Sports Thread #2 for 5/28/09: Magic vs Cavs, Game 5 Thread (Can Cleveland Stave Off Elimination Or Will Magic Topple LeBron's Kingdom? )

From NBA.com

The Sheed man

Orlando has shocked the masses and withstood everything the Cavaliers have thrown at them. They've surmounted 20 point leads, second half deficits, sluggish starts and a ridiculously gross personal onslaught from LeBron James. What more can Cleveland do to win a game and get back in the series? Here are the keys to tonight's contest.

Cleveland Cavs

Can a brotha get some help?

LeBron James like Kanye West's anthem for the NBA playoffs has been simply “amazing.” Bron has been the embodiment of a one man band, registering one of the most resplendent series in playoff history. For the East Finals James is averaging 42.3 points, 7.3 boards, 7.3 dimes, 1.5 thefts and 1.25 blocks. What more can the man physically do? The problem is Bron is actually doing to much on the offensive end. In this series Bron is accounting for 41.7 percent of Cleveland's scoring. That's a 13 percent increase from the regular season when Bron's 28.4 points a night made up 28 percent of the Cavs scoring.

The answer is simple. Mo Williams, Zydranus Illgauskas and Delonte West you got to do something!The King's court needs to find some way to alleviate Bron's exhausting cumbersome load and get some buckets. MoWill is averaging 17.3 points a game but it's the most misleading, inconsequential 17 a night you've ever seen. The all-star guard is getting 17.7 shots a game but connecting on dreadful 32 percent from the floor and only 22 percent on three's. MoWill has been more frigid than a mastodon's tusks during the ice age. Illgauskas is snatching a great 10.8 boards a game, but only netting 10.8 points on 42 percent shooting. West is distributing well at 4 assists a night, but averaging 13 points on 43.5 percent from the field and 29.4 percent on triples.
Bottom line, it's essential these three get their game up to give the Cavs any chance of prolonging the series. They can't afford to stand around allowing the offense to stagnate mesmerized by Bron's individual magnificence expecting him to construct a herculean effort to pull them through. The Cavs won 66 games with an offense predicate on balance. The Magic have had four players score 20 points in the series, while no one has equaled a dub for the Cavs outside of Bron. Mowill has to play like an all-star, Big Z has to get some buckets in the post and not settle strictly for jumpers and West has to get to the rack, hit the mid-range j and bust open treyz.

Get, get, get, get up! I said bench, get, get, get up!

The Cavs bench has been completely non-existent the entire series. While Cleveland doesn't have any flame throwing bucket-fillers off the pine they should still collectively be able to muster more production than they have. To say they've been anemic would be a gross understatement.

The Cavs reserves had their most fruitful night in Game 4 with 14 points, but their collective effort was still outdone by Orlando's Mickael Pietrus 17 points. The Cavs can't rival Orlando's bench point totals but they can equal their overall impact. Daniel Gibson needs to rediscover his stroke and confidence from the past two postseasons with his long range daggers. Ben Wallace needs to play the tough, hellacious defense that earned him Defensive Player of the Year an NBA record tying four times. Joe Smith needs to get more burn because he can play better defense on the perimeter oriented Rashard Lewis and Wally Szczerbiak has to get more screens to bust jumpers.

Coach of the year prove you're worthy

Mike Brown earned Coach of the Year honors this year, and deservedly so given the alterations he made throughout the season and the Cavs posting one of the best records in league history. However, the man with the Yale professor demeanor has been given a strategic hardwood lesson this series by Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy and been thoroughly outcoached. Brown is a perceptive man, but his dogmatic insistence on predominantly using a big lineup has been mystifying and detrimental. The Cavs can ill-afford to have Illgauskas and Anderson Varejao on the floor for extended periods of time against the nimble, multi-faceted duo of Hedo Turkoglu and Lewis. Orlando relies on a more diverse, finesse drive and dish European style attack and having Big Z who's nice but moves as fast as an arthritic snail in molasses and Varejao defending them on the perimeter is murder she wrote.

Dwight Howard's a lost cause because Cleveland has no one who can contain him. Brown needs to insert either Sasha Pavlovic, Szczerbiak or Smith in the lineup to better combat Turk and Shard's ability off the bounce and shooting. This will enable Cleveland to better contest and not get bombarded with an avalanche of 17 triples (many of which no Cavs were in the vicinity) like they did in Game 4. Minimizing and not surrendering unchallenged threeballs will be critical. Sliding Bron over to the four should also create more transition opportunities for the Cavs, who desperately need to get easy buckets.

Orlando Magic

The beast gotta eat

Like legendary Queensbridge, NY emcee Nas said on his 1994 classic Illmatic, when the Magic feed the ravenous, athletic freak Dwight Howard “it ain't hard to tell, he'll excel and prevail.” Howard's postseason averages of 20.4 points, 15.8 boards and 2.38 blocks place him in illustrious company. D12, Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Tim Duncan are the only players in the last 18 years to post nightly averages of 20 points and 15 boards throughout the postseason. That's true, unmitigated interior dominance. The four games Howard has hit at least 20 points have all resulted in Magic wins. In the Magic one loss D12 only got 8 shots and 10 points. 20 points is the barometer of success for Howard and Orlando. Howard's interior manhandling also generates open triples for Orlando cord rippers Rafer Alston, who's 26 points in Game 4 were crucial and Courtney Lee, while opening driving lanes for Turk and Shard when Cleveland collapses on D12. Feed Superman the rock and watch him devour Cleveland bigs like Mike and Ikes.

Mickael's amore

Mickael Pietrus has been absolutely astronomical in the series. Every time Cleveland has appeared on the verge of a run the netflaming Frenchman has dropped a bomb at opportune times to extinguish the Cavs burgeoning flame. For the series the former lottery pick is averaging 14 points on 49 percent shooting from the floor and 42 percent from the treyland. Pietrus has also played suffocating defense on Bron, sniffing his sniffing and hounding his every move like a narcotics canine on a stack of angel dust kilos. Pietrus stout defense, in addition to the Magic collective D has left Bron tremendously gassed and unable to single-handedly take over games down the stretch. Orlando will need to Pietrus to be an irritant again tonight and jumper to be chedda to close the Cavs out tonight.

Slap em, clap em and wrap em today with no delay

In the past people questioned Orlando's mental toughness. They knew the Magic had the physical tools to be successful but they wondered if the Magic possessed the physical and mental hardiness to be considered legit title contenders. Well, Orlando had adamantly destroyed any assertions of brittleness proving that they possess the gulliness, maturity and mental and intestinal fortitude to be an elite crew. Orlando learned so much and improved exponentially in the Boston series, and particularly in Game 6 overcoming a 10 point deficit at home in a must win game and Game 7 bludgeoning the Celtics in their own crib. The totality of the Magic has been too much for Cleveland with their plethora of mismatches. Stan Van Gundy, dubbed the “master of panic” by Shaq has evolved into a composed, scholarly coach who's made great decisions and devised remarkable plays at crunchtime. There is no time for blitheness . Orlando needs to capitalize on this opportunity now to bury the Cavs, peel their cap and get some rest before the Finals.

Prediction

The Cavs will get out to a big lead early krunk off raw emotion and desperation, but the Magic will be unfazed, respond and slice the margin. Ultimately The King will play with tremendous fury and resolve and not allow the Cavs kingdom to come crashing down in his own castle because he and his court have to much dignity and heart. Cleveland will live to rep their set at least one more game, enabling hapless Cavs fans to cling to hopes of a historic comeback and the pressure will be on the Magic to end the series in Orlando. Cavs 100-90

Update 1:Once again at the Q, the Cavs are off to a massive start, and the Magic off to a terrible start 34-13 right now with 1:11 left in the first.

Update #2: Because of migraines, there has only been one update, until now. The Cavs have blown their massive lead..........AGAIN. It's 88-87, mid 4th quarter.

Update 3: Michael Petraus may need extra security to leave Cleveland, because he has been an assassin this series. Another 3 gives the Magic the lead 90-89, with 6:02 left.

Update 4: LeBron three point play! Cavs 92, Magic 90.

Update 5: LeBron, whether tired or just a little gassed, is taking over at the right time. 99-93 Cleveland with under four left.

Update 6: "Dwight Howard is the closest witness" LeBron DOING IT MAJOR RIGHT NOW.Howard fouls out as LeBron hits the three point play. 102-93 with 2:20 left

Update 7: Maybe Jay-z needs to come to all the games, because if LeBron takes over like this and stifles the Magic, then the Cavs can win this series. 107-96, looks like Game 6 will happen as 1:02 remains.

Update 8: Game 6, Saturday night. 112-102
37, 14, 12: That's all you can say.

Thanks for reading the ILL preview from the one and only Riebeil "Sheed man" Durley-Petty and the updates. Come back tomorrow for Game 6, Lakers vs Nuggets.

Out!