After winning a club record 66 games during the regular season, and sweeping the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ backs are pressed firmly to the wall. They lost Game 4 in Orlando, 116-114 in overtime and now trail the Magic three games to one in the best of seven series. The Cavs played hard, but still fell because of the remarkable three point shooting of the Magic.
As a basketball purist, I hate the way Orlando plays. Mike Brown is a fundamental help defense type of coach, but that doesn’t work against a team that shoots as many threes as Orlando, especially when they can hit 45% of those shots, which they did last night. If the ABA godfathers would have never invented the three point line, the Cavs would have won the series, or at least be up 3-1.
The Cavs had just 12 turnovers for the game, but they made several critical mistakes with the ball in overtime, with two of them made by LeBron James, who otherwise played another marvelous game with 44 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists. Delonte West and Mo Williams were both more aggressive in taking the ball to the hoop, but they were a combined 0 for 6 from behind the arc, adding to the frustration of Orlando’s success in that area.
The other key to the came was the red hot shooting of Rafer Alston, who hit 6 of 12 three-point shots in route to a 26 point night. Alston single-handedly erased an eight-point halftime lead for the Cavs with a series of wide-open looks. That got the former playground legend going, and he got so hot that he even banked in a three with James bearing down on him.
I hate to be simplistic about it, but the series has really come down to one team making shots, and the other team being cold. Three of the four games have come down to the last shot, so really the series could easily be going the other way. That’s amazing considering the way Orlando has shot the three point shot.
Look, coming back from a 3-1 deficit to win a series has been done before. The Cavs simply have to take it one game at a time, which I know is a cliché, but it’s true. The Magic haven’t dominated the series, so Cleveland should have every belief they can win at home, and then go back to Orlando to even up the series. However, they need someone besides LeBron James to be a consistent offensive force.
I do wish the Magic would stop complaining about the officiating, though. Dwight Howard’s whining about the call at the end of regulation is pathetic. Howard was holding Anderson Varajao as much as it was the other way around. And if Stan Van Gundy wants to complain about flopping, he should look no further than Mickael Pietrus, who could be the King’s floor mat as much as he falls down in front of James.
I still wish the Cavs would play Howard one on one in the post, and cover up the three point shooters they would be much more successful. The three point shot fuels the Orlando offense, and stopping it may just give the Magic something to think about. Remember once again that the Cavs tried this in the first game in the first half, and they were up 15 at halftime.
A comeback is possible, but it absolutely must start with a victory in Cleveland tomorrow night.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 