Recap: (8) The Party’s Over.
2009-05-20
Overview: Too painful to do.
I wanted it all to stop. For 8 days, all we’ve been hearing about is how great this team is, how LeBron’s coming up against Jordan, how the argument for best player alive is over, how the Cavs have a yellow-brick road to the finals and the championship. And it was too soon. All it does is make this more painful. I love it, but only after we’ve won a ring.
Of all the painful things in this game, the worst by far is this feeling: it doesn’t count. LeBron James, the best player alive and our savior, had what may well have been the best game of his career. I will go there. It’s not just that he posted a playoff-career high 49 points on a ridiculous 70% shooting percentage against the league’s best defense in the regular season, with 6 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals, and three crushing blocks to go along with it. It’s the way he did it. His bread-and-butter drives to the rim weren’t even there in the first half. There were beautiful post-ups. Open threes over an unsuspecting defense. Getting out on the break. Breaking down the high double-traps early with beautiful passes to find cutters. That stretch in the 2nd and 3rd quarters where he simply could not miss a midrange jumper. If the Cavs could’ve pulled this one out, we’d get to mythologize this game and salivate over what we just saw for the next full day, and this would’ve gone into the record books as one of the truly amazing games of his career, which is to say one of the most amazing games of any career.
But history is the propaganda of the victors, and the fact the Cavs came up one measly point short means this is a game that should be forgotten. Anderson Varejao bites on a rocker-step fake from Rashard Lewis and gives up a three-pointer on a man he was in position to run off of the three, and Delonte West misses an open look from the short-corner, and all of a sudden we’re forced to somehow find fault, to look at those three free throws LeBron missed in the fourth, to say that he maybe should’ve pulled up for the jumper instead of letting the double-team come and letting the ball get forced from his hands. It’s not fair. But that’s basketball, and life. This is one of the best games I’ve ever seen played by an individual. But for all history cares, he might’ve well gone 0-30. Part of me wishes he had.
If we’d won, I’d probably do a full breakdown of just how amazing LeBron was in this game. But it just all feels like a moot point. Let’s talk about everything else.
Good things: Andy Varejao. Having him make those back-cuts was a great way to break down Dwight cheating onto LeBron and forcing him to stay out of the paint, and it really helped that first-quarter run.
The big culprit in this game was Delonte and Mo just not making those open shots. Mo was 1-7 on threes that weren’t 75-foot buzzer-beaters (how big did those three points end up being?), and those are shots you just have to make. Delonte wasn’t much better, going 3-8 from three and only 1-5 from two-point range. We need backcourt scoring to win if it’s going to be an offensive game. It’s that simple.
Defensively, we were just not sharp. I’m fine with what happened in the first half, with the Cavs shutting down the three and letting Dwight get his in single-coverage situations. But in the second, penetration started happening, we didn’t get a hand in the face on every three, and guys got free for open looks. You can bet that MB is going to be harping defense all day tomorrow. We fouled too much and put them on the line.
Just by the way, Third Quarter Collapse my ass.
This is where I’m supposed to be calming about what this all means, because it’s only the first game and all. This one is bad. It’s about as bad as a first game gets. We’ve lost some of our swagger at home. Game 2 almost becomes must-win. In close games, you either get it or you don’t. We didn’t tonight, and we’ve lost a 50-50 game. We now have to beat an elite team on the road, something we haven’t shown we can do. We wasted an absolutely phenominal performance from LeBron James. But you should be able to win on the road if you’re a championship team, and some things will even out; you can’t count on LeBron (or anybody) being that good for the rest of the series, but Mo and Delonte should get better and Rashard and Dwight should lose some of their fire.
Really, it’s more important to chill out on a Macro level. In the fourth quarter, I was literally in physical pain. My heart rate was so bad I thought I was going into cardiac arrest. I was audibly hyperventilating. Even before the game was over, I was thinking: I’m not sure that I can do this anymore. This hurts. Bad. Some of it is “playoff basketball” and the fun of sports, but this just isn’t healthy. This team can lose. They are humans. They could well win on the road.
According to the comprehensive source Two for the Money, gambling addicts keep gambling because they need to feel that they’re still alive after they’ve lost all their money. On a much smaller scale, that’s the only thing approaching a positive I can take away from this. We lost. At home. In a close game. With LeBron rolling. But we’re only down a game. And there’s still a lot of series left. And my life is, if I can chill for a second and try and get out of my own head for a second, relatively the same as it would be if Delonte had made that shot. It sucks because this team especially, and LeBron, feels like we need validation, a championship on a macro level to bless the team and all it’s fans faith as worthy and a win tonight for LeBron’s performance to be truly great. But the true fans know both things are true regardless, and…God, I just want to win on Friday and for it to happen right now.
Masochism (Dictionary) : A willingness or tendency to subject oneself to unpleasant or trying experiences .
Masochism (Cavs Fan) : Watching Mike Brown allow another 22 point lead vanish !!!!
Kj, the Cavs lost a game. It’s okay. They’ll probably win tonight. You can seriously take a deep breath, look up to your LeBron mural on the ceiling of your room, and try to sleep for the first time in 72 hours. The Magic will never, ever, ever propose any kind of challenge to the Cavs. The Cavs will have a yellow brick road lined with cherry gumdrops to the Finals. Everyone knows this, so no need to get worked up!
reality check part deux: “Heading into the game, the Cavs were 63-3 when leading after three quarters, counting the playoffs. One of those losses was when LeBron James didn’t play.” “Heading into the game, Howard was only 47-of-102 (46 percent) on non-dunks.” i could go on and on about how the magic and the cavs shoot almost EXACTLY the same pct. from 3-land in the reg season and the playoffs. but you guys keep believing that howard will make all his hook shots and that the cavs will blow a 3rd qtr lead again and that the magic will make… Read more »
reality check: the last time the magic shot over 50% against the cavs, they won by like 30. wednesday? they won by a point. that is THE telling stat of the game. EVERYTHING went right for the magic and they won by a point. when the cavs played like they have all the rest of these playoffs, they were blowing the magic off the floor. i mean, i don’t understand how the national media and magic fans and (much to our shame) too many cavs fans are acting like the magic whooped the cavs. as windhost said today “the magic… Read more »
@ Rant…i did laugh…hysterically!! And i agree that it’s sad they this should be a topis of discussion when Lebron goes nuts for 49/8/6/3/2, mo hits nothing but net from 70ft, and desptie all this the Magic come back from 15 in the second half to win in the last second at the formerly impenitrable “Q”. NBA officiating is the absolute WORST of any pro league. It’s the only thing i hate about the NBA. It’s so bad i think WWE has more respect than NBA officials do. Anyways…it’s going to be a great series…regardless of officiating @ DKH….you points… Read more »
i couldn’t read any recaps or analysi until this morning. i almost died. it’s unhealthy to get so worked up about this. but i want to cut myself thinking about how i’ve lived and died by this team everyday for since forever, and it could all crumble in the hands of the… magic? seriously? the magic? how do i italisize? the MAGIC?! rather lose to the celtics anyday. hell, i’d rather see the pistons or the wizards there. no one has or should take the magic seriously. seriously. what i fear most is that this might be the time in… Read more »
@billy
haha! you kill me. you said LBJ is not gonna repeat wed. performance, i point out to you that he did the same thing TWO GAMES AGO and i’m the crazy one? what part of that of 47/8/12 are you not getting? 47 is only two points less than 49, if you’re math skills are a little rusty.
so, i have PROVEN with EVIDENCE that LBJ is quite LIKELY to have a repeat performance like he did in game one, yet you still say he won’t. yes, clearly i’m crazy…
LeBron has plenty of games like this in him in his career. He’s not going to average 45 ppg though, I’m sorry. Please try to be realistic, although that’s probably a hopeless plea considering how nuts you seem. Contrary to what some believe, he’s not Jordan. And if he duplicated this performance repeatedly throughout this series, that would be better than Jordan, so color me crazy if I’m not ready to anoint him that status. He’s going to be up-and-down (although his “down” is like Mt. Everest compared to most players), just like Mo Williams is going to shoot better… Read more »
@ billy yes, billy, LBJ will not duplicate last night’s game. i mean, it was a full TWO games ago that LBJ had 47/8/12. man, what was i thinking? he’s sooo not gonna have another game like last night again! maybe not in his career! and lewis is gonna hit a contested to 3 to win the game 2, most likely. i mean, the dude’s known for game winners, esp.come playoff time. i better not even watch game 2… btw, billy it’s also very likely that our bench will also score 5 points again and that our guards will shoot… Read more »
Remember, this Magic team choked over and over again in the last 2 playoff series against mediocre teams. They lost 2 playoff games to PHILLY. lol They blew double digit leads to Boston. They did not suddenly become a championship caliber team. If they’re so great, then how did the Cavs destroy them in the 1st quarter after such a long layoff? They got hot shooting in the 2nd half and the Cavs defense was terrible. They will not shoot 55% again. The easiest way to lower their shooting percentage is to hammer Howard whenever he gets the ball. Start… Read more »
Also, I’m not gonna tell anyone they shouldn’t post on this site. But to me, posting on an opposing team’s blog after dealing their fans a heart-breaking loss is definitely a bit insensitive. I know many of you are trying to be intelligent and fair, but it still comes off as implicit (or perceived) gloating a lot of the time. And telling us that our team gets an unfair advantage from the officials — just don’t. At least have the decency to recognize that all fans think their team gets screwed by the officials, and don’t bring it up in… Read more »
did you plagiarize Chris Sheridan?
Kj… what are you talking about? I mean, honestly, I have no idea. Who said anything about comparing Rashard Lewis’ performance to LeBron’s? Who here has said anything besides LeBron had an amazing performance last night and if he does that night-in, night-out, the Cavs will be in a good spot as long as the supporting cast picks up? You said that LeBron is going to keep on having nights like this… well, that’s *possible*, but seeing as how everyone’s calling this his best playoff game possibly of his career, and one of the great playoff performances ever (at least… Read more »
@ billy and all the rest of you OVER EXUBERANT MAGIC people ( you won by a point on a low pct. 3-point shot. PLEASE check yourself before your wreck yourself).
i was wrong. i went back and compared the great rashard lewis playoff performances versus LBJ’s great performances and they are CLEARLY equal. so sorry…
MagicFanatic, I’m going to have to disagree with you regarding foul calls in this game. -Overall, the Cavs were letting Howard do what he wanted around the rim. I recall a play where LeBron simply backs off and lets Howard have the dunk. Do you see this out of Howard? That’s why he’s going to have six fouls when LeBron only has one. -Comparing numbers isn’t really evidence of anything. It means nothing about the correctness of the calls to say that LeBron shot 10 FTs to Howard’s 2. You have to look at plays. -You may have an argument… Read more »
@ MagicFanatic
Solid points all of them. Let’s for laughs pretend the Refs could call things fairly….
…
Admit it you laughed…
At least a little chuckle lol :-)
It upsets me greatly that the officiating has become bad enough that that’s what we’re talking about this morning instead of LeBron’s 49, Mo’s Shot-that-should-never-have-gone-in, D12s 30+(I think), and Rashard’s Cold-Blooded 3.
I’m a Magic fan and the thing I like about this series is that I like Cleveland. You guys have a lot of heart, a great ‘team’ mentality and ‘most’ of your fans are great (there are some psychos out there on ESPN. . .but every team has a few of those, at least). I think this is a great series of solid competitors who want to win with no bad blood. There was a tiny little dust-up in the 1st half, I think, but nothing out of the norm for a heated NBA game. After playing Boston with the… Read more »
@ Rant…first of all i respect your opinion and basketball IQ as a obvious die hard Cavs fans…but here are some points to consider… To say that i have come here making excuses is silly for the mere fact that the Magic didn’t lose…so i would have to make excuses….they overcame all adversity, Out Of This World Lebron and “otherwise”…and i could be prouder of them. To say that Lebron will EVER foul out of any game(has he?), let alone an ECF playoff game…is completely absurd…thats like saying Kobe would get suspended if if he ever through an elbow and… Read more »
Lebron on Rashard and going small is an interesting idea. I heard it a few times before but I don’t know if you want to pull Lebron that far away from the paint. He is their best and figuratively only shot blocker. Granted he has the speed to recover and help out in the lane sometimes but it may create some problems regardless. On offense, I can’t see this lineup change creating much of a difference. Rashard would match up with Wally or Sasha. Sasha might be quick enough to create some problems off the dribble for Rashard and definitely… Read more »
Also, to Andrew, Dwight isn’t dominant consistently offensively yet, but he is against certain competition. Big Z is one of the guys Dwight can get anything he wants against. So is Verajao (unless he gets multiple flop calls). People were really fooled just because Perkins is one of the best post defenders in the NBA and tried to paint that as the picture for Dwight’s entire offensive game. It was just that Perkins’s strength defensively is exactly opposing Dwight’s offensive strengths. Obviously as we saw last night, Dwight was an offensive force while he had the ball in the post… Read more »
I would like to start by saying I have been a Cavs fan since they have been in the league. I’m very excited about this team. I don’t know why no one will admit that Lebron, as great a player as he is, lost that game for us last night. There were time he dribbled down the court & Mo Williams asked for the ball. Lebron waived him off stood in one place dribbling the shot clock down & proceeded to take that broke jumper without anyone else even touching the ball. I understand our guards had problems, but he… Read more »
Howard owned Ilgalskus and if the Cavs don’t double Howard will be scoring 30 a game in thi series, or more. And this notion that lebron is a lock down defender because he can come up with weakside blocks from an offdefender position is lame. Lebron got 2nd in the DPY because of hype. Who does he lock down? When has he locked down anyone for an entire game? If they do put him on Lewis and he does shut him down in the series, its a step better, but even that doesn’t mean much. Let’s see him shut down… Read more »
@ Billy
Hehe. Whoops! Missed the clock part. Thanks though!
The above non-rant by Rant is pretty much spot on (except the Mo Williams bit… let’s be real, with 1.0 seconds, there’s no way you can have a ball get tipped, travel through the air, and then catch and shoot… the clock started a little late, but whatever). This series is going to be good. Cleveland is going to win in 7 or the Magic are going to win in 6. Depends on how many more performances like this LeBron has in him, and if the Magic are making up for their horrible shooting the first 12 games of the… Read more »
@ Tony
You’re absolutely right. No way anyone should argue, no matter who they want or expect to win, that Orland didn’t play fantastic ball. They’ve played good ball all year, the playoffs shouldn’t be different. Orlando played like they wanted that game, and the Cavs fell short.
Minimum 3 more games like this, maximum 6. I dunno if we can handle 6 more like last night.
I disagree Darrin. Single-covering Dwight is fine. let him go off for his 19pts and 22 rebs. that is all he will generally get offensively. he is does not dominate offensively like a Kareem, Hakeem, or in-prime Shaq. instead, his offensive dominance is, like i said, 19 pts, 22pts, not the 35-40 that those other centers would put up if they were ever single-covered. And Lebron might get worn down chasing screens, but he is the most athletic player in the L, so he can handle it. if he can’t shut down Rashard Lewis, the Rashard Lewis is Michael Jordan,… Read more »
Andrew, the problem is no one can guard Howard. Even if you put Lebron on Lewis, it won’t help, in fact it will hurt the Cav’s help defense. Lebron would be on the perimeter more or get killed chasing Lewis through all the screens. No way they put him on Lewis, not if they want him to pretend to be Kobe at the end of the game (something he is yet to prove he can do). Also, I find all this so funny. Everyone was so high on the Cavs and thinking they were dominators for killing 2 weak East… Read more »
Magic fan here. I hope I’m not letting the win affect me too much but win or lose last night I would have been impressed with how the Magic played. A poster above put it perfectly how Cleveland fans must feel, like us after game 5 with Boston. That is a miserable feeling. I thought a lot of the Cavs first half dominance was created from their helter-skelter frantic pace to start the game. Later on I think this had something to do with Lebron’s cramp problems. He was all over the place like a madman. But this pace is… Read more »
Something all of you people claiming LeBron choked by not taking the last shot fail to remember is a Magic player “being knocked over”–aka falling on the ground–blocking off LeBron’s entry point to the paint, forcing him underneath the rim to be collapsed on by three defenders. LeBron’s desire to take the last shot of this game being questioned is absolutely absurd and I wouldn’t doubt if that snivilling little shrew Van Grundy didn’t tell his worthless player to pretend to be pushed down, creating a virtually unpassable obstacle for LeBron.
Are you kidding? Seriously? Do you think Lebron would ever foul out? He skips nearly every time to the basket and doesn’t get called. It’s on display in video. he bully’s his way to the basket all the time. I am not complaining. Stars get treatment and as soon as Howard shows the guts and starts hitting shots consistantly, he’ll get the same level of benefit. That being said, the Howard block on James was big. Howards defense of the lane in the 2nd half was the difference in the game. No question. And this was on a night James… Read more »
IF THE CAVS DON’T PUT LEBRON JAMES ON RASHARD LEWIS, THEY WILL EASILY LOSE THIS SERIES. RASHARD IS THE LYNCHPIN THAT SPEARHEADS THEIR WHOLE OFFENSE, BECAUSE IT IS HIS POSITION THAT CREATES THE MISMATCH. MOST TEAMS ARE SIMPLY UNWILLING TO GO SMALLER AGAINST ORLANDO TO MATCH UP, BUT THAT IS WHAT THE CAVS NEED TO DO TO WIN – PUT LEBRON ON RASHARD TO SHUT HIM DOWN, THEN PUT PAVLOVIC OR TERRANCE KINSEY IN THE STARTING LINEUP TO GUARD HEDO, AND THEN EVERYTHING ELSE IS THE SAME WITH DELONTE, MO WILLIAMS AND ZYDRUNAS INSIDE.
@ MagicFanatic I was ok with most of your analysis until the end there. LeBron’s legs started cramping up in the 3rd quarter. If you watched him standing there, you could wath the Quadriceps muscle on his right thigh repeatedly cramping every time he started to walk. I think Varejao may have bumped his throat on Pietrus’ shoulder, and it may have felt worse than it was, but I don’t think there was a foul on the play. Dwight had some fouls that should not have been called on him, he probably never should have fouled out of the game.… Read more »
I read and enjoyed a lot of the comments…found some of them very amusing to say the least. John…all i can say is that Magic fans definitely know your pain as we have it in our DNA by now watch our Magic boys grown up into Magic Men…especially in the last 2 playoff series. Some thoughts on the game… So much for Cleveland having any rust after coasting through the first to rounds and having 8 days off before Game1. I was afraid at one point during the first half that Lebron was going to go for 60 and the… Read more »
Cavs 3-7 vs Lakers Magic and Celtics this year.
Garbage.
PLay someone Queen James.
Oh wait you did, 10 times and only won 3 times.
Fake MVP
SIMBA NEEDS TO GROW UP
MUFASA MY ASs
James was incredible. He consistantly made shots I’d have bet he’d miss. It was a game for the ages, but let’s not go crazy. He will not shoot like this the rest of the series. Midrange jumbers are still a burden for him and he is a 34% 3pt shooter so look for James to have an off night in this series when things even out. There is also the blatantly bad calls that James benefited from because he was at home. The Howard bock on him for the 4th foul was no different and actually more impressive than James’… Read more »
I was at this game. It was a good game. Very exciting, many good plays. First half was amazing. Unfortunately it was our downfall. The parade of blocks, dunks, 3’s, capped off by Mo’s 3 at the buzzer shot our confidence to (un)charted territory. After being up 15 at the half, we mistook the Magic for the Hawks, or the Pistons. We thought they were tired and beat. We were wrong. We rotated poorly. We let them shoot out of a slump. Andy paid too much attention to the paint when he needed to chase Rashard off of the 3… Read more »
Smush Parker and Kwame Brown aren’t quite the players in the cavs starting lineup…or on their bench…or on my high school chess team. Lebron busted his butt for seemingly nothing, yeah, but that’s just offensive. Without Mo or Delonte spreading the court and switching the ball, the offense broke down and we had to watch a clearly exhausted Lebron James be perhaps even more resourceful than we thought he could be, looking a lot more like Kobe (he even looked like Kobe in the post before he got tired, which is never a bad thing, because Kobe in the post… Read more »
I don’t know how the Cavs fans can say Orlando’s defense is bad, considering the only team with a better defense statistically is the Cavs, who gave up one more point than Orlando did..Also, the Cavs came out on fire shooting nearly 65 percent for most of the first quarter, while Orlando shot just 35, so realistically if you take away that unreal first quarter by the Cavs, and a bad shooting effort by the Magic, then the Magic take the next 3 quarters by 15 points..
Hey John,
Don’t know if you read this, but I feel the exact same way and anyone who doesn’t isnt a fan. Game 2 can’t get here fast enough.
now you know what it felt like all those years watching Kobe bust his butt, play unbelievable games…then have the likes of Smush Parker and Kwame Brown lose the game for the Lakers.
some good solid hating from Cal Ripken there…what’s the matter pal, still waiting for the Bullets to come back?
And I disagree with the notion that incredible performances by players are forgotten by history simply because they were in a loss. Jordan’s 63 against the 1986 Celtics is a prime example.
“LBJ has done it time and time again in the playoffs, both past and present.” LeBron has finished with 49 points on 20/30 shooting, burying a ridiculous percentage of his outside jumpers more times than Dwight has finished with a big double-double against a Frankenstein-ish center? Or Rashard Lewis scoring 22 points? Or Hedo going a mere 4/11 for 15 points? Alston going for 11 points? The Magic holding a team to 43 points in a half? If you believe that LeBron, who was absolutely dead-tired at the end, is going to replicate that performance night after night, then as… Read more »
If the refs were trying to gift the game to the Cavs, then they would have called the obvious foul on Mo’s last shot and they probably should have called Orlando out of bounds on that jump ball call.
Remember Cleveland the best way to beat the Magic is to hand them a double digit lead and watch them choke it away.
and to alex, the magic finished the year first in defensive efficiency. first. as in the best.
correction, that last comment was directed towards kj
magic fan here, and ill be the first to say that Cal Ripken guy is a douche..
second, to alex…. actually dwight only fouled out 6 times this year. 6!!! out of 82!!
i was in absolute shock with how crooked that ref was (the one with the hair slicked back). i would call his officiating atrocious if it wasn’t a deliberate attempt to gift the cavs the game
Yeah, Orlando doesn’t have the leagues best defense. Let’s start by correcting that right away. Dwight’s a beast in the middle, but the rest are largely offensive.
That’s not to take anything away from Lebron. LBJ is the man. A man amongst men, even.
But I mean.. come on. The Cavs blew a 16 point lead in game 1 of the east conference finals on what was LBJ’s career night — That spells trouble. Not many other ways to look at it.
We’ll find out just how much trouble in Games 2 and 3.
btw, there were no “ticky-tack” fouls by howard last night except *maybe* the final one. come on…the guy is as an aggressive of a low-post player there is in the NBA and it’s not like he didn’t foul out of any games this season. let’s get real here…
@billy actually your statement that “If LeBron keeps hitting those shots, my Magic are in trouble. However, there’s a better chance that Rashard Lewis, Hedo, and Dwight will play to the level they did for the entire game than there is LeBron will have a game *quite* like that” is backwards. LBJ is FAR more likely to have games like that then howard, hedo and lewis are likely to repeat their performances from wednesday. LBJ has done it time and time again in the playoffs, both past and present. \ again, if the magic shoot 45% form 3-land all series,… Read more »
how disappointing, john. you show the same willy-nilly panic face that most clevelanders do when people just *talk* about the cavs and greatness. and then you seemingly panic when the cav lose their FIRST GAME OF THE PLAYOFFS. i’ve said it before, i’ll say it again. these kinds of panic posts are unbecoming to a man who writes such a damn fine blog as you do. we were off for 8 days and it finally caught up to us. i trust LBJ to keep playing the way he did in game 1 a LOT more than i trust that the… Read more »
hahah Lebron is your savior?? awww do you freaks pray to him at night?? you should pray he never is found to have used PED’s..which he probably did. Anyways just to make it crystal clear he LOST the game, he didnt close it out..so his pretty stats dont mean anything. This will probably be a trend in his career, starting this year when he loses to Kobe
Meh. We had this one in hand. I think the biggest difference between this game and the past 8 was that the Magic didn’t go into cruise control and let the game get out of hand. They stuck around just enough and then made their move. The Hawks and Pistons for the most part let it just slip away.
And what was with open look after open look for the Magic from that corner? Damn, that’s what killed us the most.
If LeBron keeps hitting those shots, my Magic are in trouble. However, there’s a better chance that Rashard Lewis, Hedo, and Dwight will play to the level they did for the entire game than there is LeBron will have a game *quite* like that. He was absolutely amazing and is downright scary to have your team going against. I’m not going to go into full review mode; this game played a lot like the game in Cleveland earlier, except some of the refs’ terrible calls didn’t affect the outcome of the game. Dwight seriously had 1 iffy offensive foul call,… Read more »
How can you have a first half like the Cavs had followed by Orlando completely handing them their hat in quarters 3 & 4? Call it the Jim Tressel effect – where your team starts out strong only to be picked apart after halftime when your opponent makes its adjustments & your coach & team beats itself, unable to adjust & playing itself into oblivion… Along these lines: 1) How many times do we need to see Z get beat on D & miss his jumper on the other before Brown takes him out of the game? 2) Did we… Read more »
Magic fan here. Big win for the good guys. Cleveland really dropped the hammer early but our guys responded with a toughness no one outside of Orlando thought they had. I can feel cavs fan who almost feel ill at this game. We felt the same way after that monumental loss to the celtics in game 5. I didnt feel like watching basketball again. But we came back and won it. I still think the Magic will win this series but I wont count the cavs out with the way they play defense and lock in on teams. I still… Read more »
John, Do you really think that the Cavs played good defense in the first half, or did Orlando just miss shots it normally makes? Also, what’s your series take on Cleveland’s ability to match up with Orlando? They really seemed to struggle with the athleticism of the Magic, particularly when it came to the bigs. As well as LeBron played, it felt a lot like some of the Lakers’ games of previous seasons, when everyone sort of sat back and hoped that Kobe would carry them through the playoffs, and despite some great outings from 24, LA always wound up… Read more »