Superman knocks the King off his throne.
The atmosphere pre-game outside of the arena was something that the city of Cleveland has not seen in a long time. Being a Cleveland native (Ohio City stand up!), it was breath taking to see thousands of people standing outside of the Q chanting “MVP, MVP” two hours before the game was set to tip. For a city that ranks amongst the poorest in America (thank you Detroit from taking that honor off of our hands), one would think that you were in an area not hit by the economic downfall.
The sea of maroon and gold was at it’s capacity far before tip, giving the feel of a college game rather then a playoff game with seats that averaged out to nearly $70 a pop. After going through “The Shot” with MJ over Ehlo and then MJ over Gerald Wilkins a few years later, Cleveland fans are dying with optimism and this appears to be their year. Superman has made it clear that he’s going to try to be the next Cleveland villain.
Now on to the game:
-It appeared that the Magic started out in a 2-3 zone. Then I just realized that it was Dwight Howard plotting in the key.
-After Orlando’s first miss, Dwight Howard swiftly moved Illgauskas out of the way for a monster dunk that literally broke the shot clock. A few Cavs fans ran in terror in fear of the shot clock crashing down on them, but luckily for myself, the Cavs’ PR people placed me behind the opposite basket.
-Hate to say it, but Tony DiLeo was right…Dwight Howard is a walking three second violation, on both ends of the floor.
-We now have to deal with the lovely shot clocks in the corner of the court. Nothing better then looking towards the far right corner of the hardwood when trying to manage the clock.
-Cleveland native and Lakewood St. Edward’s graduate Jawad Williams looking smooth at the end of the bench, collecting his paycheck while being on the inactive roster.
-Two minutes into the game and it’s already looking like Dwight Howard is really going to get off this series. Big Z doesn’t look like he can get around the way he used to, despite the time off. It’s going to be scary if Dwight can knock down that left hand jump hook with consistency.
-Rashard Lewis should kill Varejao off of the bounce, yet Van Gundy doesn’t seem to want to exploit that mismatch at all early on.
-4:55 left in the first quarter and the Magic score their first points by someone not named Dwight Howard.
-LBJ with his first bucket around the 3:45 mark in the first, though he’s got more dimes then a parking meter.
-Patrick Chewing has really been rubbing off on Howard, as seen with that sky hook.
-LeBron took off from outside of the key for that dunk at the end of the first quarter, no lie. He then hammered Dwight Howard on the other end and didn’t get a foul called.
-Someone desperately needs to step it up as a second option for Orlando. 1 point per quarter between Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu on 5 shots is not going to get you to the NBA finals. The Magic’s role players have been solid thus far, though. Magic down 33-19 at the end of 1.
-Dwight Howard is a monster. Big Ben and Joe Smith cannot guard him now. 5 years ago, maybe.
-Before his career is over, Dwight Howard will break a hoop. He’s almost done it twice so far in this game.
-Wally Szcerbiak is guarding Hedo. Someone please give this Turkish assassin the ball.
-While Hedo didn’t get the ball, the Polish Hammer got a dunk. Let’s see who he criticizes in Poland about the pass.
-FINALLY Van Gundy is letting Rashard go to work out there. The guy is one of the more versatile power forwards in the game, let him be that.
-Hedo and Rashard with back to back buckets. Things could get interesting.
-If LeBron keeps advancing his post game and gets more consistency on his outside shot, he very well could become the best ever. There, I said it.
- Mickael Pietrus, Courtney Lee, and Anthony Johnson are doing all of the little things that don’t show up in the stat sheet, keeping Orlando in the game.
-Sitting here pondering who can get their head higher above the rim: LeBron or Dwight?
-Unfortunately I’m on the opposite end of Stan Van Gundy, so I can’t comment on his spazz outs up close and personal, although we all know they’re surely happening during this time out.
-Hedo is straight nasty once he gets it going. I personally love when they run the high pick and roll with him, but apparently Van Gundy doesn’t since they haven’t done it once so far and it’s nearly halftime.
-LeBron is the master of the European third step. Basketball purists may not like it, but it’s effective and he get’s away with it.
-Hedo is starting to go to work, but why settle for fadeaways against 6’3 Delonte West?
-Best 10 seconds of basketball I’ve seen in a long time: LeBron James pull-up, the Polish Hammer with yet another dunk (who doesn’t love that), then Mo Williams with a 70 footer at the buzzer.
-Halftime now and I’m going to enjoy a complimentary Diet Pepsi in the media room, as the guy behind me yells “You don’t see that in Chicago!” to Jay Mariotti, who is sitting next to me.
-Why are the Cavaliers up by 15 at halftime? 14 assists, 0 turnovers. Yes, you read the right…not one single turnover in the first half. LeBron’s 26 points help too.
-LeBron shows why he’s the MVP with his block on Dwight Howard, prompting fans to yell “Get that weak stuff outta here!” a famous Austin Carr saying.
-LeBron is then posterized on the next play by Courtney Lee.
-Skip to my Lou has finally arisen, remembering that he’s playing in the Eastern Conference Finals and not an AND 1 Mixtape.
-Rashard starting to get it going on the pick and pop. Could be the remedy to Orlando’s problems offensively outside of Dwight Howard. For all that Howard complained about how Stan Van Gundy utilized him in the last series, Rashard should have a similar gripe after this game.
-Dwight Howard dropped the ball three times in the air before laying it in backwards, seriously.
-A strong argument could be made that the Cavaliers have the worst mascot in the NBA, Moondog.
-It’s scary that as bad as the Magic have played, they’re still only down 5 with 3 minutes to go in the third.
-Apparently the NBA’s zone defense rules don’t apply to Dwight Howard. I now empathize with Sixers fans around the world.
-Mickael Pietrus is getting it done. Though his numbers don’t always reflect it, he’s a glue guy and worth every penny of the mid-level exception.
-LeBron has officially reached superstar level, as seen by the phantom foul calls that he receives on occasion.
-With the Cavs up 82-78 at the start of the 4th, it appears that Van Gundy may have wanted to save himself the criticism, going to Lewis two straight times. Not coincidentally, this resulted in 2 straight buckets for the Magic.
-Hedo off of the high ball screen finally! Result: Assist to Anthony Johnson for a wide open three., which he made giving the Magic their first lead.
-If the Cavaliers lose this game, expect the streets of Cleveland to be filled with rally towels.
-Uh oh. Wally Szcerbiak is in, so expect Rashard Lewis to immediately attack him.
-Throw it anywhere near the rim and Dwight Howard is going to get it Isn’t it laughable 5 years later that there was a serious backlash over the Magic drafting him #1 ahead of Emeka Okafor?
-Superman is shutting up all of his critics that claimed he had no moves on the blocks. His offensive repertoire is reminiscent of a less smooth Patrick Ewing, minus the 20 pound knee pads.
-How about ex-Cavs third string point guard Anthony Johnson doing some serious damage against his former squad? He’s controlling the tempo of the game and taking care of the basketball at the ripe age of 34. One can only hope that we see one of his nasty running dunks that you can catch on youtube.
-Hedo is playing the point forward role to perfection, even though he only has 6 points. The Turkish pearl has 12 assists with only one turnover with 5:30 to go. If only he would stop settling for those fadeaways…
-As I type that, he drills a fadeaway three in his man’s face to put the Magic up by 3! Looks like I may want to pick a new profession.
-Now come the high ball screens for Turkoglu, about three and a half quarters late. He can get to the rim on basically anyone, regardless of size.
-LeBron James makes me often wonder if he’s ambidextrous with the off balance left-hand layups he hits on the regular.
-Rashard Lewis is shooting straight daggers. Don’t you think the Rockets are feeling a bit silly for leaving him crying in the green room back at the ’98 Draft?
-Dwight Howard has received limited touches in the fourth quarter…do I smell a call out coming?
-If anyone remembers Anderson Varejao when he played in Europe for FC Barcelona, you remember him as a pretty darn good athlete. Why now can he barely jump over a piece of paper?
-LeBron’s court vision is what sets him apart from his peers. The game that he’s having tonight is straight nasty, but knowing the competitor that LBJ is, it will mean nothing unless he walks away with the W.
-Remember those phantom calls for LeBron? How are you going to foul Dwight Howard out on a play like that where he jumped straight up and down with his arms extended? LeBron initiated all of the contact, but I guess being MVP has it’s perks here and there.
-Houston’s finest Rashard Lewis keeps shooting those daggers. This would have been completely different for Orlando had they got this guy more then five shots in the first half.
-It was an open look for Delonte, but don’t you want the MVP to take the last shot?
-While Dwight was killing early on, I’ve got to give my Co-MVP of the game award to Hedo Turkoglu with 15 points, 14 assists, and 6 rebounds with only 2 turnovers along with Rashard Lewis for being Mr. Clutch and dropping 22 and 7. LBJ finished with 49 points, 8 dimes, 6 boards, 3 blocks, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers on 20-30 from the field. Not much more you can ask for out of the MVP.
-On a final note, as I was walking to my car, I almost tripped over one of those lovely rally towels.
Read the SLAMonline Discussion Rules before posting.
Pingback: SLAM ONLINE |