2009 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Preview

Cavaliers, Magic Will Square Off For Spot In NBA Finals

May 19, 2009 Frank Leal

Lebron and the Cavaliers are one step away from their second NBA Finals appearance in three years but Dwight Howard and the Magic stand in their way.

The battle for the right to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals will begin this Wednesday in Cleveland. Here is a look at how the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic match up.

1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 3 Orlando Magic

Season Series - Orlando leads 2-1

At the point, the Cavaliers have Mo WIlliams, who made the all-star team this year and has given the Cavaliers that second scorer they have been craving for years. The Magic counter with Rafer Alston, who has done a good job filling in for the injured Jameer Nelson. Williams is the more consistent player, though, and he gets the edge in this match up. At the two, Cleveland has Delonte West, a solid player who has played well in the playoffs. The Magic answer with J.J. Redick, a guy who can get hot from the perimeter but isn't as consistent a scorer as West. Once again, edge Cleveland.

At the three, Cleveland boasts the best player in the NBA, the incomporable Lebron James. James, who has been dominant in these playoffs, has been the catalyst for their back to back sweeps in the first two rounds. He puts up huge numbers and makes everyone else around him better. The Magic will counter with Hedo Turkoglu who is a capable scorer but has been inconsistent in these playoffs. He will have his hands full defensively, though, with James. Although he is taller, he does not have the strengh or quickness to contain James. Orlando is going to have to give him a lot of help defensively. At power forward, the Cavaliers will start Anderson Varajeo, a solid rebounder and defender. As for the Magic, they will go with the versatile Rashard Lewis, an all-star who can score inside and out, and has played very well in these playoffs. Advantage Magic here. At center, Cleveland will go with the veteran Zydrunas Ilgauskas, a decent scorer and rebounder. Orlando, though, has the most dominant big man in the game in Dwight Howard. He is a 20-20 threat every night and should dominate Ilgauskas with his size, strength, and quickness.

Both teams have solid bench players that can come in and give them some good minutes. Cleveland's bench is led by Ben Wallace, a solid rebounder and defender, Wally Szczerbiak, a capable scorer, Joe Smith, a capable scorer, rebounder, and defender, and Daniel Gibson, a streaky scorer. As for Orlando, their bench is led by the versatile Mikael Pietrus, a very athletic player who can score and defend, Courtney Lee, a streaky scorer, and Martin Gortat, a big man with size who can score and defend. Overall, Cleveland's bench get a slight edge.

For Orlando to have a chance, their 4 and 5 players, Lewis and Howard, must be dominant. Even if they are though, Cleveland's edge in the 1-3 spots is likely to cancel that out. Cleveland also has Lebron James, the most dominant player in the leage and a guy who will not let his team lose. Cleveland is also well rested, having played just eight games in about a month, while Orlando has had two tough series going into this one. It will be a huge suprise if Cleveland does not advance to the NBA Finals.

Prediction: Cavaliers in 5

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May 21, 2009 3:55 PM
Phil Partington :
I'm not sure straight up matchups is what's going to win this series for either team. The team that can get the other team to play their game should have the edge. For Cleveland, they need to play aggressive D and not let up even if they have a big lead. Other than Dwight Howard, Cleveland has the physical edge and should be able to push Lewis and Hedo around. For Orlando, they need to force the tempo and allow their athletic, versatile bigs to get easy buckets in transition.

Alston's covered the point guard spot, but man, they really miss Nelson.
May 25, 2009 8:37 AM
Guest :
You are crazy if you see the matchups that way. First of all, the magic back court is is not JJ Redick, who averaged 17 minutes a game during the season (least of all magic guards) and has been riding the bench whenever courtney lee (who i may remind you has not been at all streaky during the playoffs) is healthy. Pietrus may come off the bench, but is an enormous part of this magic team and Hedo Turkoglu's versatile ball-handling skills allow the magic to play with 2 shooting guards on the court. This is the first column i have seen that has not acknowledged that the magic have enormous match-up advantages. Lebron is the only Cav who holds an advantage against anyone who guards him. Turkoglu and Lewis are enormous problems for the Cavs defense because they are capable of driving, posting and are great 3-point shooters. This spreads out the Cavs a great deal, and any time Howard gets the ball in the post, the double-team will leave a Magic open at the three point line.
Yes the Cavs are much deeper than in past years, and with Lebron are probably the better team, but Gibson has seen very few minutes owing to his poor play, Ben Wallace is a shell of his former self (slowed down by injuries) and will be left alone any time he touches the ball on offense, giving the Magic an extra defender. Joe Smith is a good role player, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a versatile centre, who, while he can shoot long-range jumpers far better than Howard, will not be able to keep up with Howard's speed and footwork in the post. Varejao is a good defender and hustles hard on the offensive boards, but personally i think he watches far too much italian soccer (for a 240 pound big-man, he flops like a 7 year old girl).
Mo Williams is a great sharp-shooter, though i'm not sure he was all-star caliber, and for the Cavs to put the Magic away, he will need to play his best.
The Magic have the Defensive Player of the Year surrounded by other decent defenders, a versatile front-court and a deep (albeit star-lacking) back court. The Cavs have Mo Williams, various other mediocre ballers and Lebron. If the Cavs can deal with the match-up problems, Orlando shouldn't be too hard, but you only need to look at Orlando's past success against Cleveland (8 out of 11 going back to last season) to see that the Cavs have a serious battle on their hands.
Series goes to 7, with Cavs the likely victor
May 27, 2009 9:51 PM
Frank Leal :
Well, first of all, I acknowledged that the Magic had a huge advantage up front with Lewis and Howard and I said that if those guys play great, which for the most part they have, the Magic would have a chance. I still maintain that the Cavs have the better backcourt. I called Redick the starter at the 2 for Orlando because he started in the last series and wasn't sure if Lee would be healthy enough to start. Alston has been great the last two games but no one really saw that coming, Houston gave up on him and he only averaged 11 PPG in the regular season. As for Cleveland, Williams was an all-star this year, averaging almost 18 PPG, while West has been a solid player as well. Those guys have underachieved in this series, but going in, you had to give Cleveland the edge. I also thought the rest would give Cleveland a big edge but it looks like the fact that they haven't been tested has hurt them in this series. Anyway, everyone was picking Cleveland in this series, and for the record, I think they're backcourt is going to step up and they are going to come back and win this series in 7.
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