Game 1 Analysis
Welcome to the playoffs, Cleveland!After eight consecutive double digit wins against the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks, the top seeded Cleveland Cavaliers finally found themselves in a close game in game one of the Eastern Conference finals against the Magic. Orlando’s 107-106 win was the Magic’s 5th post-season game decided by three points or less.
Lewis and Turkoglu…finish strongRashard Lewis didn’t make a field goal til 5:22 to play in the 2nd quarter. Hedo Turkoglu’s first basket came about thirty seconds later. But in the critical 4th quarter, the Magic’s fabulous forward tandem came up big, scoring Orlando’s final 17 points.
Rashard Lewis..Magic Money ManAll too often in his Magic career when “Lewis” and “money” have been mentioned in the same sentence, there has been a reference to Rashard’s sizeable salary. In this post-season, Lewis has been a money man on the floor. Time and time again, Rashard has made big plays for the Magic. None bigger than his game winning three pointer with 14.7 seconds to play on Wednesday night. Forget the dollars and cents, Lewis continues to make perfect sense for this Orlando team. An ideal compliment to Dwight Howard.
LeBron vs. Rafer?Cleveland coach Mike Brown pulled a surprise in game one, putting Lebron James on Magic point guard, Rafer Alston. It looked like a winning ploy in the first half with Alston not much of a factor and the Cavs dominating the game. But in the second half, Alston was much more aggressive on offense. James had to work harder on the defensive end, and by the end of the game, King James appeared to be wearing down. Still, we were all witness to an incredible individual performance by Lebron James who scored a playoff career high 49 points.
It’s all about the match-upsJ.J. Redick played a key role for the Magic in the second round series against Boston, starting at the 2-guard position opposite the Celtics Ray Allen. Redick didn’t get off the bench in game one Wednesday night against Cleveland with rookie Courtney Lee getting the call. Is there any team sport in which individual matchups are as important as in the NBA?
The alley-oop is back!Largely absent from the Boston series due to excellent post-defense by the Celtics, the Turkoglu to Howard alley-oop lob resurfaced in game one against the Cavs. Three times, Turk and Dwight caught Cleveland defenders napping with the lob above the rim. Against the Celtics Orlando had a big matchup advantage with Rashard Lewis. In this series, Dwight Howard is going to be very difficult for any one Cavalier to stop, as his 30 point/13 rebounds Wednesday night attest to.
Kudos to the benchMickael Pietrus, Anthony Johnson, Marcin Gortat and Tony Battie all delivered solid performances off the Orlando bench, outscoring the Cavalier bench 25-5. Pietrus, in particular deserves praise. He continues to play with composure on both ends of the floor. Sounds ridiculous when a guy gets 49 points, but Mikael’s defense on Lebron James was quite good. James is just amazing. And Anthony Johnson, what a valuable guy to have off the bench. The man with the most post-season experience on the team knocked down an early 4th quarter three to give the Magic their first lead of the night.
One miracle shot shy of victoryCleveland’s Mo Williams hit a 65 foot hoist at the end of the 2nd quarter to give the Cavs a 15 point lead. His off balance 20 footer off a jump ball at the buzzer that would’ve won the game for Cleveland was just off the mark.
Home team loses game one? Again?For the third consecutive playoff series the Magic have been involved in this year, the home team has lost game one. Orlando lost game one at home to Philadelphia in the first round, and won game one at Boston in round two. Now, a win in Cleveland to take home court advantage away from the Cavaliers. This series has a long way to go, but coming from 15 down at the half to hand Cleveland just their 3rd home court loss of the season is an impressive start to the Eastern Conference finals for the Magic.
David Steele's blog is solely the opinion of David Steele and does not reflect the views of the Orlando Magic or the NBA. For more blogs by David Steele click here.