Cavs/Magic Game Three National Views

[duncan228]

Cavs’ Mo Williams disappearing against the Magic (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-strugglingwilliams&prov=ap&type=lgns)
By Antonio Gonzalez

Mo Williams’ left eye was swollen, bandaged with four stitches around it and bruises that caused him to wince with every blow.

It’s been rough out there for the Cleveland Cavaliers guard.

Banged up and struggling with his shot, Williams had 10 of his 15 points in the first half and was just 5-for-16 shooting Sunday night in the Cavs’ 99-89 loss to the Orlando Magic in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Cleveland’s No. 2 scoring option has provided little help for LeBron James, clanking jumpers and piling up turnovers. Williams is among the biggest reasons the Cavs trail the Magic 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

He’s disappeared.

The All-Star guard hasn’t been nearly as efficient or effective as he was during the regular season, when he averaged a career-high 17.8 points. Williams is only 18-for-56 shooting in the series, a lopsided statistic that mirrors many of his teammates who are falling flat in the conference finals, leaving James largely alone to carry the Cavs.

Those numbers aren’t the only thing making Williams cringe.

He briefly left the game after taking an elbow from Orlando’s Anthony Johnson above and below the left eye midway through the second quarter. He required four stitches to seal the lacerations.

Johnson drove the lane and extended his elbow, knocking Williams to the floor. Williams was called for a blocking foul, and Johnson was whistled for a flagrant one foul.

Cavaliers players and coach Mike Brown raced across the court to the opposite basket and gathered around Williams, who went to the locker room clutching his eye with an ice pack after about a minute. He returned quickly to shoot the free throws, making both before going back to the locker room.

But the real pain was yet to come.

Williams came back with small bandages above and below his eye, and was largely ineffective for the rest of the game. He missed an open 3-pointer with about 20 seconds left and Cleveland trailing by five that all but sealed Orlando’s victory, finishing with five turnovers and three assists to go with seven rebounds.

The result?

The Cavs have become the LeBron Show.

While the league MVP had 41 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in another dominating performance in Game 3, his teammates are largely standing around and watching him around the perimeter.

No movement. No clean looks. No offense.

And not nearly enough Williams.

[KidCongo]

It's disappointing but there is still hope.

[duncan228]

Howard’s 24 lead Magic past Cavs for 2-1 lead (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2009052419&prov=ap)
By Tom Withers

LeBron James had no shot.

Dwight Howard scored 24 points—14 on free throws—and Rafer Alston added 18 as the Orlando Magic, sick of seeing replays of James’ dramatic Game 2 buzzer-beater, downed the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-89 on Sunday night to take a 2-1 lead in an Eastern Conference finals getting nastier by the minute.

James scored 41 on just 11-of-26 shooting and missed five free throws in the fourth quarter. But once again, Cleveland’s superstar didn’t get enough help from his teammates. Mo Williams, who needed four stitches to close two gashes around his left eye after being elbowed in the first half, Delonte West and Zydrunas Ilgauskas shot a combined 13-of-37.

Game 4 is Tuesday night.

The first two games of the series in Cleveland were each decided by one point. This one was resolved by elbows, shoves and hard fouls.

Howard, Ilgauskas and Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao all fouled out as the officials called 58 personals, handed out two technicals, a flagrant and spent half the night stepping between players on both sides as tempers flared inside an overheated Amway Arena.

“We just kept fighting. That’s what we got to do, we fight to the end,” Howard said. “We can’t worry about nothing, we can’t worry about the calls, can’t worry about nobody else. We just got to get out there and play.”

When the referees weren’t making peace, they were sending players to the free-throw line.

Unlike Games 1 and 2, the Magic didn’t fall behind by double digits and need to rally. They got out fast, stayed close despite Howard’s early foul trouble and put the Cavs away at the line.

Howard, a notoriously poor foul shooter, went 14-of-19 from the line and the Magic made 39 of 51 attempts. In the fourth quarter alone, Orlando made 19 of 23 to hold off the top-seeded Cavaliers, who began the playoffs with eight straight wins and have now dropped two of their last three.

Cleveland better figure out a way to win in steamy Florida fast. The Cavs, who were thumped here by 29 on April 3, have six lost six of their last seven in Orlando.

The Magic seem to have a spell over the Cavs.

Despite his lack of help, James kept Cleveland within striking distance in the fourth and scored on a three-point play while getting Howard’s fifth foul with 2:34 to play to pull the Cavs to 90-86.

Howard, wrapped up underneath, then made two free throws before James was fouled and rimmed out two at the other end. On Orlando’s next trip, Mickael Pietrus, who came off the bench to score 16, grabbed a long rebound, got fouled and was pushed in the back by West, who was handed a T.

Pietrus made his free throws to make it 94-86 and the Magic appeared to have things under control when Howard caught James from behind and blocked his 3-pointer. The refs saw it otherwise and called a three-shot foul on Superman, who couldn’t believe it.

James made all three shots, but the Cavs were short on time. Rashard Lewis’ free throw made it 95-89 and after another Cleveland miss, Hedo Turkoglu was fouled and made two more to finish the job. Turkoglu was just 1-of-11 from the floor but made 11 free throws and added 10 rebounds and seven assists.

After sitting the final seven minutes of the first half with three fouls, Howard made it through 9:10 of the third quarter before getting No. 4—and technical No. 5 of the postseason.

He was called for pushing Ben Wallace underneath, and upset with the whistle, he said something on his way to the bench that referee Joey Crawford didn’t like and was T’d up. Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy had warned his star to keep his composure because the league automatically suspends a player for one game after he receives his seventh technical foul in the playoffs.

“I didn’t say anything to Joey Crawford,” Howard said. “The response was to the other team. I didn’t say anything to Joey Crawford. I’m not stupid enough to get in his face and say anything, so I try to keep it to the other team.”

The Magic led 29-23 when Howard picked up his third personal foul with 7:27 remaining in the first half when he bumped James ever so slightly on a drive.

Less than two minutes later, Orlando was behind by five.

During the stretch, Orlando’s Anthony Johnson rocked Williams with a left elbow to the face that dropped Cleveland’s point guard, who laid face down on the floor for several seconds. When he got up, Williams, who was called for a block, was bleeding from his eyebrow and left cheek.

During the timeout, the officiating crew huddled and decided to call a flagrant-1 on Johnson. Williams, who had hurried from the floor for medical treatment, came back out to shoot the free throws with his eye already severely swollen. If he had not returned to shoot, Williams would not have been able to play anymore.

Gritting his teeth, Williams, looking like a boxer needing a corner cut man, made both shots and immediately headed to the locker room for stitches.

He was back on the floor with about two minutes left.

Before the game, James said he expected a physical game.

“When you play a team over and over you start to dislike them more,” he said. “It just happens. It’s got to be a little chippy.”

Was it ever.

Notes

Celebrity row included Tiger Woods, NBA stars Dwyane Wade and Carlos Boozer, rapper Lil’ Wayne and Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. … Cavaliers coach Mike Brown joked that he can’t turn on any TV channel without seeing James and the “Shot That Saved Cleveland” in Game 2. “They even showed highlights of it on HGTV,” he said. “That’s what I watch. It’s got to be the best shot from him that I’ve seen.” … Following the morning shootaround, James made a $100 bet with Williams that he could make a shot sitting from a courtside seat within three tries. He swished his second attempt. … Van Gundy remains amazed the officiating crew missed Williams firing the ball at Howard in the first quarter of Game 2. “There were roughly 22,000 people in that building and three people didn’t see it.”

[KSeal]

It's disappointing but there is still hope.

Well of course, if you guys just win on Tuesday you've got the HCA back and are right back on track. Obviously someone other then LBJ needs to show up and you better hope LBJ gets 24 FTA's again.

[Allanon]

Cavs finally stopped Hedo tonight but let Rafer Alston go off. Cavs are playing an uphill battle because they play 2 very short guards.

[NewJerSpur]

It's disappointing but there is still hope.

It's never over 'til it's over, even with the matchups....mainly because Orlando has proven it can't handle prosperity well. I think Cleveland will come out at the start of game 4 like gangbusters, though the Magic have proven that doesn't really affect them that much. Things will likely be close going into the 4th as always and the team with more grit/determination should prevail.

[NewJerSpur]

Cavs finally stopped Hedo tonight but let Rafer Alston go off. Cavs are playing an uphill battle because they play 2 very short guards.

The size of the guards isn't hurting them that much because Orlando isn't exploiting it. What's killing them is their slow rotations around the perimeter (either someone runs by a guy coming late or shoots over him) and their lack of defensive presence at the rim.

[Allanon]

The size of the guards isn't hurting them that much because Orlando isn't exploiting it. What's killing them is their slow rotations around the perimeter (either someone runs by a guy coming late or shoots over him) and their lack of defensive presence at the rim.

It's causing gross mismatches on the pick and rolls and confusion on crossmatches. Aleady the Cavs are slower than the Magic, then you add in having to crossmatch to guard a 6'10 guy with a short guard.

And because they have short players in the backcourt, they're constantly doubling and the Magic are ripping them from the 3.

I even saw 6'0 Mo Williams trying to guard 6'9 Rashard Lewis. That's just crazy.

[Lebron4MVP]

Mo Williams as a number 2 option in the regular season works. Mo Williams as a number 2 option in the postseason doesnt work. This team is fucked even if they somehow win this series.

[JoeTait75]

Mo is killing this basketball team right now. At this point he's Larry Hughes without the solid defense. He's a liability.

[NewJerSpur]

It's causing gross mismatches on the pick and rolls and confusion on crossmatches. Aleady the Cavs are slower than the Magic, then you add in having to crossmatch to guard a 6'10 guy with a short guard.

And because they have short players in the backcourt, they're constantly doubling and the Magic are ripping them from the 3.

I even saw 6'0 Mo Williams trying to guard 6'9 Rashard Lewis. That's just crazy.

They've still generally been able to force the Magic to stay around the perimeter but they can't seem to recover fast enough on screens to even contests shots from Magic players, even with a larger lineup.

[Lebron4MVP]

Mo is killing this basketball team right now. At this point he's Larry Hughes without the solid defense. He's a liability.


Thats because we are wanting him to be something he just simply isnt.....a legit number 2 scoring option in the postseason.