Cavs 102
Magic 93
YES!!!!!!!!!
Dare I say, Statement Game?! Yeah, yeah, I know. It's early in the season, but there is still a few observations to be made on the game....
1. We match up much better with the Magic this year. Case and point, Dwight Howard no longer needs to be double teamed. There was a stat last night showing that when Shaq was on the court, Howard only had 1 point!
2. By not having to double team Howard, this means there won't be an open man for him to kick it out for a wide open three. This was exactly how the Magic beat the Cavs last year. The moves the Cavs made in the offseason were made to counter this matchup issue.
3. Thank you Magic for trading away Hedu Turkaglu, Courtney Lee and Rafer Alston. Turkaglu was a b* to guard and caused a lot of problems for us. I'm ecstatic he's in Toronto now.
4. Good to see Mo Williams expel the demons last night (28pts and was 9 for 9 at one point). In the ECF, Mo went cold from outside. I kept saying that the Magic were shooting lights out (better than what they averaged all season), while the Cavs went cold (shot less than what they averaged all season). If Mo can be the same Mo-Willey in the postseason as he showed last night, this team will be tough to beat this time around.
5. Good to see the 21 year old N.C. State product, J.J. Hickson getting some valuable playing time early on in the season. He's only in his 2nd year as a pro, but if he can elevate his game and build on the experience he's getting now, he could be another key cog down the stretch.
6. In all fairness, the Magic were without Rashard Lewis, but the Cavs were also without one of their key guys in Delonte West. Delonte missed the team flight and was penalized by the team before the game. Lewis has one more game to go on his 10 game suspension (performance enhancing drugs).
7. At one point in the game, there were 4 centers on the court at the same time! (Shaquille O'Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat). That's a lot of bigs!
8. To go 7 bulletin points before mentioning LeBron is a testament to how well the rest of the team played last night. In case your wondering, the King had a decent night too. A 36-8-4 performance to those counting at home.
9. How terrible was the officiating? For both teams. At one point, announcer Jeff Van Gundy said that even officials have bad games, just like players. I think this game would've been better off with the replacement refs.
10. Looking forward to tonight when the Cavs continue their Florida Basketball tour. This time in South Beach against D-Wade and the Miami Heat!
