That's Why They Play The Game

The Cavs were favored over the Magic, even though they’d lost to the Magic both times during the regular season, one of those losses suffering their worst, most humiliating defeat of the year. But the Cavs ended the season with the best record in the NBA and powered through the first two rounds like a locomotive going downhill. The Magic, by contrast, took seven games to dispatch the Garnett-less Celtics and in the first round even allowed the 76ers some reason for hope. By the end of the first game of the Eastern Conference Championship, however, the Cavs looked like Don Quixote tilting at windmills. The formerly supercharged Cavs, w/ the exception of Lebron, looked out of their league. Every position but Lebron’s a mismatch, all in the favor of the Magic. You’d think that the Cavs could take some advantage w/ their faster guards but the Magic defense was always on lockdown, giving up very few fastbreaks. As for the Cavs defense, a strength all season, their frontline looked slow and their perimeter guys totally unprepared for the size of the Magic’s Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. It’s a wonder, really, that the Cav’s won two games and a testament, again, to the fact, despite of all the King James hype, this guy is the greatest all-around player to come along in a long time. He’s not quite the scorer that Kobe is but that is the only quarter he gives to any other NBA player right now. His points-assists-rebounds averages have not been seen since Oscar Robertson in the ‘60s. Now Denver, on the other hand, not expected to match up with the Lakers, everyone’s pick this year, looked in games two and four like they were a match and then some. But just as soon as you began to think that this could be an upset in the making the Nuggets rolled over and played dead. It looked like they stopped playing defense but some credit should go to the Laker’s disciplined execution on offense. Still, the number of times Chauncy “Big Shot” Billups drove to within a few feat of the bucket and then gave up a difficult pass instead of shooting was maddening. And Carmelo Anthony had another head-freeze letdown in a big game. Really, Anthony is beginning to look cursed. I should have expected this when notoriously erratic J.R. Smith was the Nuggets best player in their two wins. At any rate, in the championship series, the Lakers will be expected to win. Here’s hoping the Magic can upset those expectations and finish this Dwight Howard coming out party in style!

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