In games one and two of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers had a silver lining to pull from their two miserable games. They didn’t close out on three point shots. They didn’t shoot well. Even though the Orlando Magic have had their number the past three years, they only had to play a little defense to turn this series around.
That theory has been squashed. The Cavaliers played some defense in game three and forced the Magic players off the three-point line. Only problem – they couldn’t stop them from getting to the basket and drawing fouls. Now, the Magic are up 2-1, and the Cavs are in trouble.
Lebron James historic three point shot is the only thing keeping the Cavs from facing an insurmountable 3-0 deficit. If it weren’t for that shot, David Stern and his referees would have spent last night and this morning in a conference room creating a plan to eliminate the Magic. Can’t stop the Lebron vs. Kobe debate before it even starts now can we.
Since the 2006-2007 season, the Cavs are 4 – 9 against the Magic. There are numerous reasons why the Magic have dominated the Cavs – and surprisingly, none of them have to do with containing James. Here are some stats from the conference finals, which are a microcosm of the past three years between these two teams.
- James is averaging 42 points per game in the series while shooting 53%. He is only pulling down 5.7 rebounds per game, but his assists match his season game average of 7. Even one of his biggest weaknesses – free throw shooting – has not been terrible. He is hitting 73% of them. While his outside shooting is atrocious as always, it’s the reason why he is surrounded by “so called” sharp shooters.
- As a team, the Cavs are shooting 26% from behind the three-point line. Even if you take out James stats, Delonte West is shooting 35% and Mo Williams is shooting 25%. Even Zydrunas Ilgauskas – a big man who can step out and shoot jump shots – is shooting less than 40% from the field. The Magics’ height are partially to blame since both West and Williams are under 6-3. But in actuality, all Cavs players have missed open shots and choked worse than Phil Mickelson at the 108th US Open and these people.
- The Cavs have thrived off of defense all year long. They love to get out in transition and either watch James drive to the net for a monstrous dunk or wait for a kick out and then open three pointer. In games one and two, the Cavs didn’t play defense during the second half of both games. They didn’t have much chance to get out and run. In game three, they forced the Magic into many bad shots, but they bailed them out through fouls. The Cavs finally closed out three pointers but didn’t rotate to stop the drives to the net and force contested jump shots. The Magic shot 51 free throws (double what the Cavs allowed in the regular season).
James has tried putting his team on his shoulders, but that has not worked. He has tried relying on his teammates only to watch them miss open shots. Not to mention, the Cavs team defense and hustle (the one consistency since the Cavs drafted James) has not been there. Luckily for the Cavs, James has not let his team down and there are still four more games left in the series. As Eddie House has shown, it only takes one three pointer to get your shooting stroke back. And with a player of James caliber, the entire Cavs team will get numerous open chances to transform their game. The question is: are they ready to follow their king.
The Magic have accounted for 4 of the Cavs 18 losses this season. That’s a little more than a fifth of the Cavs losses. The problem for the Cavs and James is they need their role players to come through. James has dominated the Magic, but his teammates have let him down. You could hear it in his voice at halftime in game one. Williams had just hit his own miracle three-point shot, and all James could say was that makes up for the few easy ones Williams missed.
If the Cavs don’t come back and win this series, it could be what drives James out of his home state.
