CLEVELAND - For all of the hubbub surrounding this season's Cleveland Cavaliers, their 66-16 regular season record and 8-0 mark in the ongoing 2009 NBA Playoffs prior to yesterday, they were never going to cakewalk to an NBA championship.The Orlando Magic proved that last night.
Despite a sterling playoff career high 49 points from league MVP LeBron James, the Cavs fell victim to the Magic on their own home court, 107-106 in Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals. Prior to this loss (which stunned Cavs fans everywhere), Cleveland had been flawless at Quicken Loans Arena in this postseason at 4-0 after a mega dominant 39-2 march through the season.
On the strength of solid-as-stone Dwight Howard's 30 points and 13 rebounds, Orlando erased a 16-point first half deficit with a 30-19 3rd quarter romp. Their vaunted three-point shooting re-emerged in the 2nd half after being non-existent in the 1st. Foward Rashard Lewis hit the jumper that eventually won the game for the Magic.
While it is very understandable that many people were stunned at the home loss for Cleveland, it was actually quite normal. In spite of my season long praise for this team, I was very aware of the pitfalls that could come upon them. After decades of watching stunning wins and losses by some of the greatest teams in NBA history, this game wasn't a shock at all...especially considering that the Magic are actually an excellent squad.
Howard is one of the top 5 players in the game and guys like Hedo Turkoglu and Lewis are outstanding. They have been well coached by Stan Van Gundy and they are battle-tested. They also just beat the defending champion Boston Celtics in the previous round even though Kevin Garnett wasn't around. The Magic's Jameer Nelson hasn't played since February, so that too needs to be considered.
All in all, I still believe the Cavs will win the series. But hopefully, the fans that were seduced by their earlier dominance have finally gotten their wake up call.
The Cavs surely did.
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