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Do IT this week: Layering
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
POSTED: 12:46 a.m. EDT, May 21, 2009
CLEVELAND: They say a loss only counts once.
But some hurt a lot more than others.
The Cavs' 107-106 loss to the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals was one of those tougher-than-usual-to-take defeats.
Which might be an understatement.
This loss was a punch in the mouth, a rattle-your-teeth shot to the jaw.
Because the Cavs squandered a 15-point halftime lead. And because they had everything going their way in the first half — including an end-of-the-half 67-foot 3-pointer from Mo Williams.
That gave the Cavs a 63-48 lead.
LeBron James had scored 26 points and had his usual assortment of dunks and hard-to-believe plays.
The crowd was loud, and the Magic looked befuddled.
But the Cavs didn't maintain things in the second half, and the Magic started making their shots.
While this happened, the Cavs reverted to the ugly, stand-around, no-ball-movement offense that plagued them in past years.
James had an amazing game, with 49 points and eight assists — but too many Cavs' possessions consisted of him dribbling while the rest of the team stood and watched.
It worked against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Magic are too good to be that lazy.
And really, the Cavs didn't just do it the second half, they did it some in the first half, too. They got away with it, because at the start of the game, the Magic shot poorly.
The Magic made just 8-of-22 shots in the first quarter. The third quarter, they were 13-for-23, and in the fourth they made 10-of-16.
For a good period of the second half, though, the Cavs took nothing but jump shots. Going to the rim seemed out of their playbook.
And it made no sense, because Dwight Howard — the Magic's standout center — started the fourth quarter with four fouls.
Finally James started taking the ball to the basket in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, and good things followed.
But the Magic answered every time — especially Rashard Lewis, who made the Magic's last five points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds left.
The Magic then survived a Delonte West 3-point attempt at the end, and a Mo Williams catch-and-shoot off a jump ball with one second left.
The home crowd stood stunned at the third loss in 46 games on this court this season. And it became even quieter as it took James several minutes to work out what appeared to be a cramp in his right leg before he left the court.
Thing is, the Cavs did their best early to dispel concerns that they might not start well after a nine-day layoff.
In fact, it took one possession, maybe two, to get rid of any concerns.
That's when James took the ball and noticed that the Magic were using Howard to zone an area of the floor to stop him.
What did James do?
He found the man Howard left, Anderson Varejao, for two easy layups. Another pass led to two Varejao free throws — which meant Varejao had scored the first six points.
In the first quarter, James had four assists before he scored a point. By half's end, he had 26 points.
James even ended the first quarter with a flurry for the memory books.
It started with a breakout, flying one-handed slam following a Joe Smith block, continued with a fly-across-the-lane to block Howard's jump shot, then a 3-pointer following that block.
Quicken Loans Arena was louder than it had been the entire playoffs.
James scored 10 points in a row late in the second quarter, which set up another end-of-the-half miracle shot from the Cavs.
This time, Williams took an inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds left and launched a 3-pointer from 67 feet. The swish put the Cavs ahead 15 at halftime.
And it left Magic backup center Marcin Gortat staring at the Cavs' bench with both his hands atop his head.
This was just the latest look of disbelief on a Cavs opponent this postseason.
It's pretty much happened once in every game the Cavs have played — the other team stands wondering what it can do.
But the Magic showed their mettle by outscoring the Cavs 30-19 in the third quarter, which made a game of things.
As the game wound down, it was the Cavs standing with confused looks on their faces.
The Cavs were going to lose a game in these playoffs.
To expect otherwise would be ridiculous.
But to lose at home where they'd lost twice all season . . .
To lose after leading by 15 at the half . . .
To abandon the offensive continuity and flow that got them 66 wins . . .
It was one loss, yes.
But one loss does not usually come at such a high cost.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/mcmanamon/. Follow Pat on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/patmcmanamon
CLEVELAND: They say a loss only counts once.
But some hurt a lot more than others.
The Cavs' 107-106 loss to the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals was one of those tougher-than-usual-to-take defeats.
Which might be an understatement.
This loss was a punch in the mouth, a rattle-your-teeth shot to the jaw.
Because the Cavs squandered a 15-point halftime lead. And because they had everything going their way in the first half — including an end-of-the-half 67-foot 3-pointer from Mo Williams.
That gave the Cavs a 63-48 lead.
LeBron James had scored 26 points and had his usual assortment of dunks and hard-to-believe plays.
The crowd was loud, and the Magic looked befuddled.
But the Cavs didn't maintain things in the second half, and the Magic started making their shots.
While this happened, the Cavs reverted to the ugly, stand-around, no-ball-movement offense that plagued them in past years.
James had an amazing game, with 49 points and eight assists — but too many Cavs' possessions consisted of him dribbling while the rest of the team stood and watched.
It worked against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Magic are too good to be that lazy.
And really, the Cavs didn't just do it the second half, they did it some in the first half, too. They got away with it, because at the start of the game, the Magic shot poorly.
The Magic made just 8-of-22 shots in the first quarter. The third quarter, they were 13-for-23, and in the fourth they made 10-of-16.
For a good period of the second half, though, the Cavs took nothing but jump shots. Going to the rim seemed out of their playbook.
And it made no sense, because Dwight Howard — the Magic's standout center — started the fourth quarter with four fouls.
Finally James started taking the ball to the basket in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, and good things followed.
But the Magic answered every time — especially Rashard Lewis, who made the Magic's last five points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds left.
The Magic then survived a Delonte West 3-point attempt at the end, and a Mo Williams catch-and-shoot off a jump ball with one second left.
The home crowd stood stunned at the third loss in 46 games on this court this season. And it became even quieter as it took James several minutes to work out what appeared to be a cramp in his right leg before he left the court.
Thing is, the Cavs did their best early to dispel concerns that they might not start well after a nine-day layoff.
In fact, it took one possession, maybe two, to get rid of any concerns.
That's when James took the ball and noticed that the Magic were using Howard to zone an area of the floor to stop him.
What did James do?
He found the man Howard left, Anderson Varejao, for two easy layups. Another pass led to two Varejao free throws — which meant Varejao had scored the first six points.
In the first quarter, James had four assists before he scored a point. By half's end, he had 26 points.
James even ended the first quarter with a flurry for the memory books.
It started with a breakout, flying one-handed slam following a Joe Smith block, continued with a fly-across-the-lane to block Howard's jump shot, then a 3-pointer following that block.
Quicken Loans Arena was louder than it had been the entire playoffs.
James scored 10 points in a row late in the second quarter, which set up another end-of-the-half miracle shot from the Cavs.
This time, Williams took an inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds left and launched a 3-pointer from 67 feet. The swish put the Cavs ahead 15 at halftime.
And it left Magic backup center Marcin Gortat staring at the Cavs' bench with both his hands atop his head.
This was just the latest look of disbelief on a Cavs opponent this postseason.
It's pretty much happened once in every game the Cavs have played — the other team stands wondering what it can do.
But the Magic showed their mettle by outscoring the Cavs 30-19 in the third quarter, which made a game of things.
As the game wound down, it was the Cavs standing with confused looks on their faces.
The Cavs were going to lose a game in these playoffs.
To expect otherwise would be ridiculous.
But to lose at home where they'd lost twice all season . . .
To lose after leading by 15 at the half . . .
To abandon the offensive continuity and flow that got them 66 wins . . .
It was one loss, yes.
But one loss does not usually come at such a high cost.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/mcmanamon/. Follow Pat on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/patmcmanamon
Comments
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akron, oh
Posted 08:56 AM, 05/21/2009
Z needs to go if the cavs ever have a chance of winning a championship!!! He is old and slow and can't get a shot to go in if he paid for it.
Posted 09:21 AM, 05/21/2009
Z will have a big game on Friday.
akron, oh
Posted 10:23 AM, 05/21/2009
Z & WALLY COULDN'T FIND THEIR SHOTS LAST NIGHT AT ALL. I WAS SURPISED THAT THE CAVS DIDN'T ATTACK D. HOWARD DURING THE 3RD QUARTER, SINCE HE WAS IN FOUL TROUBLE. EARLY PENETRATION COULD OF OPENED MUCH MORE SHOT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE 4TH QUARTER.
Posted 12:18 PM, 05/21/2009
I think the second half really showed the effects of the long layoff. Too much standing around at times and watching LeBron. The defensive intensity was also way too low in the second half. The quickness just wasn't there like we saw against Atlanta coming out of the double teams.
On the bright side of things, I don't think Orlando can shoot the ball that well this entire series. They shot the lights out especially in the second half. In spite of this, the Cavs still only lost by 1 point.
Yes, this loss hurts but great teams only show how really good they are by responding from a loss. We get to see if the Cavs really are a great team tomorrow night.
Posted 12:33 PM, 05/21/2009
Mo was fouled on that last shot of the game. It wasn't just a light slap on the arm, either. It was a full-body bump which knocked him to the floor!
I'm disappointed in the fans. Looks like THEY were the ones who didn't know how to handle adversity. When the opponent is catching up and the home team is looking bad, it's time to ROAR and disrupt the opponents. Like you would do at a Browns' game with Manning walking up to the line of scrimmage. Make i t tough to hear the signals!
In basketball, the time to do this is when your team has the ball on offense. You want the opponents to not be able to hear each other on defense!
Los Angeles, CA
Posted 01:43 PM, 05/21/2009
There's no reason to panic for Cleveland fans, although after the series with Houston I don't envy all the crappy, second-guessing, panic induced fodder you all are going to have to read till friday like us laker fans had to
Top Reasons it'll be ok:
-Peitrus and Lewis will not play that well again for a few more games
-Z shot terrible, he'll put up his points next game
-Gibson and Wally will make a few shots as well
-Howard will be doubled/denied the ball, not have 20 shots, and it will frustrate him to see his team missing all those 3's
-Lebron will shoot 100 free throws in practice now that he understands how much 1 point is worth
akron, oh
Posted 02:42 PM, 05/21/2009
start sasha at the three lebron at the four magic wont win another game
Posted 03:21 PM, 05/21/2009
Karma.........all I have heard is the fans claiming how it's all in the bag....haven't you people learned your lesson yet?
Love the Cavs and the whole team, went to 20 games this year, but it sucks when I hear how fans claim we got it when that is the worst thing to do!!! We have a great chance and that is all we have!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AKRON, OH
Posted 03:31 PM, 05/21/2009
I THOUGHT THE GAME WAS GREAT EXCEPT THE END SCORE, BUT I HAVE FAITH THAT WE'RE GONNA GO ALL THE WAY................
akron, oh
Posted 04:13 PM, 05/21/2009
go magic
Palm Beach, FL
Posted 04:57 PM, 05/21/2009
Last I heard it is a seven game series, a little wake-up call never hurt, the supporting staff will step up. The Cavs will still prevail.
cuyahoga falls, oh
Posted 07:14 PM, 05/21/2009
ugly.
Posted 12:26 PM, 05/22/2009
The Cavs will be fine. And no, Mo wasn't fouled at all. That would have been a joke had it been called.
