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All season long, the Cavaliers have cruised through without an obstacle or a mere speed bump. Well, they finally met their match while playing the Orlando Magic, as the Eastern Conference Finals series is tied 1-1. Two games in a row have the Cavs jumped out to large leads, only to later relinquish the advantage. In fact, they even fell in a shocking game 1, and in game 2, they needed the best player in the game to step up and hit a miraculous three-pointer.
They head back to Orlando in desperate hopes of regaining home court advantage, as well as proving to the Magic that they will not concede to pressure or predicament. No, King James (that guy who hit the game-winning three) is determined not to fail this time. King James is certain to rally his teammates behind him to come out with a win tonight.
But hey, that doesn't mean the Magic won't continue to challenge Cleveland either. So what are those deciding factors that the Magic acknowledged at halftime in games 1 and 2 that inspired them to make a surprising comeback? And how about the Cavs? What can they utilize tonight to take back home court? Here are a few reasons why the Magic could upset these Cleveland Cavaliers... and a few reasons why it won't happen.
Reasons why the Magic will pull it off
- They have the matchups in their favor. After watching two games of the Cavs-Magic series, it's pretty clear to me that the combination of the Magic's three-point shooting and Dwight Howard's post game can turn on and off at any given time. And if you're a Cavs fan or player, that's not a good thing. Across the blogosphere, people have been suggesting that LeBron double-team Dwight Howard to help slow down his dominance down low. But wait, who then would cover Hedo Turkoglu? And if Varejao switched over to Turk, who would take care of Rashard Lewis? You certainly don't want to leave him open.
- They have a number scoring options. The Magic have multiple scoring options in both their starting line-up and coming off their bench. Every member of the starting five can score. Mickael Pietrus, Anthony Johnson, and J.J. Redick are some scoring options on the Magic's bench -- especially Pietrus, who was actually brought in to start but settled into the sixth man role quite nicely after suffering a couple of nagging injuries.
Reasons why the Cavaliers will hold off Orlando
- Orlando's advantage can go in the Cavs favor as well. Sure there are some advantages by not doubling LeBron, but keep in mind, this guy has been compared to Magic and MJ -- guarding him one-on-one can still be costly. The time when the Magic double is when LeBron gets into the paint. And once he gets inside the paint, FORGET ABOUT IT. He either draws the foul, finishes at the basket, dumps it off to one of his big men, or kicks it out to fellow perimeter players for the open jump shot.
- The Magic are inconsistent. I don't think I need to elaborate on that any further.
- Three-point shooting is a must. Dwight Howard's success depends solely on the Magic's three-point shooting. And the Magic's outside game depends on Dwight's aggressiveness in the opening minutes of the game. If Dwight comes out ferocious and focused, his teammates will follow, proceeding to have a good shooting night. But if his mates aren't knocking down shots, Dwight's performance suffers. The Magic must hit their open shots, or Dwight won't receive any open opportunities down low. If they can't do that, the Cavs will have an easy night, as they didn't even have to work hard to slow down two things the Magic do best.