Well to be fair, they were the #1 seed so they obviously were going to be playing shoddy competition at least in the 1st round. Detroit had no business of being in the playoffs. I mean we saw a #7 seed take the #2 seed to 7 games (granted they were w/o Garnett but still). And while I doubt even if everyone was healthy that Atlanta would have won more than 1 or 2 games against Cleveland, they were incredibly shorthanded, missing Horford and Marvin Williams, as well as Joe Johnson being not 100%. Point is, yeah they did have an easy route to the East Finals, but that's part of the privilege of earning the #1 seed.

As far as someone helping him, they Cavs had 4 players (including James) average in double figures this season. That's about what most teams have. Mo Williams averaged 17.8 PPG on 47% FG shooting. That's not bad for a second fiddle. I think he's been getting help throughout the season, they just ran into a buzzsaw in Orlando that just matches up very well against them.

Orlando is a tough matchup for starters. Turkoglu and Lewis are both about 6-10, can shoot 3's or take it to the basket. If both are on, they aren't going to be beat, esepcially with Howard around the basket.
Regarding Cleveland, Williams was a good complement this season to James, but his supporting cast, which has always been questioned to some extent, has not shown up in this series.
Still not writing off the Cavs totally, but they really could have been swept in this series.

true. but while the match up is tough, they should be able to beat orlando.

i do expect the cavs to win the next one since dwight "the mouth" howard picked up his 6th technical and should be suspended the next game.

and on your point about garnett-less celtics, that is exactly the difference in match ups. no way does that series go 7 with him; he would've been a nightmare for the bulls. at least, i would guess that would be the case.

I'm not sure that's true after watching this series. Orlando has been the better team in this series.

Doug Collins mentioned last night that a technical foul could be taken away after a game after a review so it will be interesting to see what happens with that.

You could make a case for assigning that nickname to Mo Williams

David Stern is putting the bullets in the chamber. His worst nightmare Nuggets/Magic Championship Series!

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

David Stern is meeting with the officials as we speak.

Last night's late fouls were interesting - LeBron sort of trips driving to the basket, and a foul is called. Then Howard gets into a hand fight with Varejo, and no foul is called. I thought LeBron would have gotten that call.

Watched the 3rd qtr last night and it was a pretty pitiful performance from the
supporting cast from outside. Orlando is almost daring them to beat them from 18ft
and out. They will run up and put a hand in their face but I saw a lot of open shots
from the Cavs perimeter guys, mostly on passes from Lebron near the top of the key
and they drew iron all quarter long. Can't have quarters like that in the conference
finals. I still think this could go 7 games but the Magic are playing well and like others
have mentioned, are a real tough matchup for the Cavs.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Walt, I'll tell you someone else who's sweating bullets right now...George Bodenheimer, bossman of ESPN/ABC Sports. A possible Denver/Orlando NBA Final could be a ratings dud for ABC & ESPN Radio if it comes to fruition, even if they're the best 2 teams remaining.

the nba has the most embarassing and pathetic officiating in the entire sports world. its a travesty the amount of garbage that gets called/no called based on situations, players, etc

Refs were bad last night. Let's face it, if the Cavs win tomorrow they are in
the Finals. The thing I noticed last night watching the 2nd half was the lack
of presence down low. If they do take on L.A. or even the Nuggets for that
matter, I give the Cavs maybe a 20% chance of winning. Even their 7'3 center
camps out 12 ft from the hoop.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Lebron needs to get out of Cleveland. His supporting cast is bad.

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Fuck Edwards and Zobrist

WTF...the magic?!? THE MAGIC?!

i guess here's your ring, sir kobe...

The Magic were a better team than the Cavs, and it wasn't really that close. They earned it, and I think they give the Lakers a good series.

mneh..oh...but i hope you're right, bd.

I was rooting against Lebron and got my wish. But NBA fans are now deprived of what would have been one of the better matchups since Michael and Magic.

I wonder if Rashard's contract will still go down as the worst ever, or one of the worst, if they win the Finals. It cant be worse than Zach Randolphs really. The great thing for Orlando is Jameer Nelson is an All Star PG and isnt even playing and they are doing this well. I agree with BD and Nas that Orlando will continue to present matchup problems in this next series as well. I shouldnt even bother predicting since Ive been so awful so far in predictions but I think LA wins it in six.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

This should be a good series....Nobody on the Lakers can guard Howard. Bynum will be in constant foul trouble, and Gasol is overmatched as well. I'm not sure the Lakers want to risk putting Gasol on Howard often just because they don't want their 2nd best offensive player in foul trouble. The one positive here is that Howard will have to play defense of his own. I'm sure the Lakers will try and use Bynum early on Howard in an attempt to get him a few early fouls of his own.

Odom is going to be guarding Lewis or Turkoglu here, but, again, Gasol doesn't really have anybody to guard. I'd guess he'd be on Lewis more than Turkoglu.

Pietrus and Lee will be on Kobe, but there's not a whole lot you can do there if he's on.

Don't forget the 2-3-2 format. It's unlikely the Magic win 3 straight home games, so they really need one of those 1st two games to get this series back to LA.

Kobe Bryant has waited a year, a long year, for another chance at NBA title. He's not about to let this one slip away. He covets another golden trophy. "I just want it so bad, that's all,'' Bryant said.

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Darryl
It's my wildcat mascot costume

i just hope stan van gundy's head finally explodes. it's been waiting to happen for a while...i want it blown up "big trouble in little china" style.

While I wont disagree that Kobe is one of the most competitive athletes alive, I dont think that necessarily enhances his chance at a ring this year. I think the Lakers will win, I thought they've been the best team all year long, but I think he wanted it just as badly last year as he does now and his team got rolled by 39 in the last game of the year. I just think they matchup great against Orlando and if he plays anywhere near the level he did in Game 1 this whole series than it could be a short one. I just dont see why he cant do that every game, whether it be age, lack of desire, wear and tear from the past two years, etc. He doesnt dominate every game like he is capable of.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Get it to Gasol early, dude taking 11 shots is criminal.

Im not sure I like the Magic tonight. I dont know if Skip and Pietrius can combine for 38 again. Someone on ESPN said Game 3 looked like Villanova over G'Town and I liked that analogy. The Magic played their A game, Kobe had the worst 4th quarter since the last time he played Stockton and Malone, and they lost by four. I hope Im wrong. Dwight needs to dominate tonight. At home, after having a solid game 3. A 25-20 night where he's the best player on the court.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

can someone please reach down stan van gundy's throat and pull out his larynx?

Congrats to the Lakers... but more importantly, congrats to Adam Morrison!

Championships for Morrison: 1, Championships for Bird: 3

The Hunt. Is. On.

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team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

Even though a few of the games went into OT, Fisher hitting those huge 3's and Kobe having some great games, I found this Finals to be terribly boring. Maybe it really was the letdown of a Kobe-Lebron Finals. I'm just kind of glad it's over and we can move on to the draft

I agree that it was the letdown of not having the Kobe-Lebron Finals. I suppose I was salivating over a Superstar vs. Superstar matchup, but it wound up being Superstar vs. "young scrappy team" and that really doesn't pique my interest (no disrespect to Dwight Howard). I don't want to see a grindy team in the Finals. I wanted to see the two best players and biggest stars in the league facing off for the biggest prize in the game. That's not what I got.

Nonetheless, I'm happy for the Lakers because I really like a lot of players on that team.

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

Stan Van Gundy mic'd up during timeouts...was far and away the most entertaining part of the finals


Oh and BTW Kobe cant win a title without Phil

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"