Magic dump champs Boston out of play-offs

Hedo Turkoglu made 25 points and 12 assists as Orlando Magic dethroned the Boston Celtics with a convincing 101-82 victory over the NBA champions on Sunday.

Magic led for most of the game and pulled away from the Celtics in the final quarter to win the best-of-seven series 4-3 and advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

Orlando will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers for a place in the NBA finals, starting with an away game tomorrow.

"We had a lot of confidence and these guys always believed in each other," Orlando coach Stan van Gundy told reporters.

Magic led by as many as 14 points at the half, but the Celtics clawed back to 45-42 early in the third quarter. Orlando's superior shooting saw them carve out a 66-61 break going into the last, however.

An 8-0 run at the start of the fourth put Magic well in front, as the weary Celtics, playing without Kevin Garnett, appeared to run out of gas.

"We just didn't have enough left to get by a very good team," Boston coach Doc Rivers said of the Celtics, who needed seven games to finish off the Chicago Bulls in the quarter-finals.

After winning 62 games in the regular season, the Celtics wound up 7-7 in the post-season, as they struggled without marquee player Garnett.

The 17-time NBA champions Celtics had never lost a play-off series after being ahead 3-2, but squandered a 10-point lead to surrender game six in Orlando on Thursday.

Lakers through

The top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers finally saw off the under-strength Houston Rockets by crushing their opponents 89-70 on Sunday to advance to the Western Conference finals.

Spanish forward Pau Gasol recorded a game-high 21 points and 18 rebounds as the Lakers clinched the best-of-seven series 4-3 at Staples Center.

Watched by a capacity crowd including Hollywood actors Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman, the home team charged 20 points clear by half-time and never relinquished their grip.

The Lakers will meet the Denver Nuggets in the best-of-seven Conference finals, with the series opener in Los Angeles today.