not so much.
Orlando has the better team. Last anybody checked, the game is still played 5-on-5.