Cleveland Cavaliers or Orlando Magic?

[stretch]

The most telling thing about that loss is that the Magic built the 40-pt lead in the 3rd quarter when the Cavs starters were on the floor

but keep telling yourself its the regular season and it doesn't matter. The Cavs went 66-16 and secured HCA throughout the playoffs. Don't tell me the regular season didn't mean something to them.

i didnt say it meant nothing. im just saying the playoffs are a whole different story. they play much better playoff basketball than the Magic do.

[1Parker1]

Magic are very overrated. Yes, there win was impressive in Game 7 at Boston, but let's face it...that Boston team was running on fumes after playing about 6 OT games in their first series alone.

Magic are a jumpshooting team that plays passable defense. They are a slightly better version of the Suns of the past few years...just with bigger players. If their 3 point shot isn't going, they have a hard time getting points on the board, DHoward has shown he can be a little foul-prone, in which case they really don't have a big to replace him, and their defense has allowed MANY comeback wins from teams. Let's not forget...the Celtics almost came back from a 28 POINT DEFICIT in Game 1 against them!

Out of all the "championship" contenders in the NBA this season, the Magic were the ones that least worried me.

[DeadlyDynasty]

You'd prefer playing the cavs rather than Magic in the finals ?

It's all about matchups...we matchup great with them. Orlando would give us a lot of trouble

[1Parker1]

Oh and regular season basketball and playoff basketball are two different things. If I recall, the Cavs swept the Spurs in 2007 regular season and we all know what happened in the Finals. When you play the same team for 7 straight games, it becomes a totally different game.

The only thing which may hurt the Cavs is rust...they've been off for quite some time now so their shooting may be rusty. But their defense can still keep them in check.

[DeadlyDynasty]

i didnt say it meant nothing. im just saying the playoffs are a whole different story. they play much better playoff basketball than the Magic do.

they have thus far, but the quality of opponent has been much better too. Cleveland played the Pistons (who quit 3 months ago) and the punchless Hawks.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Oh and regular season basketball and playoff basketball are two different things. If I recall, the Cavs swept the Spurs in 2007 regular season and we all know what happened in the Finals. When you play the same team for 7 straight games, it becomes a totally different game.

The only thing which may hurt the Cavs is rust...they've been off for quite some time now so their shooting may be rusty. But their defense can still keep them in check.

Big difference...The cavs didn't expose any weaknesses in the Spurs when they beat them...it was just a matter of Cleveland playing 2 good games and SA playing poorly. LA annihilated Cleveland's frontcourt in both meetings (one w/o Bynum). How does that magically change come playoff time? Did Z decide to hit the gym? Did Wallace become useful? Joe Smith is the only quasi-legit big man and he cant play major minutes

[stretch]

Uh, no.

I'll gladly stfu when the Cavs bounce the magic out of the playoffs in less than 6 games. I'll come eat my crow if that happens. But its not going to happen. Your feeding right into the hype that is ultimately going to doom the Cavs

Sorry my friend, but your severely underestimating the importance of matchups and regular season, which favors the magic.

I'm not feeding into or off of any hype. This is my own personal opinion. I think the Cavs have a defense that is capable of stopping virtually any style of offense. They rebound the ball extremely well, play good team ball on both sides, and they have a great leader in Lebron. All championship teams through history have a strong versatile defense, play great team basketball on both ends, and have great leadership. That is why I believe in the Cavs.

[stretch]

they have thus far, but the quality of opponent has been much better too. Cleveland played the Pistons (who quit 3 months ago) and the punchless Hawks.

Um, the Hawks are a pretty gritty and tough team. Keep in mind they took the Celtics to 7 last year, and are an improved team. The Cavs just did such a great job at kicking their play to another gear in the 4th quarter, that the Hawks were unable to match them.

On the other hand, the Magic had some issues with a mediocre 76ers team, and struggled against a heavily depleted Celtics team. I wouldn't exactly say that the Magic have been all that impressive in these playoffs.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Um, the Hawks are a pretty gritty and tough team. Keep in mind they took the Celtics to 7 last year, and are an improved team. The Cavs just did such a great job at kicking their play to another gear in the 4th quarter, that the Hawks were unable to match them.

On the other hand, the Magic had some issues with a mediocre 76ers team, and struggled against a heavily depleted Celtics team. I wouldn't exactly say that the Magic have been all that impressive in these playoffs.

The Celtics (even w/o KG) would crush the Hawks..didn't they sweep them this year? And just about any other team in the league would've beaten Detroit. They were so listless in that series and didn't want to be in the playoffs in the first place. The Sixers are mediocre, but they're a matchup nightmare due to the small lineups they role out there. Philly is like the turd that doesn't flush. Orlando's size (especially in the back court) is gonna pose problems for Cleveland. IMO, Cleveland has to win the first 2 games of this series or they're ed

[stretch]

lol insecure laker fan

[TheNextGen]

What the are you talking about?

You're offering completely different scenarios. The Lakers have come out in 40% of their playoff games looking like a team that feels the le should be handed to them. They felt the heat from the Rockets because they're ing LAZY on defense and don't know how to rotate properly, and they have no ability to contain quick point guards.

The Cavaliers have come out in every game not looking to win, but to absolutely lay waste to the opposition. They haven't asked questions or whined or tried to plea for the refs help. Every game (they've played one more all playoffs than the Lakers did in the last series, think about that) the moment they've stepped on the floor, they've been all business. They want to win and if you are in an opposing jersey, you are going to be crushed.

Yes, they've played some bad teams. But remember, the Hawks weren't completely awful (as in, probably as good as a crippled Rockets team), and the Cavs could have won by 25-30 every single night if they would have left their starters in. That's the kind of dominance we haven't seen since....

Since ever. No team has walked through the compe ion like these Cavs have. Even the 2000-01 Lakers had a few close games. Now, of course, the compe ion was undoubtedly better than what the Cavs have seen, but I'm willing to bet they're going to put the boot down on Orlando.

They MIGHT lose Game 1 due to being rusty, or Game 3 if the Magic get hot. Every other game in the series will be controlled by the Cavs for most of the way.

Chances are, they won't need to reach to guard Howard. Their defense is good enough that they won't have to compensate for Dwight's dominance. They'll just shut down the perimeter and let Dwight get his.

I seriously have to wonder what beating a broken down, exhausted team like the Celtics proved about Orlando's ability to run with the Cavs. They just went 7 games with the second most injured team in the playoffs, and looked atrocious at times doing it. What matchup on the floor other than Howard are the Magic going to be able to exploit? They have no one to go to for consistent scoring that the Cavs can't absolutely shut down. Anyone who gets hot, stick LeBron on him. Hedo won't even get a shot off with James in his face. Shard would (will) resort to fade-aways.

Cavs in 4. They're just too good.

oh god. waste of thread space.

[DeadlyDynasty]

lol insecure laker fan

we were actually having a decent debate till you turned into child here

[TheNextGen]

we were actually having a decent debate till you turned into child here

come on now...eveyone knows that Stretch resorts to name calling when he knows he is getting owned.

Stretch = name calling
Drik4MVP = "Cool story, bro"
DPG = "shhhh, girl"

usually when you see those....its like they are waiving the white flag.

[DeadlyDynasty]

come on now...eveyone knows that Stretch resorts to name calling when he knows he is getting owned.

Stretch = name calling
Drik4MVP = "Cool story, bro"
DPG = "shhhh, girl"

usually when you see those....its like they are waiving the white flag.

so true on DPG

[stretch]

we were actually having a decent debate till you turned into child here

well judging by the way you constantly are obsessed with the cavs, along with 95% of the rest of the lakers fanbase, you appear to be one of those insecure fans that just pray to see lebron and the cavs fail.

come on now...eveyone knows that Stretch resorts to name calling when he knows he is getting owned.

Stretch = name calling
Drik4MVP = "Cool story, bro"
DPG = "shhhh, girl"

usually when you see those....its like they are waiving the white flag.

where was there any ownage? i see none, other than people telling me how much stock they put into the regular season.

[TheNextGen]

well judging by the way you constantly are obsessed with the cavs, along with 95% of the rest of the lakers fanbase, you appear to be one of those insecure fans that just pray to see lebron and the cavs fail.



where was there any ownage? i see none, other than people telling me how much stock they put into the regular season.

2007 Mavs. Nuff said.

que name calling.

[Brazil]

It's all about matchups...we matchup great with them. Orlando would give us a lot of trouble

Ok so you think your best shot to win the LOB trophy is playing the cavs rather than Orlando, good to know.

IMO whatever the opponents or matchups the Magic today is a borderline semi final conference team with a great capacity to chok, a Boston healthly team would have won this serie in 4 or 5.

Cavs are potentially the kind of team that can dominate the season and the POs whatever the opponents or matchups, we will figure out soon if the lakers show more balls against Denver than Rockets.

Oh and to lakers fans saying this rockets team w/o yao and mac was a bad matchup. With a litle bit of heart and corojones the lakers should have swept the rest of this serie. No excuses.

[1Parker1]

Big difference...The cavs didn't expose any weaknesses in the Spurs when they beat them...it was just a matter of Cleveland playing 2 good games and SA playing poorly. LA annihilated Cleveland's frontcourt in both meetings (one w/o Bynum). How does that magically change come playoff time? Did Z decide to hit the gym? Did Wallace become useful? Joe Smith is the only quasi-legit big man and he cant play major minutes

Umm, no. Cavs pretty much dominated the boards against the Spurs and played great defense against them. It's not like either game was even close in the regular season.

Like I said, there's a totally different strategy in beating a team in the regular season twice, and beating them for 4 out 7 games in an playoff round.

BTW, What was the Lakers regular season record against the Celtics last season?

[Bukefal]

Cavs in 4. I think they will be crushing this too. Go CAVS!!!!

[stretch]

2007 Mavs. Nuff said.

que name calling.

which proves my point exactly. the regular season meant nothing, as they won 67 games and looked dominant.

now im sure you are speaking of the fact that the warriors went 3-0 or something against the mavs that year (although one of the games the mavs pulled their starters). that is a case where we see how true it is that basketball is a game of matchups and adjustments. however, i dont see much proof that the Cavs are running into a bad matchup against the Magic.

[JustBlaze]

Orlando in 6.

[DrHouse]

So apparently matchups don't matter at all and it's all about how well a team is playing at the moment.

Were you people born dumb or did the doctors drop you on your heads when you first came out?

[stretch]

So apparently matchups don't matter at all and it's all about how well a team is playing at the moment.

Were you people born dumb or did the doctors drop you on your heads when you first came out?

I bet if we had a poll of the 1992 Dream Team vs. 2009 Lakers, you would pick the Lakers to win.

[resistanze]

"We'd rather face the Cavs than the Magic."

LMAO.

[Allanon]

All 9 of the top West teams are better than the #4 seed in the East. But the top 3 teams in the East are better than every team not named the Lakers.

The Cavs have had it relatively easy up til now, here's where the Lakers sweep and rest up while the Cavs will rough it through 7 games.

Go Cavaliers!