Tag: LeBron James (Page 68 of 85)

      LeBron’s buzzer-beater saves Cavs’ season…

      May 22, 2009 /

      …and maybe the franchise itself.

      When the home team loses Game 1 of a seven-game series at home, they usually come out strong and focused in Game 2, and that’s exactly what the Cavs did tonight. They actually built a 23-point lead, and looked like they were on their way to an easy win, but the Magic slowly but surely chipped away at the lead. It was 12 at halftime. Then it was six at the end of the third quarter. The Magic just kept coming.

      Orlando had the ball with 0:13 to play, tied at 93-93, when Hedo Turkoglu ran the clock down, drove into the lane and hit the go-ahead bucket with 0:01 to play. He should have taken that extra second, because on the next possession, LeBron caught the ball at the top of the key extended, fading away, and rattled home the game-winning three. I’m amazed that he was even able to get open that easily, but he simply walked into Turkoglu, shoved him a little (nothing illegal) creating the space to catch the ball and shoot. I bet Stan Van Gundy would like to have that defensive possession back and double-team LeBron instead of having Rashard Lewis guard the ball out of bounds. With only 1.0 seconds remaining, there wouldn’t be enough time for the passer to get the ball back and get off a shot.

      The Cavs were very fortunate to escape Game 2 with the series tied, and the win might breathe new life into a team that is playing with very little consistency right now. The Magic are simply a bad matchup for the Cavs. Dwight Howard is a tough guard down low and the versatility of Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis is causing fits for the Cleveland forwards. And Stan Van Gundy has outcoached Mike Brown thus. He swapped the matchups for Dwight Howard (putting him on Varejao) and Rashard Lewis (putting him on Ilgauskas) to allow each defender to play to his strengths.

      Typically, when a team loses a heartbreaker like this, they are a little hungover in the next game, but this Magic team is mentally tough, and they will keep coming at the Cavs. Cleveland will need to play 48 minutes (and maybe more) of good, solid basketball in order to get a win in Orlando.

      I can’t imagine what Cavs fans went through over the last quarter of this game. They’re fooling themselves if they think it’s a sure thing that LeBron is going to stay next summer. The Cavs need to get to the Finals, and if they flame out against the Magic, I’d fully expect all the LeBron-to-NY/NJ rumors to start back up again. The city of Cleveland cannot afford a Cavs’ loss in this series.

      NBA, NBA Finals

      Couch Potato Alert: 5/24

      May 22, 2009 /

      “Gentlemen, start your engines.”

      These four words begin one of the grandest traditions in auto racing, as the 93rd Indianapolis 500 will take place this weekend. The Old Brickyard has been home to some memorable finishes and characters that make this one of the marquee events on the racing season.

      The NBA Conference Finals are really heating up. Arguably, the four best players (LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard) in the league are fighting tooth and nail for a title. All four have shown the determination and drive needed to win a NBA crown.

      All times ET…

      NBA Playoffs
      Fri, 8:30 PM: Orlando Magic @ Cleveland Cavaliers (TNT)
      Sat, 8:30 PM: Los Angeles Lakers @ Denver Nuggets (ABC)
      Sun, 8:30 PM: Cleveland Cavaliers @ Orlando Magic (TNT)

      NHL Playoffs
      Fri, 8 PM: Detroit Red Wings @ Chicago Blackhawks (Versus)
      Sat, 7:30 PM: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Carolina Hurricanes (Versus)
      Sun, 3 PM: Detroit Red Wings @ Chicago Blackhawks (NBC)

      MLB
      Sat, 4:10 PM: Philadelphia Phillies @ New York Yankees (FOX)
      Sun., 1:30 PM: New York Mets @ Boston Red Sox (TBS)
      Sun., 8 PM: Milwaukee Brewers @ Minnesota Twins (ESPN)

      Auto Racing
      Sun, 1 PM: The 93rd Indianapolis 500 @ Indianapolis Motor Speedway (ABC)

      Tennis
      Sun, 5 AM: The French Open (ESPN2)

      Couch Potato Alert, MLB, NBA, NHL, Television, Tennis

      Hollinger says the Cavs should go small

      May 21, 2009 /

      In his latest PER Diem, John Hollinger thinks that the Cavs should think about going small.

      Thus, the Cavs must go back to the drawing board, and it’s time for them to unearth the one tactic we didn’t see Wednesday night: going small.

      This may be the only way for the Cavs to survive. It’s easier to double Howard with quicker, faster players, while James can slide up to the 4 and lock up Lewis. The Cavs haven’t used that plan much this postseason, but it may be the only way they can guard the Magic in this series. Such a lineup might require them to play Sasha Pavlovic, because Wally Szczerbiak can’t guard Pietrus, and that’s a terrifying thought. But anything would be preferable to the way they’ve been chewed up during the teams’ first four meetings.

      I know the Cavs like the idea of allowing James to roam by having him defend Alston, but he’s the only player on the team qualified to check Lewis. I’m a huge fan of Anderson Varejao’s defensive expertise, but this is a bad matchup for him. He isn’t used to defending the 3-point line and had trouble getting back to Lewis on the pick-and-pop plays on which Orlando devoured the Cavs during the second half. And if Varejao guards Howard instead, he may be able to flop himself into a few offensive-foul calls — which is vital, because putting Howard on the bench is about the only way Cleveland can stop him.

      I guess it’s worth a try. Having Zydrunas Ilgauskas cover Dwight Howard one-on-one did not work. Going small would allow the Cavs to double Howard more quickly with smaller players and the theory is that he’d give the ball up. The problem is that the Cavs would be replacing one of their better players (Ilgauskas or Varejao) with one of their…um…more questionable players (Szczerbiak, Pavlovic). This also means that Joe Smith would see fewer minutes in favor of Szcerbiak or Pavlovic and that’s not a good thing.

      NBA, NBA Finals

      Orlando steals Game 1

      May 20, 2009 /

      In a great back-and-forth second half, the Magic finally upended the Cavs, 107-106.

      The Cavs jumped out early but the Magic settled down in the second quarter and kept the game reasonably close. They would have been down by 12 at halftime if not for a three-quarter-court heave by Mo Williams that put the Cavs up 15.

      One thing that jumped out at me is the way that the Cavs matched up at the beginning of the game. They put Delonte West on Hedo Turkoglu, Mo Williams on Courtney Lee and LeBron on Rafer Alston. As good of defense as LeBron has played this season, the Cavs actually think West is their best perimeter defender. He’s smaller than Turkoglu, but that doesn’t really matter because Turkoglu doesn’t post up. West can hug him on the perimeter and contest his jumper and use his quickness to keep him from getting to the hole. Meanwhile, it’s highly unlikely that LeBron will get into foul trouble covering Alston.

      Conversely, Stan Van Gundy should really think about switching his front court matchups by putting Howard on Anderson Varejao and Rashard Lewis on the more perimeter-oriented Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Lewis would be at a size disadvantage, but it would allow Howard to stay closer to the rim since Varejao doesn’t spend a lot of time on the perimeter.

      For much of the first half, Dwight Howard couldn’t catch a break inside. The refs were letting the Cleveland bigs abuse him, but called him for a couple of ticky-tack offensive fouls, which kept him in foul trouble throughout the first half. If the refs are going to let defenders hack away, then they better let Howard use his strength when he has the ball.

      The Magic proved during the Boston series that they are a resilient team. They are not easily rattled and they don’t get down on each other when things aren’t going well. Orlando went into Dwight Howard repeatedly in the third quarter and cut the Cleveland lead to four at the end of the quarter.

      The final period was nip tuck the whole way. LeBron fouled Howard out of the game (undeservedly, I might add, as Howard jumped straight up) on a three point play that put the Cavs up two with 0:25 to play and then Lewis hit a huge three to put the Magic up one with 0:14 remaining. The Magic doubled LeBron right away and he gave the ball up. The possession ended with a missed corner three by West, a jump ball and then a Mo Williams attempt off the jump ball that was thisclose to going in.

      The Magic continued to fight and took advantage of a Cleveland team that seemingly put it into cruise control at halftime. The Cavs tried to turn it on again in the fourth quarter but Orlando made enough plays to steal Game 1. LeBron finished with 49 points, eight assists, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Mo Williams chipped in with 17 points. Howard had 30 points and 13 boards before fouling out. Rashard Lewis went 9 of 13 from the field (including several clutch shots down the stretch) for 22 points and Hedo Turkoglu scored 15 points while dishing out 14 assists. The Cavs bench was thoroughly outplayed; they were outscored 25-5.

      If tonight is any evidence, this is going to be an interesting series.

      NBA, NBA Finals, News

      Cavs/Magic Preview

      May 20, 2009 /

      It’s always funny to hear pundits say that one team can’t beat another in a seven-game series. In most cases, those teams can spring the upset, but that doesn’t mean that they will. Such is the case in the Eastern Conference Finals where the Orlando Magic will try to upend the Cleveland Cavaliers.

      No team has been more impressive in the postseason than the Cavs. They swept both the Pistons and the Hawks, and seem destined for the Finals. They have the best player in the league in LeBron James, a sharpshooting sidekick in Mo Williams and a host of players willing to fill their respective roles. Simply stated, they look unstoppable right now.

      Conversely, the Magic struggled at times in their seven-game series against the Celtics, though that might have more to do with Boston’s defense and championship pedigree than anything the Magic were doing wrong. This Cavs/Magic series would be a lot more interesting if Jameer Nelson were healthy, but Rafer Alston has been a decent stopgap at point guard, and Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis are proving to be nice complements for big man Dwight Howard. The Magic are built like the Rockets were in the Hakeem Olajuwon era in that they have a center that demands a double team and have surrounded him with a number of players who can make teams pay from the perimeter. The problem is that Howard isn’t nearly the passer or the free throw shooter that Olajuwon was, so he’s not a great option in crunch time. The Magic have a tendency to fall in love with the long ball and don’t have a guy who can get to the rim on a consistent basis. But if Orlando is knocking down their threes (as they were in Game 7 of the Boston series), they’re nearly unstoppable.

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      NBA

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