Eastern Conference Finals - Game 5 Recap

Orlando Magic 102
Cleveland Cavaliers 112
Orlando Leads Series 3-2

Let me just say this....that is not how you punch a ticket to the NBA Finals. It seems that if Orlando was just able to keep things close in the 1st quarter at Cleveland, they would have won this series already. But in each of the 3 games at Quicken Loans Arena, the Cavs have jumped out to HUGE early leads. Now each time, Orlando has chipped away and gotten back in the game, but spending the rest of the game just trying to dig yourselves out of that hole takes a lot of energy. And despite coming back to take the lead in both Games 2 and 5, Orlando has taken a loss.

Once again, LeBron did his thing. Only this time, he got enough help from his supporting cast to be in control most of the way. Mo Williams finally found his shot and hit six 3-pointers on his way to a series-best 24 points. In fact, Williams' Game 5 performance was the first time in this series anyone on the Cavs roster outside of LeBron reached the 20-point plateau in a game. Zydrunas Ilgauskas tallied 16, Delonte West had 13, and Daniel Gibson, an afterthought for most of this series, came off the bench to score 11.

The Magic on the other hand, just fell behind and when they got back into the game, couldn't come up with a finishing burst to put away the Cavs. They shot 46% for the game, but that number included a woeful 1-for-10 from Rafer Alston (1-for-7 from 3-point) and 4-for-13 from Rashard Lewis. The Magic didn't help themselves by missing 13 free throws. But what they can do is focus on the parts of the game where they did thoroughly outplay the Cavs, and take that gameplan back to Orlando to try and finish the series in Game 6. Back at home, the Magic have been able to prevent the fast starts the Cavs have gotten in Cleveland, and if they do, I like them to close it out.

If not, the Magic are going to be in an incredibly difficult situation of trying to take a Game 7 from LeBron and the Cavs on their home floor.