Orlando VS Cleveland
Game three of the NBA Eastern Conference best of seven series finals headed to Orlando with the series tied at one all. Game one was snared by Orlando, with game two producing a mystical final second three point shot from the Cavalier’s superstar, Lebron James, to edge the Cavalier’s for a one point victory at home. Both teams came into the series knowing that series was in the fate of their own hands and that making the last shot is the most important part of winning an NBA playoff game.
The game did not disappoint with Cleveland coming into the game as favourites to take the series, but Orlando the slight favourite for the game. The lead was exchanged throughout the game with Lebron James living up to his status and posting 41 points. For Orlando, Dwight Howard posted 24 points and combined well with the rest of his team to register a win at home 99 to 89. The win comes with Orlando’s higher shot percentage that allows them to constantly pull away from Cleveland’s clear reliance on Lebron James. Although having a star player in the team to score almost half the points in the match is very dangerous, you still need a good combination with strong team mates to build a winning force.
Although the Cavaliers managed to hold a lead during the second quarter of the game, it was mainly due to Dwight Howard on the bench with three fouls. His absence allowed the Cavaliers to hustle defensively and try to control the game more. Ultimately though, it was the Magic that turned up the defence and resulted in 21 points off 15 Cleveland turnovers, and reduced the Cavaliers to a 37.2 percent shooting from the field, a terrible playoff statistic. Tuesday will be when Orlando will try to stretch the lead to three to one, whilst the Cavaliers will be reviewing to see what happened and determine what they need to tie the series.
