Category: Orlando Magic Blog

The AP reports: Dwight Howard scored 10 points in overtime and Orlando, raining down 3-pointers like a Florida thunderstorm, withstood 44 points and the last-second fling by LeBron James for a 116-114 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night to take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals… “You can almost taste it,” said Orlando’s Rafer Alston, who scored 26 points… Howard finished with 27 points, 14 rebounds and again made his free throws— 7 of 9—and the Magic made a team playoff record 17 3-pointers. Rashard Lewis and Mickael Pietrus had 17 points each for Orlando… James added 12 rebounds and seven assists, but he had eight turnovers for the Cavs, whose season of seasons is slipping away… Mo Williams, who guaranteed the Cavs would win Game 4 and the series, scored 18 points, none after the third quarter. Delonte West added 17 for the Cavaliers.

The AP reports: Dwight Howard scored 24 points—14 on free throws—and Rafer Alston added 18 as the Orlando Magic, sick of seeing replays of LeBron James’ dramatic buzzer-beater to win Game 2, downed the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-89 on Sunday night to take a 2-1 lead in the series. A physical game from start to finish, there were 86 free throws attempted, 58 personal fouls called, two technicals, and a flagrant. The officials spent half the night stepping between players on both sides as tempers flared inside an overheated Amway Arena. In the first half, Mo Williams had his left eye split open by Orlando’s Anthony Johnson, who nailed Cleveland’s point guard with an elbow… James scored 41 on just 11-of-28 shooting and missed five free throws in the fourth quarter. And once again, Cleveland’s superstar didn’t get enough help from his teammates. Williams, Delonte West and Zydrunas Ilgauskas shot a combined 13-of-37.

InsideHoops.com notes: The Cavs were quiet in the first quarter, but the Magic went cold in the second, leading to a 41-41 halftime score. The Magic then outscored the Cavs by six in the third quarter and by five in the fourth.

The Cavs shot just 37.2% from the field and only hit 5-of-26 (19.2%) three-pointers.

Orlando lived on the free throw line, getting 51 attempts, hitting 39. Dwight Howard hit 14-of-19 free throws, Hedo Turkoglu 12-of-12. The Cavs went 26-of-35. LeBron James alone had 24 free throw attempts (hitting 18), while the rest of Cleveland went to the line 11 times.

The Magic had balance: Dwight Howard had 24 points and 9 rebounds, Rafer Alston had 18 points and 3 steals, Mickael Pietrus (4-of-9) came off the bench for 16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks, Rashard Lewis (5-of-8) had 15 points (but little else), and Hedo Turkoglu shot a miserable 1-of-11 but his 11-of-12 free throw shooting resulted in 13 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

For the Cavs: LeBron James (11-of-28, just 1-of-8 threes) had 41 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals, Mo Williams (just 5-of-16) had 15 points, 7 rebounds but more turnovers than assists, and Delonte West (5-of-11) had 12 points and more turnovers than assists. Other than Zydrunas Ilgauskas contributing a mere 9 points and 9 rebounds, barely anyone else on Cleveland did much of anything.

Fans discussed the game live as it happened in this forum topic.

The AP reports: LeBron James dropped a 3-pointer from the top of the key over Orlando’s Hedo Turkoglu as the final horn sounded Friday night to give the Cavaliers, their season a heartbeat from major trouble, a 96-95 victory over the Magic that evened the Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece… Taking the inbounds pass from Mo Williams, James only had time to turn his shoulders toward the rim and fire. As the high-arcing shot dropped through, James sprinted into the arms of his delirious teammates as 20,562 stunned fans hugged in disbelief… One second before James’ shot, Turkoglu hit a 12-footer in the lane to give the Magic, who overcame a 23-point deficit in the first half, a 95-93 lead. Cleveland called a timeout and set up a play for James, the league’s MVP who finished with 35 points… Rashard Lewis scored 23 points and Turkoglu had 21 for the Magic, who have now lost four games at the buzzer in these playoffs. Dwight Howard scored 10— 20 below his Game 1 performance—and added 18 rebounds. Williams had 19 points—on 7-of-21 shooting—and Zydrunas Ilguaskas had 12 points and 15 rebounds for Cleveland.

Read LeBron James post-game quotes, discussing his awesome shot and more.

The AP reports: Dwight Howard scored 30 points, Rashard Lewis added 22 and the Orlando Magic rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to hand James and the Cavaliers their first loss of the postseason, 107-106 on Wednesday night in the Eastern Conference finals opener. LeBron James finished with 49 points, eight assists and six rebounds, but the league MVP limped off the floor after Cleveland’s loss—just its third in 46 home games… Lewis made a 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds left and the Magic, who dethroned the champion Boston Celtics in seven games in the previous round, survived two shots by Cleveland in the closing seconds… Hedo Turkoglu scored 15 points with 14 assists for Orlando… Leading by 15, the Cavs got complacent and lost their offensive rhythm in the third quarter. They stood around either waiting for James to do something or settled for jump shots that didn’t fall.