LeBron James just wasn't ready yet for the season to end, willing his Cleveland Cavaliers to a Game 5 victory Thursday night to keep this Eastern Conference final alive.There was nothing complex about Cleveland's fourth quarter strategy against the Orlando Magic. It was give the ball to James at the top of the key, step back and see what wonder he could create.
It was all LeBron, all the time down the stretch. And it was impressive – even by the highest MVP standards.
As good as 37 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists may sound for James, his fourth-quarter flourish was even more impressive in this 112-102 victory. James either scored or assisted in 32 of the 34 points in the fourth.
Magic Lead 3-2 | Next Game: Saturday @ Orlando, 8:30 PM ET
If he wasn't scoring, he was making sure one of his teammates did when it mattered most. While everyone marveled at this one-man show, and the Magic kept waiting for him to wear down, he never faltered.
It wasn't like he was playing point guard and moving the ball. It was James holding the ball like it was a last possession, waiting to make his final move. Except, he did it from start to finish of the fourth quarter.
"You never want to disappoint the home crowd. It was win or go home,'' James said. "You have to do everything sometimes.''
The Magic still hold a 3-2 series lead with Game 6 in Orlando on Saturday. The Cavs are trying to become just the ninth team in NBA history to win a series after trailing 3-1. They already lost twice in Orlando earlier in this series, but with James, anything obviously is possible.
James did it all in the fourth, overcoming the better balanced Magic. He did get the best support he has had in this series with Mo Williams scoring 24 points and six 3-pointers. Daniel Gibson, who has been no factor through most of the series, hit a trio of 3-pointers.
"LeBron was huge for us. It wasn't pretty. We just gave him the ball, and said `get us some good looks, big fellow,''' said Cavs coach Mike Brown. "That's what great players do. He put the team on his back and made plays for everyone.''
The Cavs started with a 35-point first quarter, leading by as many as 22 points when they hit 10 of their first 11 shots and threatened to end this game early. Unfortunately for the home crowd at the Q, the Magic stood their ground and scored 37 points in the second quarter, dousing any early momentum the Cavs had built.
By intermission, the huge early lead was down to just one point. When the Magic opened the second half by scoring the first five points, the building grew eerily quiet, knowing they could be saved only by James.
"That's what great players do,'' said Mickael Pietrus, the Magic forward trying to guard him.
LeBron James Photos
CLEVELAND - MAY 28: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers shakes hands with rapper/producer Jay Z after defeating the Orlando Magic in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2009 Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena on May 28, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** LeBron James;Jay Z
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Cleveland Cavaliers' forward LeBron James (right) strips the ball from the hands of Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard during first half action in Game 5 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday, May 28, 2009. (Ed Suba Jr./Akron Beacon Journal/MCT)
MCT
Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James (below) is fouled by Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard during the first half in Game 5 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday, May 28, 2009. (Phil Masturzo/Akron Beacon Journal/MCT)
MCT
CLEVELAND - MAY 28: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers reacts with teammate Wally Szczerbiak #10 after defeating the Orlando Magic in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2009 Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena on May 28, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** LeBron James;Wally Szczerbiak
Getty Images
Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James is fouled by Orlando Magic's Marcin Gortat during the first half in Game 5 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday, May 28, 2009. (Phil Masturzo/Akron Beacon Journal/MCT)
MCT
Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James (L) scores over Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard during Game 5 of their NBA Eastern Conference Final basketball playoff game in Cleveland, Ohio, May 28, 2009. REUTERS/Aaron Josefczyk (UNITED STATES SPORT BASKETBALL)
Reuters
Cleveland Cavaliers Wally Szczerbiak (R) congratulates forward LeBron James after James scored during the fourth quarter of Game 5 of their NBA Eastern Conference final basketball playoff game against the Orlando Magic in Cleveland, Ohio, May 28, 2009. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes (UNITED STATES SPORT BASKETBALL)
Reuters
Orlando Magic's Hedo Turkoglu, center, from Turkey, collides with Cleveland Cavaliers' Anderson Varejao (17), from Brazil, and LeBron James (23) under the basket in the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Eastern Conference basketball finals Thursday, May 28, 2009, in Cleveland. Cleveland won 112-102. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
AP
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James celebrates after scoring against Orlando Magic during the fourth quarter of Game 5 of their NBA Eastern Conference final basketball playoff game in Cleveland, Ohio, May 28, 2009. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes (UNITED STATES SPORT BASKETBALL)
Reuters
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James scores as he is fouled by Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard during the fourth quarter of Game 5 of their NBA Eastern Conference Final basketball playoff game in Cleveland, Ohio, May 28, 2009. REUTERS/Aaron Josefczyk (UNITED STATES SPORT BASKETBALL)
Reuters
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim, im not even going to get into details, ive been reading your entries for a while and the truth is that your too biased for me to take you seriously. "...strategy against the Orlando Magic. It was give the ball to James at the top of the key, step back and see what wonder he could create". Yeah it didnt matter that he had help from the bench. It was ALL HIM. Oh im sorry i forgot in another post you guys were writting on how he was going places that not even Michael Jordan had been to.
what? lol wow go ahead and discredit mo williams, daniel gibson and delonte west all in one swipe. without them he would have prolly had to score 50. he had help but obviously dominated the 4th as tom said... thats what great players do. i assure you as well as everyone else that the cavs will win game 6,7 and go to the finals. we are all witnesses and it will show in a couple days.
by the way... i was being sarcastic. i dont agree with what the author said that it was all lebron. if it werent for mo and the rest of the guys picking up the slack, they wouldnt have won. thats the point i was trying to make.
17 assists? I thought he had 12. Oh wait, he did. You sure he didn't score 100 points and his teammates 12 too? Of course those 12 assists don't happen if his teammates don't hit their shots, but why bring that up?
Dwight Howard in constant foul trouble just about every game. Yea, that's just a coincidence also. I'm beginning to think it's impossible to defend LeBron in the paint, because teams are not allowed to defend him.
LeBron's teammates seemed to be plenty good enough during their 66 wins, but soon as they come up against Orlando, who they also lost to twice during the regular season, all of a sudden LeBron's teammates aren't cutting it. Orlando is simply the better team. Period. They will close this out Saturday unless the refs make sure of otherwise by fouling out as many Magic players as they can without it looking blatantly obvious.
you haters are delusional.
he's a phenomenal player and nothing you say is going to discredit him in anyways.
just deal with it
======================================================= THE SAME A$$HOLES WHO TRY TO DISCREDIT WHAT AN ATHLETE LIKE JAMES DOES, ARE THE SAME A$$HOLE WHO DO IT WHEN IT COMES TO TIGER WOODS. IT'S CALLED "JEALOUSY" GET THE " EFF " OVER IT, SIT BACK AND ENJOY SOMEONE WHO DOESNT COME ALONG EVERY DAY. AND BY THE WAY....IT'S REALLY TIME TO GROW UP.
CAPTAINCLIMAX.....I GUESS YOU WERE TOO DRUGGED UP TO SEE THAT ANDERSON VAREJAO & ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS FOULED OUT FOR THE CAVS.....YOU SOUNDS LIKE ANOTHER ENVIOUS BITCH ==============
LeBron can score whenever, however he wants. I believe that if the team agreed to it beforehand, and fed him, he could go for 100. Easy..
Why is the guy/girl named Jealous Bastards calling other people . . . jealous?
Anyway . . yes, the league has its greedy hands in this series, no doubt. Sure, the refs foul out Varejao (oh no!) and Ilgauskas (with 50 seconds left in the game) just to make it look . . fair. Yet they call fouls on Dwight constantly when he merely has his hands -STRAIGHT- up in the air and jumps -STRAIGHT- up in the air to . . you know, play some defense WITHOUT drawing a foul . . since that's what they teach NBA players.
Now, I'm not discrediting LeBron. I can't do a quarter of the stuff he does out there (along with all the other b-ball players, I'm too short, haha), but give me a break. If he and this Cleveland "team" were so great, they wouldn't need so much officiating aid. Yeah so Dwight throws elbows . . after he gets hacked and bearhugged by Homo-jao.
Of course people see these games through their respective favorite team's colored glasses, but let's try taking those off for a second. If anybody TRULY believes the Cavs aren't getting more calls, or an equal amount, you need to be disillusioned. Take game 4 for instance . . the lame foul at 0.05 left in the game that sent LeBron to the line. You mean to tell me if the roles were reversed and Pietrus was the one who charged (shoulder first), tripped himself and fell INTO LeBron he would get a defensive foul called FOR him? . . . no. And let's not talk about that game 3 block Howard got on LeBron's three pointer . . el-oh-el.
Whatever, that's my (and every other Orlando fans') opinion. I just really can't wait for Orlando to close this thing out on Saturday so people will stop with the LeBron madness.
Mike Brown you wanta upset the apple court in Orlando and win on their home court..... Early on give the ball to Z and Ben and tell them take it right into Howards chest, he's stupid enough to pick up enough fouls to take himself outta the game.... the key to winning is Howards removal because their three point shooting isnt the same with Dwight Howard off the court.... get him in foul trouble and their 3 point shooters are lost without him..... you see howard does it to our big men..... shock him by telling every shooter to go at him early in the game......he's liable to blow his lid he's got a hot temper and boom he'll create a situation where he will get in trouble with the refs...... the dude is a keg of dynamite.... and the fatman coach will look lost when it happens..... can Cleveland reverse what has happened for 44 years and pull off the improbable..... if Mike Brown devises a scheme to remove Howard he will......
I'm beginning to think people who say the officiating is fair didn't even watch the game but read the box scores after.
To say that big Z and Varejunk fouled out because of Dwight Howard gets calls is probably to most ridiculous thing I've ever heard about the game of basketball. None of the fouls on big Z and Varejunk are even in the same solar system as questionable. They were told by Mike Brown to "either wrap him up or let him dunk it". I'm no expert to professional officiating but I'd imagine wrapping someone up in basketball is clearly a non-arguable foul. If you want to talk shoulder lowering, all I can say is WOW!!! I guess shoulder lowering is only illegal when someone else does it.
And yes, I am JEALOUS because if I had the right breaks in life, it could of been me in his position because I have comparable talent. (insert sarcasm)
Most of these comments are coming from CAV'S fans I see. let's see Cleveland hoops, That's right they have never won a championship, Hum footbal and baseball as well. In other words they will lose and finally I don't have to read about King James until next season. Magic in 6 games.
how the hell did Orlando even get a team? They don't have baseball, football, hockey, soccer. Why basketball? I think Mickey likes basketball, that explains it all. I cannot imagine how these people even afford to go to the games considering wages there are so low and everybodies losing their home. They may be getting their tickets from Obama, part of the stimulus package.
I was pondering how Cleveland actually were able to win the draft lottery the year LeBron was coming into the league and figured it was fixed. High school star from Ohio will be no.1 in the draft and go figure, Cleveland wins the lottery. Well, enjoy the King for 1 more playoff game and then all the CAV fans and the King can go fishing. Go Magic.
Just as long as the rapist lowlife creep Kobe and the Lala land Lakers don't win....be it falling to Orlando or Cleveland if they are the team still standing
you better hope Orlando wins the series, because if they don't it will be one of the biggest choke jobs in history, Orlando is the "better shooting" team not the better team. If the Cavs get knocked out that could be a good thing, maybe they will get my man Stoudemire. Orlando know Hedo Turk is gone after this year and have NO money and the owner will not spend anymore than the league max. This "is" ORlandos year to win, NOT next year
I dunno, Vander, I think it all depends on how this year turns out. Even if they lose Hedo it doesn't instantly knock us down a few notches. He's amazing in the fourth quarter of course, but so is Rashard, Rafer can be and let's not talk about Jameer being back next year (insert smiley face). Bottom line, the Magic'll be one of the dominant teams in the East for quite a while.
And if we trade Hedo and JJ for Carlos Boozer . . . ^_____^ But, of course, you never know. I just hope it all works out.
Now that the series is over, there was a debate about whether LeBron should have shaken hands with the Magic and spoken to the media after the series. You can vote on what you think LeBron should have done!
http://xrl.us/bevhai http://www.thesportsdebates.com