Wow. Thoughts on Cavs-Magic Tonight?

[crownsy]

Referees for tonight (sorry if posted elsewhere)

Well, the conspiracy theorists were convinced Bavetta was gonna be involved.

Orlando @ Cleveland

D. Crawford M. Davis B. Spooner

Cavs should be able to win this one at home with only marginal help from the refs, they are saving Bavetta for game 6

that would hurt the cavs, if dick stuck to his rep.

Bavetta is a "home" ref, what benefit would that give the cavs in orlando?

[DanMan08]

Howards 6th Tech got rescinded, so hes back to 5...whew.

[TheGreenThumb]

Orlando has both a strong inside game (thanks to Dwight) and a strong outside game (thanks to their 3-point shooters.)  They are winning because their offense is more balanced than the Cavs' over-reliant-on-LeBron offense.  Cavs have difficulty with teams who play strongly on the inside.

That said, I think the Cavs will win tonight ... but the Magic will take Game 6.

The Magic will go to the Finals ... and the Cleveland Cavaliers will from now on be known as the Cleveland Cadaviers!  

[Finkelskyhook]

You're going to see a game full of calls chocked full of messiah pushoffs ala the one on Petrius, 5-step travels, and flagrant clearouts ala the Varajao clearout at the end of regulation.

Stern will be [dang]ed if the Magic steal this series.  But he loves this 7 game series stuff.

[EatSleepBreatheGreen]

As much as I think the Cavs are going to force a game 6 and 7. There is something telling me that it is over tonight! As long as Orlando doesnt mail it in like they did twice in our series, I think it will be over. I predict an Orlando win by 7-13 points, and the Cleveland crowd booing and throwing powder on the cavs when they're going back into the tunnel.

LOL, LETS GO ORLANDO!


p.s.
Based on this series, I think Orlando has a better chance at beating LA then Cleveland.

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

As much as I think the Cavs are going to force a game 6 and 7. There is something telling me that it is over tonight! As long as Orlando doesnt mail it in like they did twice in our series, I think it will be over. I predict an Orlando win by 7-13 points, and the Cleveland crowd booing and throwing powder on the cavs when they're going back into the tunnel.

LOL, LETS GO ORLANDO!


p.s.
Based on this series, I think Orlando has a better chance at beating LA then Cleveland.

Agreed

[housecall]

Good luck tonite Orlando...the cavs have shown so far to be what ive said all season,mediocre as a team with the exception of 1 player.I never felt the cavs were that good as a team.

[Jon]

I'm not saying Orlando will win, but if they do, people need to stop this "matchup" talk.  Yes, Orlando is a bad matchup for the Cavs.  So were the Hawks for us last year and the Bulls for us this year.  We still beat both of those teams. 

If Cleveland really is as good as advertised, they should be able to overcome a matchup problem. 

If not, it really bums me out KG went down.  If the Cavs go down in 5, the C's easily would've cruised to the Finals with a healthy KG. 

[Donoghus]

I think the Cavs bounce back tonight and grab the "W" at home.  My belief after the first 4 games is that Orlando is going to win the series but I have a feeling that Cleveland will come on in front of the home crowd tonight with their season on the line and give a solid performance.  I think you'll continue to see Lebron do his thing but you'll see one or two roleplayers step up also.  (Mo Williams, perhaps?)

[cordobes]

I'm not saying Orlando will win, but if they do, people need to stop this "matchup" talk.  Yes, Orlando is a bad matchup for the Cavs.  So were the Hawks for us last year and the Bulls for us this year.  We still beat both of those teams. 

If Cleveland really is as good as advertised, they should be able to overcome a matchup problem.

Are you honestly comparing Orlando, a 60 wins team, to the Hawks and the Bulls? Orlando is a good team in their own right AND a bad matchup for Cleveland.

[waltzero]

Speaking of matchups, here's something I would never have guessed...

If Jameer Nelson was healthy, the Magic would not have traded for Rafer Alston...and would not be doing anywhere near as well.

They probably wouldn't have beaten the C's. Rafer is a much better match up against Rondo if he plays at the top of his game, and he did. Same deal with Mo: Rafer is a much better matchup than Jameer if Rafer is playing at the top of his game.

This is probably about the best Rafer Alston will ever play...yeah you could make a numbers argument for Jameer but Rafer is playing out of his mind, with great defense, hitting big shots, and making the big plays.

[hpantazo]

Good luck tonite Orlando...the cavs have shown so far to be what ive said all season,mediocre as a team with the exception of 1 player.I never felt the cavs were that good as a team.

I agree, but articles like the one on the front page of espn.com now comparing Kobe and lebron to MJ push the idea that what matters most is the greatness of your best player, not the supporting cast. This type of garbage just reinforces the one on one play we see in basketball today rather than the great ball movement and team oriented play that actually wins championships. I hope Lebron gets ousted tonight, and Kobe should have been on his way out too if the refs didn't give him game 5 last night.

[Jon]

I'm not saying Orlando will win, but if they do, people need to stop this "matchup" talk.  Yes, Orlando is a bad matchup for the Cavs.  So were the Hawks for us last year and the Bulls for us this year.  We still beat both of those teams. 

If Cleveland really is as good as advertised, they should be able to overcome a matchup problem.

Are you honestly comparing Orlando, a 60 wins team, to the Hawks and the Bulls? Orlando is a good team in their own right AND a bad matchup for Cleveland.

What I'm saying is that if the Magic win tonight, it strongly suggests that if KG had been healthy, the C's would've represented the East in the NBA Finals, despite the weak bench they had this year.   

[Thruthelookingglass]

I think the Cavs bounce back tonight and grab the "W" at home.  My belief after the first 4 games is that Orlando is going to win the series but I have a feeling that Cleveland will come on in front of the home crowd tonight with their season on the line and give a solid performance.  I think you'll continue to see Lebron do his thing but you'll see one or two roleplayers step up also.  (Mo Williams, perhaps?)

I think that Mike Brown better have put his thinking cap on.  He's the one I'll be watching tonight, vicariously through his players anyway.  I think he's done a good job this year meshing the parts around LeBron during the season, but he's really under the microscope tonight.