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Game 6: Orlando Magic 103 Cleveland Cavaliers 90Analysis: Congratulations to the Orlando Magic who seemingly surprised everyone by making the NBA Finals this year. No need to talk about what went on in this game, since it was pretty much the same as the rest of the series. You know...Cavs can't stop Dwight Howard, or Rashard Lewis, and Mickael Pietrus scores double-figures off the bench. That kind of thing. I do want to go back to a few things I said earlier this year about Orlando back before Jameer Nelson got hurt.
Something to consider with everyone drooling all over the Cavs is that they have a modest 12-8 road record right now. That's probably not going to get it done come playoff time, especially if they aren't able to secure the #1 seed and home court advantage. Even the Celtics are just 13-7 on the road this season after their recent stretch of poor play. However, the Orlando Magic currently have a 17-5 road record, which is tops in the NBA. Just another reason to think that the Magic are legit contenders in the East, even more so if they finish with the best record.
While everyone is talking about the Celtics, Cavs, and Lakers; the Orlando Magic are quietly putting together a monster season. They are currently third in the Eastern Conference with 28-8 record, including a solid 15-3 home record. While I am not the biggest Dwight Howard fan, because I simply don't think he has enough low post scoring moves to dominate in the playoffs against high quality defenses, Howard does have enough pieces around him for the Magic to give the Celtics and Cavs problems once the playoffs come. We all know what Rashard Lewis(19.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 41.0% 3FG) and Hedo Turkoglu(16.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists) bring to the Magic every night, but the difference in this years team is the play of Jameer Nelson. As a team, the Magic are currently ranked 9th in the NBA in offensive efficiency and a solid 3rd in defensive efficiency just a little behind the Celtics and Cavs. So while many people are asking if Boston will be able to beat Cleveland this year in the playoffs, I think it's fair to wonder if maybe Boston or Cleveland gets knocked off by the Magic in the second round of the playoffs. It's even possible that they could end up in the NBA Finals and they certainly would be deserving of that with the way they have played so far this season.
Basically, once the Celtics lost KG, I should have pushed harder to say that the Magic could beat the Cavs. In fact, we all should have seen this coming. I was bringing it up back in January, but once Jameer Nelson got hurt and then Rafer Alston became the new PG, I kind of downgraded their chances and I shouldn't have. There was nobody on the Cavs who could guard Dwight Howard even though he does lack any great post moves, he is still too athletic and quick. Also, most people see the fact that Rashard Lewis is the power forward for Orlando as a weakness, but in fact it was a matchup nightmare for these teams who have traditional PF's. If the Lakers don't put Lamar Odom on Lewis they will be having some bad dreams of their own.
Key Players of The Game
Dwight Howard: Gotta give the man credit, he came up big in this game with 40 points and 14 rebounds. He outplayed Lebron and led his team to the NBA Finals. I even saw his game developing downlow throughout the playoffs, so I'm looking forward to seeing how he performs in the Finals.
Rashard Lewis: 18 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block; while shooting 6 of 13 from the floor. He finished the series averaging 18.3 points and 5.8 rebounds, while shooting 49.3% from the floor and 48.4% from downtown.
Mickael Pietrus: This guy has been invaluable to the Magic throughout the playoffs. He had 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals off the bench in this one. He finished the series averaging 13.9 points a game, while shooting 50.9% from the floor for the second straight series. He also shot 47.2% from downtown nailing 17 threes.
Lebron James: Lebron needed to drop at least 40 points in each of the last three games for the Cavs to win this series. In Game 6, he had just 25 points on 8 of 20 shooting. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't enough to get things done even with Mo Williams and Delonte West combining for 39 points.
More: NBA & NBA Playoffs
Orlando stepped it up at the right time. Lebron and Co were tough but just didn't hit the outside J like the 66 win regular season team did.
ReplyDeleteLA matches up very well with Orlando. The Turk and Rashard Lewis can't shoot over smaller players anymore or blow by bigger guys as Lamar Odom and Ariza are ready for them.
That being said, as long as Orlando is on fire they can take this to 7.