Cavs Spank Orlando, Force Game 6

I’m applying the old adage, “Better late than never,” to Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Mo Williams finally made some shots. Z finally scored some points. And the Cavs finally weathered a blistering Orlando comeback and threw some punches of their own down the stretch to take command of the game. These are all things that I’ve viewed as keys to winning the series and Game 5 marks the first time we’ve seen them against the Magic.

Much has been made of Mo’s struggles and the fact that LeBron has had no help in this series. It’s true and the Cavs spent 4 games basically squandering one of the greatest playoff performances in the history of the NBA. Gave 5 was different because Mo and Z made shots right from the beginning and the Cavs played with an intensity that Orlando had no hope of matching.

Mo finished with 24 points on 50% shooting, while also going 6-9 from behind the arc. Those numbers are all by far his best of the series. But he also only had 1 turnover and played solid defense, which means he was highly efficient on both ends. It was an all around excellent game by a guy who really needed that to happen. If he continues to play like he did in Game 5, the Cavs will be much more difficult to beat than they were in Games 1-4.

Z had 16 points on 6-8 shooting with 6 rebounds. Z is another guy who needed a more efficient game. He scored some points in Games 1-4, but he was woefully inefficient and was busy getting taken to school on the other end of the floor. Talk about frustration. Game 5 hopefully alleviated that offensive frustration at least.

After Game 5, everyone was rightly talking about LeBron’s magnificent game and, in particular, his fourth quarter. However, almost all of that praise was tainted with comments about how screwed the Cavs are if it’s going to be all LeBron, all the time. I’m once again amazed by the lack of understanding by Charles Barkley and the TNT guys. Listen, I’ve spoken out against the LeBron isolation offense. I don’t really like it. But here’s a situation where it worked and could work again against the Magic and it’s incredible that these “experts” didn’t pick up on it.

First of all, the LeBron isolation offense didn’t just happen in the fourth quarter. It was designed. And that play was called because of something that happened earlier in the game. What happened was Mo, Delonte, Z and others made shots. See, it WASN’T all LeBron all the time. It’s a lot like how running the ball effectively in football is important because it sets up the opportunity to use play action passes. What happens if you can’t run the ball, but then you use the play fake anyway? You get clobbered because the defense isn’t buying the fake. They’re not worried about the run, because you haven’t shown them that you can run it!

Same here. Orlando made it very difficult for LeBron at various times in this series because they had no respect for the ability of other Cavs players to make shots. That wasn’t the case in Game 5. The Magic had to stay close to Mo and Delonte. They had to keep tabs on Z and even Varejao. And when they didn’t pay attention to Gibson, he rightly punished them by sinking the three pointers. All that set up the fourth quarter where Orlando simply couldn’t double LeBron at the top of the key. There were too many shooters who could punish them, so they each manned up and took there chances. Do you think it’s a coincidence that Mike Brown had 3 guards (all undersized, by the way) on the floor with LeBron and Andy? According to Fat Chuck Barkley, LeBron was isolated because the only way the Cavs could win was with LeBron doing it all himself. Wrong. The Cavs PLANNED THIS. Mike Brown and LeBron knew they had shooters who could knock them down and effectively space the floor. So they took advantage of an opportunity to get the best player on the planet one-on-one with Orlando’s backup 2 guard.

Second, LeBron even said after the game that he was taking what the defense gave him during that stretch. Again, TNT’s overpaid analysts missed this, which is code for, “I’m the MVP, I have superior court vision, I’m one-on-one with a guy who can’t guard me, and my teammates are knocking down shots. So, yeah, I’m going to take it to the hole and see what happens.” What happened is this. If he could get off a shot, LeBron took it. If he drove and they collapsed on him (which they ALWAYS do), he kicked it to Gibson and Mo. If the double team came from Howard or Gortat, rather than a guard, LeBron found his big man with the soft hands, Andy, cutting to the hoop. LeBron has the vision and passing skills to do this and Orlando had no answer.

Again, even though this type of offense can work, I’m a much bigger fan of motion offense and setting screens to open the floor up. But I can’t fault Mike Brown’s logic in this instance. The question is: if Mo is cold in Game 6, can the Cavs run the LeBron isolation offense? I say no. That would be like running play action when your running back hasn’t been able to get past the line of scrimmage.

But I feel like The Hitman has got his stroke and his swagger back. If that’s the case and if the Cavs can absorb the inevitable Orlando scoring runs, then counterpunch, the Cavs are in a good position to force Game 7 at The Q.

Stay positive, Cleveland. There are good things happening now.