Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers 112 Orlando Magic 102Analysis: There were several things that hurt the Orlando Magic in this game. The first was that they didn't play well defensively and let Cleveland shoot 50% from the field. Since the defense was poor, they allowed Mo Williams to have his best game of the series and go off for 24 points on 7 of 14 shooting. Mo will have to play like this again the next 2 games for the Cavs to win. The third thing is that they missed 13 free throws. If they had made at least 6 or 7 more of those then this is a completely different game. The last thing is that since their defense was poor they couldn't afford for anyone to have an off night offensively, but Rafer Alston shot just 1 of 10 from the field. So the combination of poor defense, a hot Mo Williams, missed free throws, and Rafer Alston having an off night is what eventually did the Magic in. Yeah, Lebron was great, but the Magic still could have won this game even with him going off for a triple-double. For the Cavs to win Game 6, they are going to have to hope the Magic come out flat, because even with their Game 5 victory they haven't proved they can stop the Magic on offense and I don't see the Cavs playing as well offensively on the road. They even coughed up another big lead in this one, so the Magic are probably still pretty confident, but they need to make sure they come out strong in Game 6.
Key Players of The Game
Lebron James: Great game from Lebron who finished with 37 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists, a steal, and a block. He'll need two more games like this for the Cavs to win. The scary thing is that he's probably very capable of pulling off two more games like this one.
Mo Williams: Mo finally decided to show up and he was probably the biggest X-factor reason the Cavs won this game. Mo scored 24 points of 7 of 14 shooting and canned 6 threes.
Daniel Gibson: The Cavs have been getting nothing off the bench and his 11 points off the bench were huge.
Hedo Turkoglu: Turkoglu finished with 29 points on 10 of 18 shooting to go along with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. The Cavs still haven't proven they can slow him down. Turkoglu is averaging 18.6 points, 7.0 assists, and 6.2 rebounds a game in the series. He might be one of the most underrated players in the NBA.
Dwight Howard: Another solid game from Howard, who finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds. He is averaging 23.0 points and 12.8 rebounds in the series, while shooting 64.5% from the floor.
Rafer Alston: After playing way over his head the previous two games, Alston came crashing back down to earth with a 1 for 10 shooting performance, including 1 of 7 from three. I think he'll be better in Game 6 with the Magic returning home.
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