Celtics put Magic season to an end

This time, the Boston Celtics made sure the Orlando Magic didn’t pull off another playoff series comeback against them.

The Magic fell behind 3-0 prior to closing to 3-2 in their Eastern Conference finals series with the Celtics before their season ultimately came to an end at TD Garden with a 96-84 loss in Game 6 on this day in 2010.

The Magic were riding momentum on May 28, 2010, as they pushed toward avoiding playoff elimination by the Celtics for the second consecutive season.

Just days earlier, they had closed Amway Arena with a Game 5 win over the Celtics, who watched the Magic come back from a 3-2 deficit to win the teams’ 2009 conference semifinal series.

While Orlando, which won 59

NASCAR regular-season games, fell short of a second straight trip to the NBA Finals and a chance at its first title, coach Stan Van Gundy wouldn’t characterize the season as a failure.

“I don’t know what you call this year,” Van Gundy told the Sentinel after the season-ending loss to the Celtics. “It’s certainly not a success because we didn’t reach our goal of winning a championship, but it seems a bit harsh to tell those guys in the locker room that they are failures after winning 59 games and going to the conference finals. Call it a failure for me if you want, but not for our players. That’s just not fair.”

Dwight Howard put up 28 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Magic while Vince Carter scored 17 points.

Paul Pierce, as he had done for most of the series, carried the Celtics with a 31-point effort. Reserve

guard Nate Robinson provided a boost off the bench with 13 points.

The Celtics broke open a game that was close early in the second quarter and built a 21-point lead, at 46-25 before the Magic closed within 13 by halftime. By the end of the third quarter, Orlando was down by 21 and its season was all but over.

“I’ve never won a championship. If you haven’t won a championship, every season ends in disappointment,” Van Gundy said. “It’s tough to take.”