Eastern Conference:

Cleveland 89 - Orlando 99

Dwight Howard powered Orlando with his 14-19 free throw performance to a win and a 2-1 series lead over Cleveland. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Orlando leads series 2-1

• Dwight Howard had 24 points, including shooting 14-19 from the free throw line, to lead the Orlando Magic to a 2-1 series lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Rafer Alston broke his recent shooting slump with 18 points on 6-13 shooting for the Magic, and Rashard Lewis added 15 points. Hedo Turkoglu only made one field goal in 11 attempts, but he shot 11-12 from the line, and added 10 rebounds and 7 assists to more than make up for his shooting woes. Mickael Pietrus once again had a solid game off the bench for the Magic, adding 16 points, 6 rebounds, and a couple of steals and blocks, including a block on LeBron James’ layup attempt late in the fourth. Pietrus also helped seal the game with his free throw shooting in the fourth (he finished 7-7 from the line).
• LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 41 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists, but shot only 11-28 from the field and 18-24 from the line, and once again could not get the support he needed from his teammates. Mo Williams shot only 5-16 (including 3-10 from long range) for 15 points, while Delonte West added 12 points. Cleveland’s starting backcourt had 9 of the Cavs’ series-high 15 turnovers. Zydrunas Ilgauskas only had 9 points and 9 rebounds before fouling out, and Anderson Varejao was again limited for the second straight game with only 4 points and 4 rebounds in less than 21 minutes before fouling out in the fourth. Cleveland only managed 8 points from its bench, compared to the Magic’s 20.
• The Cavaliers had 34 fouls to the Magic’s 24 in this very physical and chippy game. The +10 in fouls resulted in a huge free throw gap between the two teams, with the Magic shooting 39-51 from the line, including a stellar (and quite uncharacteristic) 8-10 from Howard in the fourth quarter alone. The Cavs only managed 26-35 free throws, a huge bulk of which were attempted by James. Cleveland also jacked up a ton of threes, but only made 5 of 26. Williams attempted ten shots from beyond the arc, and James made only 1 out of 8 attempts. On a night where Howard played limited minutes due to foul trouble, and with his outside shot evidently not falling, it’s a wonder why James continued to shoot from the outside so much.
• Dwight Howard was plauged by foul trouble the entire game, eventually fouling out in the fourth on what was evidently a clean block from behind of James’ three-point attempt. He was disappointed with the call, but was composed enough to not pick up another technical. Howard had already picked up a tech on an earlier foul call when he pushed Ben Wallace underneath the basket, and was murmuring something as we walked past referee Joey Crawford, who didn’t like what he heard. Howard already has 5 techs in the playoffs, and has to keep his emotions in check; the league suspends a player for a game after his 7th tech of the playoffs. He’s also suffered from foul trouble in this series, fouling out twice now, so he has to adjust to prevent getting in that situation again. The Magic might be able to pull out a win even with him playing only 28 minutes, but they still would like to see him on the court more, as he’s barely flexed his offensive muscle with only 16 field goal attempts in the past two games compared to his 20 attempts in Game 1. Him playing well in the post frees up Orlando’s numerous shooters, and allows them to excel.
• Cleveland couldn’t take advantage of Howard’s absence in the paint though, and sitting Howard didn’t stop the Magic from dictating the pace, running repeated pick and rolls and abusing the Cavs’ defenders. Even Marcin Gortat, the Polish Hammer, had a nice 4 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in about 23 quality minutes off the bench, logging more time due to Howard’s foul trouble. Courtney Lee, the Magic’s rookie starting shooting guard, continued to impress in his second straight solid outing, scoring 9 points, including a big trey late that deflated a Cleveland run, and adding a couple of assists and steals.
• The Magic could easily have gone 3-0 in this series had it not been for James’ three at the buzzer in Game 2, but instead of being discouraged or deflated, they came out strong in this one. They led for most of the game, and were able to build up the biggest win of these conference finals.
• LeBron James is averaging 41.7 points in this series, but his production has clearly not translated well in terms of wins for his team. Cleveland’s depth has already been exposed, and the Magic are daring James’ teammates more and more to try and beat them now. Orlando is certainly having a lot more luck and ease containing the Cavs’ other players than Denver is in containing Kobe Bryant’s teammates over in the Western finals. If Williams and West continue to be unable to consistently buy a shot, then Cleveland is in a lot of trouble. It remains to be seen how they can adjust to distribute the scoring load and to put some pressure off of James as they try to even up the series in Game 4 in Orlando.