The Orlando Magic's record in winner-take-all games

2009 Second Round: Orlando Magic def. Boston Celtics, 101-82

The Orlando Magic were down 3-2 in their series with the Boston Celtics heading home for Game 6. Their chances of advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals looked bleak.

Then Dwight Howard turned in one of the best games of his career, scoring 23 points and 22 rebounds in an 83-75 victory in Game 6 at the Amway Arena. The Magic had some hope.

But going to TD Garden and trying to win in Boston for Game 7 was an impossible task. To that point, no team had ever won a Game 7 on the Boston parquet.

Then the Magic did it.

As part of that improbable 2009 Finals run, the Magic's biggest victory might have been their Game 7 victory over the defending champion Celtics on the road, closing out the series with a 101-82 rout.

Orlando opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run and a 10-1 run to take control of the game. Hedo Turkoglu scored 25 points and added 12 assists. Orlando made 13 of 21 3-pointers as the team cemented that its 3-point strategy could work in big basketball games.

The Magic held Paul Pierce to 16 point on 4-for-13 shooting. In a defensive battle as this series was, that was more than enough. Orlando's offense was working and rolling throughout the game. Boston could not keep up.

The win set the Orlando Magic up to face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. That series itself turned into a six-game classic. But that win defeating the defending champions was a moment where everyoen could begin to believe in the team's chances at winning a championship.

It was a dream victory to win a Game 7 on the road against that team, that franchise and in that city. It is one of the all-time great victories in the Magic's franchise history.