ECF Game 4: Magic 116 Cavaliers 114 OT
In an extremely tense, exciting game, especially in the second half and overtime, the Magic, who made a playoff-franchise record 17 three pointers, prevailed to take a commanding three games to one series lead. Lebron James, who scored 44 points, missed a desperation 35 foot three pointer at the overtime buzzer.
The game went into overtime as James made two free throws with a half-second remaining in regulation, which followed a Rashard Lewis three pointer with 4.1 seconds remaining to put the Magic ahead by two. The Magic had a chance to win in the final 0.5 seconds, but Hedo Turkoglu's lob to Dwight Howard failed to connect as Howard tumbled to the court while being guarded by Anderson Varejao.
Once again, the Magic got off to a quick start, making 7 of their first 8 shots to lead 19-12, before the Cavaliers ended the first on a 13-1 run to lead 25-21. The Magic were able to re-establish their lead in the second to as much as 43-35, before Cleveland finished the half on a 23-7 run by making 9 of their final 10 shots of the half to lead 58-50.
The Cavaliers were able to keep their lead throughout the third quarter, but the Magic cut their deficit to 79-78 after three. The Magic started out strong in the fourth, as they led by as much as 91-83 with under 8 minutes remaining, and still led 96-90 with 4:18 remaining. The Magic then proceeded to miss their next six shot attempts and committed two turnovers as the Cavaliers took a 98-97 lead to set up the dramatic final seconds and overtime.
Magic leading scorers
Dwight Howard: 27 points (10 of 16 field goals, 7 of 9 free throws), 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks
Rafer Alston: 26 points (10 of 17 field goals, 6 of 12 three point field goals), 4 assists, 2 steals
Rashard Lewis: 17 points (5 of 9 field goals, 2 of 4 three point field goals), 5 rebounds
Mickael Pietrus (bench): 17 points (5 of 11 three point field goals)
Hedo Turkoglu: 15 points (5 of 13 field goals), 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 5 turnovers
Cleveland leading scorers
LeBron James: 44 points (13 of 29 field goals, 4 of 10 three point field goals, 14 of 18 free throws), 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 8 turnovers
Mo Williams: 18 points (5 of 15 field goals), 5 rebounds, 2 steals
Delonte West: 17 points (7 of 15 field goals), 7 assists, 5 rebounds
Zadrunas Ilgauskas: 12 points (5 of 9 field goals), 9 rebounds
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: ORL 50% (40 of 80) CLE 44.8% (39 of 87)
3 PT FG%: ORL 44.7% (17 of 38) CLE 27.3% (6 of 22)
FT%: CLE 83.3% (30 of 36) ORL 70.4% (19 of 27)
REB: CLE 40 (7 offensive) ORL 38 (4 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 21/15 CLE 17/14
BENCH: ORL 26 CLE 14
Other game notes and stats:
-The Cavaliers outscored the Magic 66-46 on two point field goals
-The Magic outscored the Cavaliers 51-18 on three pointers
-Howard scored 11 points in the first quarter and ten points in the overtime
-Anderson Varejao had 5 steals for the Cavaliers
-The Magic missed their final 10 shots in the first quarter
-Daniel Gibson led the Cavaliers' reserves with 8 points
-The Magic made 11 of 23 three pointers in the second half and overtime
-The Cavaliers made just 3 of 13 three pointers in the second half and overtime
-The Magic held the Cavaliers to 42 points in the third and fourth quarters
-Each team was whistled for 25 fouls, with only Varejao fouling out
-Howard is now 21 of 28 shooting free throws the last two games
-Howard received a technical foul for supposedly taunting Varejao after a basket; Howard now has six technicals in the playoffs and if he receives another one, will be suspended for a game
Game 5 will be in Cleveland Thursday night.
Here is the complete box score from nba.com
Here is the complete recap from nba.com
The game went into overtime as James made two free throws with a half-second remaining in regulation, which followed a Rashard Lewis three pointer with 4.1 seconds remaining to put the Magic ahead by two. The Magic had a chance to win in the final 0.5 seconds, but Hedo Turkoglu's lob to Dwight Howard failed to connect as Howard tumbled to the court while being guarded by Anderson Varejao.
Once again, the Magic got off to a quick start, making 7 of their first 8 shots to lead 19-12, before the Cavaliers ended the first on a 13-1 run to lead 25-21. The Magic were able to re-establish their lead in the second to as much as 43-35, before Cleveland finished the half on a 23-7 run by making 9 of their final 10 shots of the half to lead 58-50.
The Cavaliers were able to keep their lead throughout the third quarter, but the Magic cut their deficit to 79-78 after three. The Magic started out strong in the fourth, as they led by as much as 91-83 with under 8 minutes remaining, and still led 96-90 with 4:18 remaining. The Magic then proceeded to miss their next six shot attempts and committed two turnovers as the Cavaliers took a 98-97 lead to set up the dramatic final seconds and overtime.
Magic leading scorers
Dwight Howard: 27 points (10 of 16 field goals, 7 of 9 free throws), 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks
Rafer Alston: 26 points (10 of 17 field goals, 6 of 12 three point field goals), 4 assists, 2 steals
Rashard Lewis: 17 points (5 of 9 field goals, 2 of 4 three point field goals), 5 rebounds
Mickael Pietrus (bench): 17 points (5 of 11 three point field goals)
Hedo Turkoglu: 15 points (5 of 13 field goals), 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 5 turnovers
Cleveland leading scorers
LeBron James: 44 points (13 of 29 field goals, 4 of 10 three point field goals, 14 of 18 free throws), 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 8 turnovers
Mo Williams: 18 points (5 of 15 field goals), 5 rebounds, 2 steals
Delonte West: 17 points (7 of 15 field goals), 7 assists, 5 rebounds
Zadrunas Ilgauskas: 12 points (5 of 9 field goals), 9 rebounds
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: ORL 50% (40 of 80) CLE 44.8% (39 of 87)
3 PT FG%: ORL 44.7% (17 of 38) CLE 27.3% (6 of 22)
FT%: CLE 83.3% (30 of 36) ORL 70.4% (19 of 27)
REB: CLE 40 (7 offensive) ORL 38 (4 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 21/15 CLE 17/14
BENCH: ORL 26 CLE 14
Other game notes and stats:
-The Cavaliers outscored the Magic 66-46 on two point field goals
-The Magic outscored the Cavaliers 51-18 on three pointers
-Howard scored 11 points in the first quarter and ten points in the overtime
-Anderson Varejao had 5 steals for the Cavaliers
-The Magic missed their final 10 shots in the first quarter
-Daniel Gibson led the Cavaliers' reserves with 8 points
-The Magic made 11 of 23 three pointers in the second half and overtime
-The Cavaliers made just 3 of 13 three pointers in the second half and overtime
-The Magic held the Cavaliers to 42 points in the third and fourth quarters
-Each team was whistled for 25 fouls, with only Varejao fouling out
-Howard is now 21 of 28 shooting free throws the last two games
-Howard received a technical foul for supposedly taunting Varejao after a basket; Howard now has six technicals in the playoffs and if he receives another one, will be suspended for a game
Game 5 will be in Cleveland Thursday night.
Here is the complete box score from nba.com
Here is the complete recap from nba.com
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 2:27 AM
4 Comments:
At 5:42 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
One of the biggest wins in the franchise history of the Magic!
The Magic continue to shock the sports world and the NBA experts who didn't give the Magic a chance to beat the mighty Cavaliers.
I'm not counting the Cavs out quite yet, though. LeBron James won't let that team quit.
We all know what happened in 2003 when the Magic were in the same situation with the Pistons...
This Magic team is way, way better than the 2003 edition, and is something special to watch!
At 1:07 PM,
Big Figure said…
WHAT A GAME!!! Refs stink. Boy the magic surely do things the hard way. The game couldve been a blow out if the magic would have gone to the basket a little more,instead dwight was the only one basically getting our points in the paint. RA was huge! Where that come from??? Rashard got it going late and MP was his normal self and even hedo came back from a poor performance and played pretty good,just another total team effort.
At 5:25 PM,
WeRDevos said…
Good news. The NBA rescinded that stupid Tech on Dwight so he is back to two away from a suspension.
I was a basket case last night. I thought the team completely sucked in the first half. And Van Gundy said as much after the game. Then instead of celebrating when 'Shard hit the 3 pointer at the end of regulation I was yelling at the TV that he shot too soon.
The Magic played so damn good in the second half and OT. Even so, I was pretty sure that LeBron's 35 footer was going in.
I never knew playing 5 against 1 could be so hard, or exciting.
At 6:02 PM,
Ken said…
WOW!! What a nail biter that was. My gray hair has doubled since the start of this series. This team is learning how to overcome the lousy officiating and win despite some totally ridiculous calls against Dwight.
It's amazing how Lebron is able to score so many points while the media is shoved so far up his ass... Pathetic.
One more game! We can finish this in Cleveland on thursday night. Go Magic!
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