The Redemption of the King. Vince McKee
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two followed almost the exact same script as game one. The Cavaliers once again jumped out to a big lead of 30–16 after the first quarter. Sadly, just like in game one, the Magic came roaring back throughout the game until they held a 95–93 lead with only one second to go. Hedo Türkoğlu hit a clutch two-point shot to give the Magic the lead and take the wind out of the Cleveland crowd. Coach Brown drew up one last play for the Cavaliers to try and either tie the game or go for the win in the regulation. The next second in time will live forever in the great memories and moments of Cleveland sports history, as Williams inbounded the ball into the waiting hands of LeBron, who stood 25 feet away from the basketball goal. LeBron caught the ball, turned, and put up a shot that would go down easy, sending the fans of Cleveland into a frenzy of excitement! It was, at that time, the most defining moment in LeBron’s career. It also summed up why he was voted league MVP that season.
The Cavaliers dropped game three in Orlando by a score of 99–89. The refereeing was horrible all night, and the Cavaliers could not stay out of foul trouble because of it. The poor officiating, combined with the Magic’s hot shooting, placed Cleveland in a deep hole. The Magic suddenly had a stranglehold on the series, and the team continued to get clutch shots and not allow anyone other than LeBron to score. Williams was having a very disappointing series and wasn’t providing the needed help for the Cavaliers to compete. If Williams didn’t improve in a hurry and the Cleveland bench didn’t wake up out of their shooting slump, the Cavaliers would be in serious trouble! Williams, quick to run his mouth as the team headed into game four, boasted an expected victory for Cleveland.
Game four in Orlando was another classic, down-to-the-wire game. Dwight Howard continued to dominate down low, causing the Cavaliers to force a double team on him and allowing Orlando open access to three-pointers. It was a double-edged sword that resulted in Cleveland getting sliced every time. Rafer Alston was able to cash in on the openings caused by the Howard double team and scored 26 points to go along with Howard’s 27. Alston should not have been able to score 26 points on the North Olmsted High School JV team, let alone the Cavaliers in the playoffs!
The Cavaliers hung tough all night and, with less than a minute to go, the outcome was still in doubt. The Cavaliers led 98–97 with only 6 seconds left in the game. LeBron had just hit two clutch foul shots to give Cleveland the lead, and now the team just needed one defensive stop and the series would be tied at two. Coming out of a time-out and only down one point, it was expected that the Magic would be sure to get the ball down low to Howard for the final drive for the win. Instead, it was Türkoğlu driving the lane before kicking out to a well-covered Rashard Lewis, who hit a three-pointer with a hand in his face to give Orlando a 100–98 lead with only 4.1 seconds remaining. It was that kind of series for Orlando—everything they did seemed to go just right. It was back-breaking moment for the Cavaliers, as the team had played so well all night.
With 4.1 seconds left, the game was far from over and the Cavaliers had one last chance left to try to tie or win. Cleveland got the ball into the hands of LeBron once again, who drove the lane and was fouled putting up the shot and missed. However, because of the foul, he would have a chance to make two foul shots with only .5 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime. LeBron proved he was cold-blooded, calmly nailing both foul shots to send the game into overtime. It was a big-pressure moment handled brilliantly by the game’s best player. But once again, the Cavaliers would waste an incredible effort from LeBron.
Orlando jumped out to a quick 6-point lead in overtime. Two dunks by Howard down low, combined with a three-pointer by Mickaël Piétrus had the Cavaliers in a deep hole yet again. Until that moment, most NBA fans hadn’t even heard of Piétrus because he had never done anything of note prior to that point in his futile NBA career—and he never did anything of note after that moment either. LeBron kept the Cavaliers in the game by making another clutch three-pointer in addition to providing timely foul shooting. Orlando continued to use their dominant big man, Dwight Howard, down low and built a 4-point lead with only 6 seconds to go. LeBron nailed a three-pointer to cut the lead down to only one point with 3 seconds left on the clock. LeBron would not allow the Magic to put it away without giving them one hell of a fight. But after a couple of foul shots by Lewis, the Magic came ahead with the win at 116–114 and took a commanding 3–1 lead in the series.
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