The Cleveland Cavaliers finally figured out how to beat Orlando last night.
A swarming perimeter defense and keeping Dwight Howard off the glass were both key elements early and late as the Cavaliers won by double-digits 112-102 Thursday night.
Oh, and getting a triple-double from a guy named LeBron. That was big too. James had 37 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists and played like an unstoppable force in the 4th quarter. Also, LeBron had a statistic worthy of the Hall of Fame on this night….he had a hand in the Cavaliers final 32 points of the game, either by scoring or assisting on every basket down the stretch.
But the key stat of the night has gone unnoticed by the major media outlets this morning….the Cavaliers started off strong and they finished strong.
- Over the first 6 minutes of the game, the Cavaliers shot 10-of-11 from the field (91 percent), outscoring Orlando 26-8.
- Over the final 6 minutes of the game, they shot 7-of-10 from the field (70 percent), outscoring Orlando 23-12.
Put those 6-minute spans together and you have a quarter of basketball that Cleveland won by a score of 49-20, while shooting 81 percent from the floor. They also shot 11-of-12 free throws in that same span. Now THAT’S what I call starting strong and finishing strong.
Equally as impressive was how the Cavaliers showed no signs of pressure in their first elimination game. They looked cool and relaxed all night long, even when the Magic were making their runs. The only slight image of folding was a few bad turnovers in the second quarter, but they quickly shut that down and played strong down the stretch.
Meanwhile, Orlando cracked under the pressure several times, especially Stan Van Gundy. His frequent outbursts cost him another technical foul, and it seemed to leak over into the Magic players, who began freaking out over every call against them.
With the loss, the pressure falls fully on the shoulders of the Orlando Magic. They return home for Game 6 of the series, and while they are not facing elimination yet, this is absolutely a “must-win” game for them. It’s their final home game of the Eastern Conference Finals, and if they do not succeed here, they have to go back to Cleveland for Game 7……and no team wants that.
Game 6 tips off at 830 Saturday night. Folks, we’ve got ourselves a series again.
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