We have all seen MJ's shot over Craig Ehlo time and time again. That play is now part of the MJ legend and rightfully so. Slightly after 20 years since that happened, LeBron hit a game-winning, buzzer beating 3 on Friday to kick off the memorial day weekend in style. The bloom is a little bit off that rose since the Cavs lost the next game and are looking up at the Magic with a 1-2 series record. More than the record, the Cavs seem to have a bunch of match-up issues against this Magic team and they need to find some answers and find it now. But still, that shot on Friday was one of those legendary plays. The Cavs were leading that game by 23 at one point before losing all of the lead and letting the Magic and Hedo do whatever they wanted in the second half. Hedo hit a clutch 3 and followed it up with a drive and a tough pop for a 2 with just a second to go. The Cavs looked done. Down 2 with just a second to go and staring at a 0-2 deficit with the next 2 games on the road. The TV shot of a kid at the Q with his hands on his head and looking all shocked and depressed was priceless. I would say he is also now part of history and the legend of LeBron.
The Cavs came out of the timeout and tried to run a play for LeBron to go for the lob and a tip-in or a dunk. But Hedo, who had just hit a shot that we all thought was a game winner, played good D on Bron and didn't let him fly to the hoop. So LeBron shoved him off, changed direction and popped out. Now he got some separation from Hedo. Mo Williams got him the ball and LeBron rised up and nailed a three. He was a good feet or more away from the top of the key and by the time he took the shot, Hedo was back on him and defended him pretty well. But this was LeBron's night and LeBron's shot. So the ball went in and the whole scene looked surreal. We are all witnesses once again! Great plays in the playoffs are immortalized forever. We all remember the Robert Horry 3, Derek Fisher's 0.4 sec shot, etc., etc. and with the whole "where amazing happens" promotion of the NBA, these moments seem to have even more of a shelf life. But when a superstar hits those same shots, the moment just becomes that much bigger and thats exactly what happened on Friday. You knew you were looking at an instant classic and if the Cavs move onto win a championship this season, that shot will be the biggest story of this 2008-2009 season.
But we are not there yet. The Cavs seem to have their hands full. The match-up issues are getting worse. They still can't handle Howard, Lewis or Turkoglu. The Z man is big but is too slow for Howard. They may insert Ben Wallace to keep up with Howard's speed, but he is small and is a non-factor offensively. Varejao can't defend Rashard Lewis who is basically a versatile wing more than a big man. Plus LeBron is getting tired carrying the offense and can't defend Hedo (or Rashard) for the entire game. He shot poorly on Sunday, but was still the best Cavs player on the floor. It might have just been a case of poor shooting at a road gym, but they got to get comfortable and play much better in Orlando tomorrow. Otherwise, they'll be staring at a 1-3 defecit. If they win, then they get home-court back and that shot takes a whole new meaning right away. If not for that shot, they are staring at a sweep tomorrow. The Cavs have lost most of the games over the last few years against the Magic - 10 out of 14. That's not a coincidence, especially given the great records the Cavs have piled up the last 3 years. Magic definitely have their number and coach Mike Brown better figure something out soon.
In the West, the Lakers are doing what they do best - being inconsistent and playing up-and-down. The series is tied at 2-2 after the Denver abused the Lakers on the boards today. Nuggets had 3 dudes with 13 or more boards - Kenyon, bird-man and Nene, with a lot of them coming on the offensive glass. Kobe was tripped by Dahntay Jones and was all fired up to take over the game. But the Lakers just could not get any stops. Kobe tried jacking up a lot of shots, but one man can only do so much when you are trailing by 12 or 14 and can't get defensive stops. Plus Phillip put him on the bench for a while to cool him down. He probably saw the "shoot at sight" Kobe coming out and wanted to freeze him a little bit. Net result, the Lakers lost big and that too with Melo not doing anything. He was sick and scored just 15 today. But it didn't matter. Of course the Lakers will probably win game 5 at home and drag the series to 7 games and win it the hard way. They don't seem to have the heart or the killer instinct to end these things early. Most of the role players don't seem to have the maturity to score on the road and they don't give Pau Gasol the ball either. Strange team indeed.
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