Orlando Magic Cleveland Cavaliers Game
Written May 25, 2009 by Jason Lowry
The Orlando Magic made sure the Cleveland Cavaliers celebration was short lived, as the Magic regained the Eastern Conference series lead with a 99-89 win in game 3. The Magic now lead the series 2 games to 1, and will look to take a 3-1 lead when the two teams meet up for game 4 Tuesday night.
After a mediocre game 2 Dwight Howard was much more effective in game 3 scoring 24 points and grabbing 9 rebounds, but the big man was limited to just 28 minutes because of foul trouble. Rafer Alston finally got it going in this series scoring 18 points on 6-13 shooting. Michael Pietrus came off the bench to score 16 points, but the real story was Rashard Lewis scoring just 15 points on only 8 shots and Hedo Turkoglu adding only 13 points on 1-11 shooting from the floor. Turkoglu did have 11 points from the free throw line, plus he helped out on the boards with 10 rebounds and dished out a team best 7 assists.
For the Cavaliers it was once again all LeBron James, as the league MVP had 41 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds. LeBron didn’t necessarily have a great shooting night going 11-28 from the floor, but did a lot of damage from the charity strike, going 18-24 from the line. Mo Williams had 15 points and Delonte West had just 12 points, and that was about it for the Cavs, as no one else finished in double figures.
Game 4 stays in Orlando, and this could be the most important game of the series for both teams. Here is a look at what I think each team needs to to do win this game, plus my prediction on who comes out on top against the spread.
What the Cavaliers need to do to win: I honestly think the Cavaliers need something special out of LeBron if they are going to win game 4 on the road. James just doesn’t have the supporting cast like Kobe has in LA or even that Dwight Howard has in Orlando. There are times when 3-4 Magic players are trying to stop LeBron and he gives his teammates wide open shots and they fail to come through. Mo Williams is not living up to the hype so far in this series, and the Cavs desperately need him to play better. After playing most of game 2, Zydrunas Ilgauskas fouled out in just 31 minutes scoring just 9 points on 3-10 shooting. Sasha Pavlovic had a huge game 2, but was unable to score in game 3, as the entire Cavs bench managed just 8 points. It won’t be easy for the Cavs in game 4, but they do have one of the best players to ever play this game, so you can’t ever count them out. Bet the Cavaliers -1 to win game 4 at Sportsbook.com.
What the Magic need to do to win: If the Magic can keep Dwight Howard on the floor for more than 35 minutes, I feel like the Magic should win this game. I don’t think we will see another poor shooting night from Turkoglu like we did in game 3, and his play is just as important as Howard in the Magic chances of winning. I was a little surprised that Rashard Lewis took just 8 shots, as he made 5 of them, and you have to think he will be more of a factor in this game. The thing about the Magic is they just have more people that can beat you offensively than the Cavs do, so they don’t necessarily need one guy to do it all like the Cavs need LeBron to. The other thing is this team is playing great defense in this series, as they held the Cavs to just 37% shooting in game 3. The Magic can really make it tough for the Cavs to come out of this series with a win in game 4, so you know they will be ready to go, as the longer you let a player like LeBron stick around, the more likely he is going to find a way to beat you. Bet the Magic +1 to win game 4 at Sportsbook.com.
My Prediction: Magic +1. I just don’t think the Cavs match up with the Magic very well at all, and the scary thing is Howard barely played in game 2 and Turkoglu couldn’t hit a shot all night and this team still won by 10 points. I got the Magic winning this one easily, unless LeBron has one of those nights where he puts up 50+ and Mo Williams shoots better from the floor.
For those of you looking to do some NBA betting on game 4, be sure to check out our expert NBA picks and grab the latest NBA odds for all the big games at Betfirms.
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