OT: Orlando to win it all?

[KingSpeed]

Solid win tonight IN Cleveland after winning a game 7 in Boston. They were 2-0 vs L.A. this season. Granted, Nelson played in those two games and played well, but still... Orlando is starting to look like they have a solid chance to win this.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Dude, you have such a knee-jerk reaction to everything that goes on around you. It's amazing. Cleveland will win the series.

 

[bigbailes]

i gotta agree, this was the game Orlando HAD to get. Cleveland was sitting for over a week and it showed down the stretch. i still think the Cavs take this in 5 or 6.

 

[huevonkiller]

i gotta agree, this was the game Orlando HAD to get. Cleveland was sitting for over a week and it showed down the stretch. i still think the Cavs take this in 5 or 6.

In Five? The Magic crushed them last time by 40 until garbage time in the fourth quarter. I think this will be 6 or 7, don't know the winner yet though.

 

[KingSpeed]

i gotta agree, this was the game Orlando HAD to get. Cleveland was sitting for over a week and it showed down the stretch. i still think the Cavs take this in 5 or 6.

That doesn't make sense. If their time off affected them, it would've affected them at the beginning of the game, don't you think? But they showed absolutely no rust in the first half, scoring 63 points and building a big lead. Orlando was resilient though, played good D, and made the big plays. I don't think it had anything to do with Cleveland having time off. I'm rooting for Cleveland to win the series, but you have to give Orlando credit for coming up with a big win, back from 16 down. It has to play with Cleveland's mind now since Orlando beat them twice during the regular season. Plus, LeBron scored 49 and they still couldn't get the win.

 

[rocketeer]

That doesn't make sense. If their time off affected them, it would've affected them at the beginning of the game, don't you think? But they showed absolutely no rust in the first half, scoring 63 points and building a big lead. Orlando was resilient though, played good D, and made the big plays. I don't think it had anything to do with Cleveland having time off. I'm rooting for Cleveland to win the series, but you have to give Orlando credit for coming up with a big win, back from 16 down. It has to play with Cleveland's mind now since Orlando beat them twice during the regular season. Plus, LeBron scored 49 and they still couldn't get the win.

or it could have effected them at the end of the game with lebron cramping up and the team just not being used to the fatigue of actually playing a basketball game the last 9 days.

doesn't really matter either way though. one loss is just one loss. have to lose 3 more to get knocked out, and i really don't expect that to happen though this series won't be quite as easy as i thought.

and i really don't think it will play into the cavs minds at all. delonte west had a wide open 3 to win the game in the final seconds that he misses. that's not a shot he's going to miss too often.

 

[BlazerFanForLife]

All 4 teams have a chance to win it all this year. My odds are
Cleveland 33%
Lakers 27%
Magic 25%
Nuggets 15%

Lakers have looked very vulnerable. I would have rated Cleveland higher but I am a Magic fan and they already took down game 1. Lakers could loose to Denver but I think that Denver doesn't have a favorable matchup against either Eastern Team.

 

[huevonkiller]

or it could have effected them at the end of the game with lebron cramping up and the team just not being used to the fatigue of actually playing a basketball game the last 9 days.

doesn't really matter either way though. one loss is just one loss. have to lose 3 more to get knocked out, and i really don't expect that to happen though this series won't be quite as easy as i thought.

and i really don't think it will play into the cavs minds at all. delonte west had a wide open 3 to win the game in the final seconds that he misses. that's not a shot he's going to miss too often.

What does resting have to do with cramps though? I don't know about that their legs should be ready if anything, it would affect their mental sharpness not physical stamina.

It will play into their minds, they've lost how many times at home? Will West be in a position to hit a GW three on the road? Luckily for them the Magic have been inconsistent in the playoffs, so I am not quite sure who will win but this was never an easy series for the Cavs.

 

[bbwSwish]

Jameer will play in the Finals too: http://www.nba.com/video/channels/playoffs/2009/05/20/nba_20090520_arenalink_jnelson.nba/

 

[LameR]

Jameer will play in the Finals too: http://www.nba.com/video/channels/playoffs/2009/05/20/nba_20090520_arenalink_jnelson.nba/

Oh man! I really hope they make it. I really like Nelson, and was ticked when he got hurt. He was having an outstanding season.

 

[mook]

Howard looked like a different player last night. His offense was horrible against Boston, but he just looked flat-out unstoppable out there. Zydrunas was just too slow to put a body on him, and Wallace and Varajao just aren't strong enough. Cleveland jumped out to that early lead, but when Orlando realized that nobody could guard Howard they were back in the game.

I still like Cleveland to win this, but Howard's impressive play is making me much less certain.

 

[Shooter]

I didn't see the game, but I'm happy that Orlando won. I'm sick and tired of hearing that the Cavs are an automatic lock for the finals. It's about time someone beat them. Don't know if the Magic will win this series, but stealing game one on the other teams' court is a good sign.

 

[alex42083]

I always like seeing LeBron humbled a bit time to time. And he couldn't even walk off the floor last night, but I'm sure if they had won the game, he'd be running around the court, jumping and doing whatever if that last shot went in.
The Magic are a team worth rooting for in this series.

 

[EPIC FAIL GILDERHUS]

Anyone but the L*kers... No seriously, Lebron played just about the game of his life and the Cavs still lost. There is no excuse for blowing a 16 point lead at home EVER, much less when you've had a week to rest and the other team has just played a game 7 48 hours earlier. This should be a great series-seems like all the great series are in the East this year, so hopefully this series is more like Celtics-Bulls than L*kers-Jazz lol.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Personally, I want to see a Lebron v. Kobe match up. It could be a championship series talked about for decades (like the Magic Bird)

 

[hasoos]

Great game. Finally a team that the Cav's can't walk over, and unfortunately for them, is now also playoff tested having beat Boston in Boston in that game 7. Two rounds earlier you couldn't have said the same thing.

 

[bigbailes]

i agree that the loss was inexcusible but it happens. i know what you are getting at speed but i think rocketeer has it right here. it is very tough to keep your game shape if you aren't actually playing games. when the legs get tired that affects the jump shot so much and that is what they were relegated to at the end of that game.

5 may have been to much but i still stand by the 6 comment.

 

[hasoos]

Dude, you have such a knee-jerk reaction to everything that goes on around you. It's amazing. Cleveland will win the series.

The name Kingspeed isn't there because of slow post........

 

[hasoos]

Jameer will play in the Finals too: http://www.nba.com/video/channels/playoffs/2009/05/20/nba_20090520_arenalink_jnelson.nba/

Playing and playing effectively are 2 completely different things.

 

[Uther TheGardener]

Personally, I want to see a Lebron v. Kobe match up. It could be a championship series talked about for decades (like the Magic Bird)

that is exactly why i dont want it to be leborn vs kobe! i want to hear about laker FAILURE!

 

[rocketeer]

What does resting have to do with cramps though? I don't know about that their legs should be ready if anything, it would affect their mental sharpness not physical stamina.

It will play into their minds, they've lost how many times at home? Will West be in a position to hit a GW three on the road? Luckily for them the Magic have been inconsistent in the playoffs, so I am not quite sure who will win but this was never an easy series for the Cavs.

a quote from lebron james

He said the Cavs' nine-day layoff probably contributed to the cramping.

"It may have because I caught some cramps, too, before Game 1 of the Atlanta series with the layoff that we had," he said. "You can never simulate a game in practice because you can't add 20,000 fans, you can't add the lights, you can't add that type of atmosphere. With all the sweating that goes on during the course of the game, the mental and physical pounding that you take throughout the course of a game, it's easy for you to catch cramps."

 

[huevonkiller]

You can never simulate a game in practice because you can't add 20,000 fans, you can't add the lights, you can't add that type of atmosphere. With all the sweating that goes on during the course of the game, the mental and physical pounding that you take throughout the course of a game, it's easy for you to catch cramps.

The way he phrases it here makes it sound very much like a mental issue as well, which is what I stated before.

Conversely playing too much can affect your legs, the lift on your shot. He also said he didn't hydrate well which led to cramps.

Don't really care though, just considering the possibilities.

 

[KingSpeed]

Orlando is seriously impressing me.

 

[LameR]

I hate watching box scores/ gamecasts. Eff LeBron.

 

[Денг Гордон]

I can't believe they gave Lebron a rhythm three right there.

 

[Entity]

Wow, payback's a bitch. Good series so far.

 

[KingSpeed]

great effort by Orlando; great shot by LeBron. The WCF and ECF have both been thrilling. Go NBA!

 

[anique_24]

Yeah, awesome games so far, all 4 went down to the wire.

Orlando could've played better D on that one, they should've used ball denial D on Lebron.

 

[hasoos]

I didn't expect the conference finals to be this good, but they are. A lot of the year I didn't like the reffing going on, and some of the style of play going on during the playoffs had been pretty damn boring (mostly, because some teams sucked) but these conference finals have been referee'd very well, and the level of intensity on the play, for a whole 48 minutes means you can't get up and walk away when a team has a lead. Top it off with phenomenal play down the strech by multiple players, and you have some great series.

 

[KingSpeed]

Orlando looking good.