Triple Treat

The Cavs handled the first of their 3 potential elimination games today. They were up and down once again - up 22 and then down 8. I am not sure if thats Cavs fault or if it's Magic's inconsistency. In any case, the game was all over the place until the King took over in the 4-Th quarter. He scored or assisted on 29 straight points or something like that in the 4-Th quarter when the game was on the line. Another great performance by LeBron and this whole series has been one impressive stretch for Bron. He had a triple double with 37-14-12 on a night when he did get some help from his teammates. Mo Williams was hitting his 3's and connected on 6/9 while Boobie Gibson hit 3/4. The Cavs hit 50% of their threes while the Magic connected on just 32%.

That, in a nutshell, might be the secret behind these games - the team that hits the threes on a given night, win the game. Both teams need threes. Maic because they take a lot of threes. Cavs because LeBron gets double and triple teamed and he can get his teammates open 3's. If they hit those, the King gets a triple double and the Cavs win. If they keep missing those, it puts more pressure on the King and the game goes the other way. I don't think it's a coincidence that the team with a better 3 point percentage has won all 5 games in the series so far. The Cavs are very much in this series. The games have been close and all they have to do now is win one game at Orlando. It's always huge to have that game 7 at home. But the Cavs have to get their first. I have a feeling they will. One good game in Orlando, this series is theirs.

Lakers will probably hold up their end of the bargain and be in the Finals soon and wait there for the Cavs. Their series is also at 3-2, but they are leading and they got game 7 at home. They will probably slack off and lose game 6, but then take care of things in game 7. This series is featuring a lot of talk about the officiating. That always happens during the playoffs, but you have to wonder why that happens more when Lakers are involved. Phil Jackson and the Lakers were fined $25k apiece as a punishment for his comments regarding the officiating in game 4. At least one member of the Nuggets believed those comments factored into how game 5 was called. "The Lakers paid $50,000 to win that game. They got their money's worth," said a Denver player, not wanting to be identified for fear of retribution from the league. All I can say is, "I love this game!"