Supply and Demand:

After perfectly predicting the Cavs series outcome, this one is much harder to analyze and predict. The Magic presented serious match-up problems for our opponents that made guessing the outcome of the first three series much easier. This one has so many questions for both teams like: Can Ariza still be productive enough offensively to match his defensive prowess? Can Rafer Alston take advantage of Derek Fischer the same way Jameer did during the regular season series? Can Jameer come back from his season ending surgery to give the Magic what amounts to a big weapon off the bench? Can Pietrus play Kobe as well as he did Lebron? Can Bynum stay out of foul trouble and keep Dwight from dominating the paint? The Magic swept the season series but both of these teams have changed since then, my head tells me this will go the full seven, my heart has to pick the Magic in 7. This best road team in NBA takes the title despite home court.

Magic in 7

The Big Train:

So, here we are. The Finals. The matchup advantages that Orlando had over LeBron and Cleveland has been discussed, and discussed, and discussed. Orlando does not have the same luxury in this series. Don't count on Bynum playing much better than Z, and Ariza, Gasol, and Odom are pretty much better than anyone else on Cleveland other than LeBron... Especially the way Mo played in that series. So, the key to this series will be how LA's defense fairs against Dwight Howard. Will they double a lot? If so, will Dwight be able to either get to the basket before the help comes or find the open man on the perimeter? If LA plays Hack-a-Dwight will the big guy be able to step up and hit 70% like he did against Cleveland? Will the Magic let Kobe get his own, but shut down Gasol and the rest? These questions will be answered over the next few weeks. As for my prediction... It's going to be another round of heart attacks for Magic Nation. LA will take Game 1, with Orlando bouncing back to take Game 2. When the series switches to Orlando, the Magic will take two of three and will hold a 3-2 advantage going back to LA. The Lakers will take Game 6 by 15 points, and - here we go - Rashard Lewis will knock down a 3 with 4 seconds left in Game 7 to win it for Orlando.

Magic in 7

Paul Ego:

This team grew up after game five in Boston. It's like they finally got what Stan has been yelling about this entire season. I don't see them buying into the Laker mystique or the general consensus that they should be glad to have made it this far and prepared to step aside so the Laker's can step up and take yet another title. Stan has this team ready to fight and I can't wait to watch. Make no mistake, this won't be as easy as the Cleveland match up (which could have easily been a sweep), but the Magic have shown me that they do not fold, they are mentally tough. physically tough, and have come to play.Listen! And Understand! The Magic are out there. They can't be bargained with! They can't be reasoned with! They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And they absolutely will not stop, ever, until the finals are over! Thanks to you, Stan Van Gundy.

Magic in 6

Maxwell Effort:

I saw it in Dwight's eyes during Game 6. He wants this. I heard it from him in his halftime interview when he was panting and sweating like crazy and told Craig Sager he just wants it so bad. He is a man on a championship mission and has the cast around him to accomplish the goal. I know it is not supposed to be about the Magic but rather Kobe's validation and legacy post-Shaq. But I do not think the Magic players ever get caught up in the moment or the perspective of the national media. This team is so focused on just playing their game I kind of chuckle at the can the Magic handle this stage type chatter. They have been counted out all season in almost every sense including the playoffs and yet they find themselves 4 victories from the championship. I know the Lakers with Kobe and his supporting cast present the absolute greatest challenge to them but my heart tells me this Magic team is up to the task.

Magic in 6

Some Orlando Magic fans, and a whole lot of non-Magic fans likely don't realize this, but Orlando's upper management has been known, in the past, to do somethings that were, to put it bluntly, bafflingly insane. This is a team after all that traded Anderson Varejao and Drew Gooden for Tony Battie.

But the team has never done anything quite as bafflingly crazy as deciding, as some sort of bizarre celebration of being a team for almost 10 years, to release a greatest hits album. No seriously, that happened:

Most people would struggle to believe that this really existed.

To put into perspective how stupid this idea was, notice the bottom right corner. "Rockin' the O-rena!". This is important, because the album was released in 1998. The building stopped being called the O-rena in 1999.

Back on point, at the ripe age of 13 years old, I received this CD as a gift for Christmas, and because you can't give Christmas gifts back to your grandmother because she knows how much you like the team even though even 13 year old you realizes this gift sucks, I put it in a box and never touched it.

I was in Orlando for Memorial Day weekend to visit with family and friends, and I stumbled across the box and the aforementioned album. I brought it back up to Maryland with me out of a kind of morbid curiousity. I've listened to it all the way through now exactly once. I will be writing the remainder of this post as I listen to it for the second time, providing in depth analysis of just how inhumanely bad an album can be.

Track 1: Opening Montage by the Alphabet City Allstars feat. Paul Porter and Micheal Buffer(1:43)

00:00 - Right off the bat, why the hell are Micheal Buffer and Paul Porter on this CD? I haven't even started listening to it yet, and already I'm angry.

00:05 - Ok, so apparently Porter's contribution to this CD is to do his typical Magic intro speech while standing inside a freezer while they play studio produced "exciting music". Nothing but empty echo. I already hate this, and I know it's going to take forever because I have to pause the CD to write this stuff down.

00:20 - Ok, now we've shifted to the same studio music with audio from "historic Magic moments" circa '97. They just did Nick's steal in the conference semis. There's also someone saying "Unbelievable" after each one, and it's really goddamn annoying.

00:31 - "Orlando Magic Fans: LEEEEETTTTT'SSSSSSSS GEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTT REAAAAAAADYYYYYY TOOOOOO RUMMMMMMBBBBBBBLLLLLLLEE! Now when do I get paid?" - Micheal Buffer.

01:06 - Back to back audio clips of Shaq bringing those two goals down, played as though it was two people talking about the same thing, which is stupid. I only know it was separate events because I still remember one of the calls. And we're now up to 3 "Unbelievables".

01:37 - "Un-un-unbelievable". Wow. And no, Micheal Buffer didn't actually say that last sentence.

Nick(:10)

:10 - So I don't know if you guys knew this, but with the 11th pick of the 1989 NBA draft, the Magic took Nick Anderson from Illinois. I just realized that was 20 years ago, and that was definitely Stern making the call. I'm convinced he's a wizard, because he sounded like the walking dead even then, and he still sounds exactly the same.

What I Like About You - The Romantics(2:54)

01:00 - Amazingly, this is the actual song. There isn't much to say about it. I mean, you've probably heard "What I like about you" eleventy billion times, and tolerate it and bob your head to it without liking it all that much, which is about all the song deserves, though I'm guessing it'll be my favorite song in the world by the time I'm done with this.

02:21 - The part in the song where the guy starts whispering is a bit annoying.

02:45 - I like the brrrrrrrbbbbbbb noise he makes near the end. Hurray.

The First Win(:34)

00:12 - I really like that they list the artist on this track as "Magic defeat the Pistons". This is the audio of the Magic's first win, even though I'm pretty sure this was a preseason game, so it hardly counts.

00:30 - The announcer says that it was the first pro basketball game in the history of Central Florida. That seems like a reach. If someone offered someone else 10 bucks to hustle someone in 1985, isn't he technically professionally playing? Someone should answer this.

Do You Believe In Magic - The Lovin' Spoonful(1:59)

00:00 - I absolutely hate this song

00:48 - Still hate it.

01:05 - "Come along with me. We'll dance until morning, til it's just you and me" These lyrics suck and have nothing to do with basketball. They couldn't have chose it for any more obviously pun based reasons, and for that I'm contractually bound to hate it EVEN more.

The Distributor(:19)

00:03 - Scott Skiles sets the single game assist record. Amazingly, nothing else happens in the remaining 16 seconds but crowd noise and an announcer. Why am I doing this again?

Rock and Roll pt 2 - Gary Glitter(2:42)

00:48 - Let it be known that the first big crowd participation "HEEEEEY!" is at 48 seconds.

01:34 - Isn't Gary Glitter in a Vietnamese prison or something? For pedophilia? Didn't I read that somewhere?

2:02 - I love the simulated clapping in the song. Lets crowds know when to clap. They can't be trusted with that on their own.

The 1992 Draft(0:33)

00:12 - They actually have the lottery drawing from that draft on here. Christ. When they announce the Hornets got the #2 pick, you actually hear someone yell "DOOH!" like a cartoon villain, and someone else say "Well...Orlando's got it". All that happens in 3 seconds. Who thought this should be on a CD?

00:27 - The announcement they took Shaq, which was a foregone conclusion since they'd basically said they'd do that as early as the night they got the pick.

Get Ready For This - 2 Unlimited(3:40)

00:00 - At 3:40, this is one of the longer tracks on the CD. Actually, I just realized the CD is less than 50 minutes long, and there are 25 tracks, so that might be obvious. It makes sense that it's longer though, since this was another actual song, albeit a terrible dance song.

00:32 - "Get down with the sound; house on the ground; freeze when I squeeze; drop to your knees" What the hell does any of that mean?

00:49 - It seems like his go-to rhyme is the phrase "mind your own biz", which he's already said twice for no real apparent reason.

01:21 - "Bustin' it loud; to the crowd; the age is twenty; I'm from the South;" I can't decide if I should be crediting his genius or helping him with his autism.

01:27 - Now a girl is singing, rather than a guy pseudo-rapping. Hearing her sing "mind your own biz" actually makes

02:06 - "I'M FEELING KIND OF BETTER; PUT ON A SWEATER" Wow. This has gone from being pathetically stupid to completely insane. This guy has all the street cred of a wet mop, and only slightly better rhyming skills.

02:11 - He just rhymed "outrageous" and "cages", which doesn't work on any goddamn level. And I just realized I have to sit through another minute and a half of this bullshit song.

02:45 - By far the best part of this song is the backing music which is pleasant if pretty basic. It sounds like something they'd play in an arena, which I guess is the point.

02:55 - The girl is singing again.

Penny for Webber(:25)

00:13 - I had forgotten how badly this trade got boo'ed at the time. I'd also forgotten we had to waste 3 future picks from the trade as well. So now the CD is actively making me angry.

Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf(4:10)

01:00 - This is just a pretty straight forward live recording of Magic Carpet Ride. Not really much to it, but it's already the best song on the CD by about 657,486 points out of a possible zero.

02:21 - The singer sounds drunk as hell on this track. It's now only 657,485 points better.

02:48 - Sweet guitar solo that's not on the studio recording. Awesome.

Penny Penny(:23)

00:20 - Apparently Penny hit a buzzer beating dunk against....The Bulls? They mentioned Kukoc, so I guess it would have to be. Nice, I guess. I have no idea when this occurred.

Hoop Life(Basketball remix) - The Alphabet City Allstars(2:45)

00:24 - This is a rap done over a sample of "Basketball". So far I can't make out a single damn word being said.

00:49 - Now they're just mentioning a bunch of random things that happened in NBA history, and name dropping random players.

00:59 - They just namedropped 'lil Penny of all things. That's pretty amazing.

01:57 - I'm glad that Rodman got a mention before Dr. J. What the hell is wrong with these people?

Horace Signs(:37)

00:15 - I loved Horace Grant as much as the next guy, but it says something about your team when one of the biggest moments in your team's history after 10 years is signing a free agent who averaged 12 and 10.

Mony Mony - Tommy James and the Shondells(3:16)

00:26 - I guess it was easier to get the rights to the original than the Billy Idol version, which is the one that actually gets played at sporting events?

00:35 - I can't believe I'm saying this, but this singer's pronunciation of the song's lyrics is actually worse than Billy Idol's.

01:11 - I'm now convinced that the secret to your song becoming a sporting event staple is to have simulated clapping within the song. Or barking.

No Lady Luck(:26)

00:26 - This was round 1 of the 95 playoffs where we beat the Celtics to knock them out of the first round. It was the last game in the old Boston Garden. That's pretty much all this is. Just the audio of the end of that game.

The House is Rockin' - Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble(2:18)

00:11 - I love me some Stevie Ray.

02:00 - THE HOUSE IS ROCKIN', DON'T BOTHER COME ON IN!!!! I think I might be losing my mind. Also, my left eye is starting to twitch. I'm wondering if I should be concerned.

The Steal(:29)

00:13 - Nick Anderson steals the ball from the GOAT in the East semi finals, Penny gets it, drives, passes to Horace who dunks it home. Magic win. It was kind of a big deal to Magic fans.

What's Up? - DJ Mike(5:11)

00:04 - I just realized what this is. Remember that song from the early 90s "What's Up?" by 4 Non Blondes? You know: the one that combined indie feminist folk music, grunge, and yodelling into a giant mess of suck?

This is that, with the vocals slowed down and a throbbing dance beat behind it. Not even a good dance beat. The kind of beat a 10 year old could come up with in protools in 5 minutes. This is awful. They took something terrible and made it infinitely worse.

01:54 - They slowed down the lyrics, and I still can't tell what that line is. It sounds like: "And I fly some dimes when I lie in my head" which is either retarded, brilliant, or not remotely what's actually being sung. And I just realized I have 3 more minutes of this garbage.

03:17 - She prays for a revolution. And I can't believe there are people who would actually choose to produce music like this. For that matter, does anyone actually LIKE this? If you said yes, my only question, Mr. Kaczynski, is what are you doing out of jail?

04:37 - We just had about 15 seconds of nothing but a bass beat. I hate this. And I have 6 more tracks to get through.

Going to the Finals(:39)

00:39 - Again, just an audio clip from a game broadcast of Game 7 of the 95 Eastern Conference Finals. It's actually pretty passionless, since Orlando beat the Pacers up, down and sideways in that game, making the final call at the end of the game overdue by about 20 minutes. I was at that game though, so it's still awesome.

It's Time To Play - Gettings Productions(3:33)

00:00 - I haven't the slightest idea who Gettings Productions is.

00:16 - This sounds like it was sung by the guy who is in the opening for Chappelle's show playing harmonica and singing.

00:45 - Wow, that was like 12 Bible references in 8 seconds. He specifically mentioned David and Goliath, Sampson, Daniel, Jonah, and I think I heard him mention Joseph as well. Wow. And this song actually IS about basketball.

01:45 - OH SWEET GOD! If I'm understanding the lyrics that were just sung, a surgeon just left a patient to die on the table in an ER because someone handed him Magic tickets and he didn't want to be late for the game.Why would the Magic put that on a CD? WHO WROTE THIS?

01:58 - "We're heading to the playoffs, we mean business today: it's time to play"
That line is repeated over and over, at least 20 times.

02:47 - And now it's broken down into a gospel song? Wow.

3 for All(:11)

00:11 - Dennis Scott held the single game 3pt record. He doesn't anymore. This is the recording of the 11th, which was the record at the time.

It's Magic - Pilot(3:01)

00:17 - "Oh oh oh it's magic...you know? Never believe it's not so" Yep, it's that song. Can you name another line from the song? Neither can I.

01:43 - Now I know why I don't know a single other line. This whole song is completely non-descript. It's just dull as anything. It's better than Time to play or that godawful what's up remix, but that doesn't make it good.

It's Good(:11)

00:11 - Dennis Scott hits a buzzer beater, and once again I have no idea who it was against. But I'm excited, because I just realized I only have one song left to do on this damn project.

Orlando Magic Theme Song - Gettings Productions(4:17)

00:00 - Anyone who went to a Magic game in the first 8 years of the team's existence knows this song. It's so horribly dated and ridiculous, I almost wish I'd just blown off this whole post and done a write up of just that song. We'll see how this goes.

00:04 - Opens with the sound of a basketball being slowly dribbled in an empty arena and shoes squeeking on the court. I love it already. Welcome back, Steak's childhood. I've missed you. I can already tell this song is getting the biggest write up, which makes sense since I'm guessing this CD was an excuse to sell this song to people.

00:17 - Here come the Latin drums!

00:31 - Who is it that's singing this? He sounds like he's singing through the world's worst megaphone.

00:56 - "Abracadabra, razamataz. Slamdunk sesame. Hocus Pocus alakazam: Gonna set the spirit free!"
Not only does that line not make any goddamn sense, but he used 5 different Magic toss-ins We get it: they're called the Magic. CHRIST.

01:03 - These backup singers couldn't care less. It's kind of funny.

01:20 - The main singer ended the chorus with "Gonna getchya!" followed by 3 drum beats. The gonna getchya part is hard to describe, but I'll try: You know the parts in 1979 by the Smashing Pumpkins when Billy Corgan tries and fails miserably to hit the high notes in the chorus, and his voice gets gratingly screechy and high pitched? Imagine if Corgan tried to get the same screetchiness while singing as low pitch as possible. That's what it sounds like.

01:37 - "Shazam! You're history!"

02:20 - What the hell? What year was this song made? We just had a complete congo freak out.

02:37 - Is Gettings Productions actually a Miami Sound Machine cover band? This sounds like 12  of percussion players and about 19 electric pianos. Now we have a chorus of men singing: "Orlando....Orlando Magic" This is ridiclous.

03:30 - It's still going! I'm in awe. Can we get Gettings Productions to play this at a game? Just by listening to this, I can already tell you they're not busy.

03:41 - "Orlando Magic evveerrrryyyyyywhhhhhheeeeerrrrrreeeee".
That doesn't make much sense. I'd think the Orlando Magic would only be in Orlando.

03:58 - "You better beware; you'd best beware: we're coming atcha! ORRRLAANDOO MAGIC!"
It's amazing that this guy manages to growl even the team's name. I'll credit him for consistency if nothing else.

04:17 - Screw it. That's the greatest song ever written, if for no other reason than it means I'm done with this.

Right now, I smell the sweet smell of butter biscuits. Given that I've been sitting here writing this for the last hour, that either means my roommate is baking biscuits in the oven downstairs, or I'm having a stroke. Could go either way to be honest..

I know the job of the Magic staff right now is to be vague about the Jameer Nelson situation but this John Denton article really has me wondering if we are going to see the little guy in the Finals...

From Florida Today:  "Nelson played four-on-four full-court basketball as recently as last week, and impressed Smith and Van Gundy with his ability to take contact and make shots. The Magic had veteran center Adonal Foyle set several hard screens on Nelson to see how he would react to getting hit, and Nelson showed no sign of shying away from the contact, Smith said."

Now Smith and SVG are absolutely correct that he will not be the same player he was 4 months ago but that is just common sense. Jameer at 50% is not only better than Anthony Johnson but the mental factor would have tremendous benefits for the team.

The next two days will be critical as Jameer will once again participate in a full contact practice. Not many teams have the oppurtunity to add a player of Jameer's caliber for the Finals. It is a tough call and the Magic have to balance the future of Jameer's career with the fact that you cannot take championship oppurtunities for granted.

As I'm sure all Magic fans know, D12 wasn't too happy with all the LeBron/Kobe talk these last few weeks. Fortunately, an updated version of the Nike add featuring Kobe and LeBron puppets has been released. It's on YouTube, so it must be official.

Middle of the 4th, and it finally happened; it was only a matter of time before REM's cover of The Clique's "Superman" would be played for Dwight Howard. But had you told me 6 months ago that video would be played in the 4th quarter of the Magic's Eastern conference finals clinching victory, I'd have openly laughed in your face. I wouldn't have even been polite about doing so. And now, here we are.

The most important thing a superstar player can do in a game, any game, is set the tone. Tonight, more than any other game in his career, Dwight Howard set the tone: early, middle and late.

It starts where it always starts: the beginning. In the first quarter, Dwight came out playing like he should always play; like no player ever could play every game, but that we ask them to anyways. Tonight, Dwight rose to the occasion, to the tune of 13/5 at the end of the first. He did not let up. At all.

This was probably the closest to a one man show the Magic have come all season, but it never compared to what Lebron did in Game 5. Dwight, as ridiculous as he was tonight (and make no mistake: even desensitized by Lebron this series, 40pts, 14rebs, and 4 assists is really goddamn ridiculous), he never had to do it alone.

With Dwight on the bench in the second quarter, Rashard took over, shooting repeatedly over Anderson Varejao's outreached arms. Rafer Alston hit a few timely jumpers. Courtney Lee was active, and repeatedly buried the 16 foot jumper, which he's become completely money on and I can't wait to see him shooting it next year.

And I don't know what else to write about Mickael Pietrus at this point. Stellar defensive effort against the best in the world. Stellar offensive effort, just doing what he was supposed to do. A ridiculous 17/36 in the series from downtown, 4/7 tonight. 14pts, 5 rebounds and 2 assists over all. But that doesn't even tell the whole story, for Pietrus or the team.

The story was confidence. The media constantly beats to death tired cliches about "PRESSURE", and about how pressure can make this, that or the other thing happen. Role players are supposed to choke under pressure.

But there were the Magic's players rising again and again. Rising up to shoot long 3s and drilling them. Rising to go up and get offensive rebounds that wouldn't have otherwise gone their way. Rising up to contest shots. Rising up to contest. Rising up to make sure nothing came easy for Cleveland. Rising up to support their star.

And as I stated earlier, that's where it started: with their star. People have complained in the past that Dwight Howard is a star purely for marketing. Anyone who still thinks that now, after this, should be beaten with a sack of oranges. Dwight dominated on both ends of the court as only a center, playing at their highest level, can. He was the old reliable; the most boring standard in all of professional sports: The Dominant Big Man.

It's often been a sadly discussed topic that the ultimate truth in the NBA is that big men are easier to build around, and that championships come easier to teams with dominant big men. Phil Jackson said as recently as a few weeks ago in an SI interview he'd start a team with Dwight over anyone else. There is a reason, and fans hate it.

The common logic is that big men just aren't as interesting as slashing wing players.

Bullshit.

40 points isn't interesting? Dominating inside to the tune of 6 offensive rebounds doesn't excite you? Go watch golf then, Grandpa.

Dwight finished 14/21 from the field and a very impressive 12/16 from the line. He finished the series at 71% from the line for the 6 game series. Is that a sign of things to come or an abberration? I have no idea, but I have reason to be hopeful.

It was fitting that, in the 4th, the Magic trying to protect the lead, the team FINALLY, at long long last, put the ball in Dwight's hands, saying: "You got us the lead; you keep it for us," And he did.

4 wins from immortality. n the words of the Magic faithful at Amway: "Beat LA."

The Magic once again came back from a big lead in the 1st, only to lose to LeBron James in the 4th. Here are our thoughts:

I 3 Freely
Good feeling gone. A 3-1 series lead suddenly doesn’t seem like much of a lead. Meanwhile, a 3-2 lead seems like a tie at best! Even though we all suspected that the Cavaliers would throw everything they have at the Magic last night, it still hurts to see it happen. I hate it that the average Cavaliers fan in Ohio is waking up to a shiny Friday morning. The Magic need to make sure that this coming Sunday morning is so miserable for Cleveland that an entire day at church isn’t enough to lift the gray clouds.

By tomorrow night, perhaps Stan will have sat Rafer Alston down and told him that one huge game does not make a superstar and that feeding Howard down low when he is being guarded one-on-one beats a bad three-point attempt every time. Perhaps there will be some additional free throw shooting for Turk and Lewis. Perhaps Stan will relax just a bit when he is back home in the O-Rena. And perhaps Magic Land will end this series Saturday and give Nike an extra few days to work on a new puppet.

Paul Ego:
Loved the come back last night in the first half, absolutely loved it. Only thing I loved more was Dwight keeping his composure as Z and Wally both took cheap shots trying to get him to retaliate. It would have been nice to close out on their home court, and a lot of us expected it being up 3-1, but then I remembered something, and I felt better. I picked the Magic to win in 6, they got the split in Cleveland and protected their home court. I expect the same Saturday night.

The Big Train:
Until last night, Cleveland's best game was game 4. They one upped that last night, coming out firing to take a huge first quarter lead. Basically, Orlando isn't going to get away with putting themselves in holes like that. LeBron had some teammates last night, as Z, Mo, and West all remembered how talented they are. So now we come back to Orlando for game 6 on Saturday. The question is, should Orlando fans be afraid? I guess. Did you really think Cleveland was going to lay down last night? Me either, and they are not going to lay down Saturday. LeBron will get his 40 points and 20 free throws, Dwight will get at least 5 fouls, and hopefully Orlando can help the rest of the Cavs play like they did in the first 4 games.

Supply and Demand:
Cleveland without a doubt played their best game of the series and still gave up a big lead and had a close game until late in the fourth. Winning in Cleveland is not the problem for the Cavs, winning in Orlando is. Four Magic players had subpar games (Lewis, Alston, Pietrus and Lee), I don’t expect that at home and I don’t expect Cleveland to shoot 50% from the field AND three point land without the friendly rims in the Q Center. I am 5-0 in my pre-series prediction now and fully expect the Magic to make it a perfect 6-0 by closing out the Cavs at home.

Jareth Cutestory:
I knew we would lose, but it still is a disappointment. Especially when the team again came back from a huge lead and nearly had a run going in the 3rd. LeBron was amazing, but some of the calls he gets particularly when going against Dwight down low are bothering me. Dwight is a superstar. Give him the call sometimes. LeBron is built like a football player and simply runs through the lane like a running back going through a pile of defensive lineman. How does he not get called for ANY offensive fouls? Come on. Rafer was awful last night, Shard couldn't get anything going, and the TO's and missed FT's came back to haunt us. Simple as that. Sure Mo Williams scored, but who cares? That barely had any effect on the outcome. It was all James, just like it's been the entire series. I'm somewhat optimistic going into Game 6, but who knows, this is anyone's series still.

Maxwell Effort:
Like most Magic fans I would have loved for this to be over last night but it was not in the cards. Lebron simply put his team on his back and carried them to victory. Though the box score says Mo Williams scored 24 he was not really a factor on the final outcome. Lebron even waived him off of a screen at one point just to go at it himself. He knows what needs to be done and I am sure they same strategy will be in play Saturday night. What plays into the Magic's hands is that they are a perfect 4-0 at home against the Cavs this season and really seem to play better there at least against Cleveland. It is such a cliche but for this team it is true. They need a full 48 minute effort on Saturday to close this out because I have my doubts about Monday if we have to see that game get played.