Despite some poor play down the stretch in regulation, the Magic survived another test from the Cavs, winning Game 4, 116-114, in overtime.
The Magic had a six-point lead with 4:18 to go in the fourth quarter before this series of possessions:
3:28 Hedo Turkoglu misses 13-foot jumper
3:15 Rafer Alston misses 25-foot three point jumper
2:55 Hedo Turkoglu traveling
2:29 Rafer Alston bad pass (Anderson Varejao steals)
2:03 Mickael Pietrus misses 24-foot three point jumper
1:43 Dwight Howard misses free throw 1 of 2
1:43 Dwight Howard makes free throw 2 of 2
1:10 Rafer Alston misses 24-foot three point jumper
0:45 Hedo Turkoglu misses 25-foot three point jumper
0:07 Mickael Pietrus misses 24-foot three point jumper
So in those nine possessions, the Magic scored one point (Howard’s free throw) on 0-6 shooting from the field and two turnovers. They found themselves trailing by a point with four seconds to play. Then Rashard Lewis hit a very difficult three pointer to give the Magic a two-point lead. It’s quite tough for a right-handed player to square up on his right foot and make a long shot like he did. On the Cavs next possession, LeBron took the ball to the hole and got the call when he collided with Mickael Pietrus in the lane. He hit both free throws to force overtime.
In the extra period, it was the Dwight Howard show. He posted 10 points, including two clutch free throws with 0:21 to play to give the Magic a four-point lead. On the Cavs’ next possession, he had an amazing block on LeBron’s drive to the rim. The extra period was a defining moment for Orlando’s big man.
With the Cavs trailing 3-1, it’s looking like there’s a good chance that we won’t see that Lakers/Cavs matchup that everyone was expecting. Howard and Co. have used this supposed inevitability as motivation and they now have a great shot at making the Finals.
For Cleveland, LeBron isn’t getting much help. If you remove his field goal attempts from the equation, the rest of the Cavs have made 90 of 220 shots (41%) in the series, and that’s poor accuracy given how much attention the defense is paying to the Cavs’ superstar. Mo Williams is averaging 17.3 points per game in the series, but he’s not scoring efficiently. He went 5 of 15 from the field in Game 4, which puts him at just over 32% for the series. That’s not going to get it done.
The Cavs have two of the last three games at home. If they can get a win in Game 5, the pressure is back on the Magic, who will treat Game 6 like it’s a Game 7 — they won’t want to go back to Cleveland. The series definitely isn’t over, but the fat lady is stage right warming up those vocal cords.
The Denver Nuggets were in position to win Game 5. They were up 71-64 with 6:31 to play in the third quarter and they had the Lakers on their heels. If they had shown patience and executed, they could have pushed the lead to double digits or at least have a modest lead going into the fourth quarter. But the Lakers tightened up their defense, and the Nuggets committed four straight turnovers late in the third to let L.A. back into the game.
