Cavs-Magic Game One: The World Changes

With a few minutes left in the first half tonight in Cleveland, the hometown team was ahead by a comfortable margin, with King James putting it in cruise control on his way to 26 first half points. Dwight Howard collected his third foul, and had to sit despite his 8-of-11 start. With two seconds left, the Magic converted a dunk on a feed from Rafer Alston to Marcin Gortat to trim the lead to 12, which means the Magic will have won the second quarter, and at least showed a semblance of a pulse despite a big offensive half for the Cavs.

And then the Cavs inbounded the ball to Mo Williams, who was 3 of 13 at that point. He rose up and converted a contested three pointer. From 67 feet away.

At the half, it was Cavs 63, Magic 48, and honestly? I thought the series was going to end right there. The Magic looked dead, the Cavs looked like there were going for the confetti buckets, and seeing how the first half of Game 1 was supposed to be the Cavs Rust Half, the other 3.5 games weren't going to go any better for them, right?

Well, that's why they play the games. After eight straight games of having the opposition roll over and die for them, the Cavs didn't get that kind of service from the opposition. The Magic won the third quarter hard, with good runouts to open threes, and it became clear that both teams were bringing their "A" games. James was able to pick up Howard's fourth foul with a minute left in the third, but he then missed both free throws, and at the end of the third, only James was playing well for the Cavs. After three, it was Cavs 82, Magic 78, with the road team cutting the lead by 11.

Opening the fourth, the Magic cut further into the lead with Rashard Lewis doing damage and James on the bench for a couple of minutes, and an Anthony Johnson three completed the big comeback with a 7-0 run to start the fourth. A hustle hoop then switched the lead back to the Cavs, and Howard returned with 9:24 left. Orlando missed from distance, and James missed a bad three with no dribbling. Howard to the rim for an alley oop dunk to get the lead back, and again, the Cavs settled for a last-second three and miss. Howard dominates Ilgauskas for another easy one and a three point lead; Z answered from 18 to cut it back to 1.

Howard barely avoids Foul #5 on a screen, but Delonte West misses from distance and the Cavs seem tight. Pietrus misses a three. Another terrible Cavs possession with James waiting too long, then turning it over in the lane. Pietrus gets to the line with the subsequent break and makes one for a 2-point lead. James to Vareajo for a make and the 90-90 tie.

TNT can't show me enough of the cute blonde chick being Dragged To Hell. I'm thinking that Tyler Perry is involved.

Howard called for the travel after a very long ad timeout; 5:33 left now. Better ball movement from the Cavs ends with a Z miss; it's answered by a long Turk 3, and it's Danger Time for the home favorites. Z misses again, but Sideshow Vareajo gets the board. Williams misses a three badly. James picks a Turk lob and gets fouled before he can get the shot off; 4 minutes left, and he gets all the way for the stuff. James now has 43, but it's answered immediately by the Fourth Quarter Turk. Magic still by 3.

James to the left hand, rack and score. Alston misses a three that would have been huge, and Mike Brown calls time with 2:47 left. James misses on a drive, and a Lewis corner three makes it a four point game; the road team is just better right now. Williams forces a corner three and makes it; he was 5 of 17 before then, and remember, one of the five was the halftime heave. 98-97 with 1:57 left as the Turk gets to the line and hits both. Big and easy points there. 100-97 now.

Pietrus giving James trouble on the perimeter, but the MVP is able to corral it and get to the line. Courtney Lee got away with some hardcore harm on Williams; had that been on the ball, the Magic guard might have gotten a flagrant. James' single chink in the armor is free throw shooting, and he misses another to make it a 2-point game. The Cavs have lived on defense, but the Turk gets Vareajo in the air and gets to the line. Cleveland Fan serenades the zebras for the call, but the Turk refuses to heed bad foul call karma, and hits both to make it a 4-point game again; he's now 6 of 6, and when you are trying to steal a road game, gaining points at the line is a very, very big deal.

The Cavs move the ball beautifully and get a Sideshow layup. Pietrus take a quick bad three and misses. James finds West in the corner with a very nice feed, and his three point ball over the Turk gives the home team a lead again. Wow. 103-102 Cavs, 40.8 seconds left. James shows the kind of teammate he is; with 43 points and his teammates giving him nothing, he still makes the pass.

The Cavs need a stop for the win but don't get it; Alston to Lewis for a drained jumper and a one-point lead. The Cavs then make the reasoned decision to have LeBron James, and he goes to the rack, scores a ridiculous runner, and fouls out Howard. Howard just seems amused by the whole thing. Unreal. James completes the old-school three for his new career playoff high (49 now), and with 25.6 seconds left, the Cavs lead 106-104.

Once again, the Cavs need a stop for the win; once again, they don't get it. Lewis to Turk to Lewis who hits an absurd three, and the Magic take the lead back with 14.7 left. So much for the Cavs being able to guard the three. Lewis now has 22 points, and now it's the Magic needing a stop for the win. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, the Magic have shown no fear.

James almost loses the inbounds, then gets to the rim and fires it to the perimeter. West has a clean look but misses, and the play ends with a jump ball scramble on the floor with just a second left. James wins the tip to Williams, who gets a better look than you ever get in this situation, but it stays out, and just that fast, the state of the NBA playoffs have changed. And just to give the NBA powers that be and Cavs Fan additional heart failure, James is gimping on his knee with bad cramping after the buzzer. (He seems fine later.)

Wow, wow, wow. Magic 107, Cavs 106, and Orlando leads the series, 1-0, and I really don't know what to think about this series now. Orlando came from 16 down and confetti bucket time to win. They overcame James shooting 20 for 30 from the field, and shot 7 of 12 from the arc in the second half. They also got absolutely must-have makes twice in the final minute on the road.

If nothing else, I now know this: this series is going long. And just like the West, it's going good. Hell of a year for the Association post-season.