Game 54 | Cavs vs Magic | Feb 11th 2010 | 8:00pm EST

[magickingdom]

If a Magic fan can through in a few thoughts.
This was the second time we played you, both games were back to backs for us.
The first we were without Lewis, Carter, and Anderson.
In this game I saw us come back from 15 points down and go up 7.
Nelson is still not 100% (missed layups) and Carter is still deciding which player He wants to be?
I think that the Magic ran out of gas the last 3 minutes of the game as the Cavs turned it up a notch.
Lets see what happens when we are rested?
A final thought that would be in the back of my mind if I were a Cavs fan.
This is exactly where we were last year, with the same record, saying the same things.
And we got knocked out of the second round by a team that nobody thought could keep playing
the way they are playing.
You see, the Magic have been hearing people say that they can't be successful playing like that for 2 years... and they are!
See you a week from Sunday. Maybe Carter will have time to watch His 48 point game and remember how to play?

[kiwibrindle]

this game showed me a few things:

1 LBJ has improved his game over last year. Not only on the scoring end up on giving the ball to his teammates. That makes us better.

2 Shaq can be relied on for a bucket if LBJ is off. A second go to is huge

3 AV is having a career seasion and yes I think he is worth his contract offthe bench. But he better watch it. He played dirty last night a few times. That woun't go in the eastern finals.

4 Boobie is going to make his presents felt in the backcourt when needed

5 The Z Shaq rotation is successing, Howard may (I said May) get tired for the first time in a seven game series.

6 Hickson showed me something last night on playing center. Nice work. What a block WOW against Howard not some stiff

In all ferry's trade position got stronger. Am I really seeing this from a Cleveland team? When is Jose Mesa going to show up?

[HeartAndHustle]

Good game guys. No excuses from this Magic fan. This is turning into a pretty good rivalry. See you next Sunday.

[RHBullsFan]

solid win Cavs fans, congrats. Didn't expect that out of Hickson last night. You guys were straight killing us at the 4. Wish we'd have put in Bass to try and play some defense, but Stan was inisitent on keeping Shard in there.
Seems like we're still trying to figure out our team. We never know what we're going to get with Jameer and Vince in the backcourt. This team is taking much longer to gel than we would like, while you're team plugs holes without missing a beat.
Nice win, see you guys again next week, and then in the playoffs. Stay healthy.

[jaypo]

If a Magic fan can through in a few thoughts.
This was the second time we played you, both games were back to backs for us.
The first we were without Lewis, Carter, and Anderson.
In this game I saw us come back from 15 points down and go up 7.
Nelson is still not 100% (missed layups) and Carter is still deciding which player He wants to be?
I think that the Magic ran out of gas the last 3 minutes of the game as the Cavs turned it up a notch.
Lets see what happens when we are rested?
A final thought that would be in the back of my mind if I were a Cavs fan.
This is exactly where we were last year, with the same record, saying the same things.
And we got knocked out of the second round by a team that nobody thought could keep playing
the way they are playing.
You see, the Magic have been hearing people say that they can't be successful playing like that for 2 years... and they are!
See you a week from Sunday. Maybe Carter will have time to watch His 48 point game and remember how to play?

Okay. We were without our starting PG.
Delonte is still not 100%, even though he played well.
The refs decided that Shaq should be in foul trouble for most of the game.
Cleveland played like crap in the 2nd quarter.
Cleveland still found a way to win.

[jaypo]

To that Magic fan that said in his earlier post about "playing agains 8 players (3 refs)"- you were absolutely right. But somehow, the Cavs found a way to overcome it!

[HeartAndHustle]

To that Magic fan that said in his earlier post about "playing agains 8 players (3 refs)"- you were absolutely right. But somehow, the Cavs found a way to overcome it!

You gotta admit, the refs were horrible for both teams. That 2nd foul Shaq picked up was so weak that the refs felt bad for blowing it so they had to call another cheap foul on D12 the next time down to even it up. You gotta admit though, those last two fouls on Shaq in the 3rd quarter on the perimeter were justified.

It's rediculous that they still cant figure out how to officiate big men. Let them bang and play you sorry ass refs!! Nobody buys tickets to watch you call 100 fouls a game.

[RHBullsFan]

I heard that JJ HIckson played so well because before the game, Delonte told him again, "better have my do-nuts"

[Hilltop]

Good game fellas

[jaypo]

They were horrible on both ends, but moreso towards the Cavs. I can't believe that so many people say Lebron gets all the calls. There are about 50 per game that don't get called in his favor. Anyhow, tell me how Dwight ramming his shoulder into Shaq and spinning away from him is a foul on Shaq. Neither player moved. It didn't affect anything. And that drive to the hole where Shaq fouled, I believe it was Nelson (Shaq's 5th) was pure crap. It was all ball, and they blew the whistle after the friggin ball was rebounded. And the one where Dwight was holding Shaq by the arms, and Shaq pushed him off. Well, why no call for Dwight holding his damn arms! So Shaq was saddled with foul trouble when he should have only had 2. And they still won.

[Hilltop]

I agree with you that bad calls went both ways, but that foul on Nelson was legit. Marv and Reggie replayed it several times and he got Nelson's arm from all angles.

I don't think either team was shafted in terms of calls in this game. The difference was marginal if any.

[TheOUTLAW]

I agree there were iffy calls going both ways, but man everywhere I go there are Orlando fans saying they got stiffed by the refs. Even comments on the Orlando Sentinel site are acting as though this was one sided. Fact is, the Cavs had more fouls called on them and Orlando had more free throws eventhough they were fouling at the end to try catch up.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm just tired of that being the excuse people use for losing to us. The only acceptable excuse is that "we didn't play well enough to win".

[sportsrock37]

I agree with you that bad calls went both ways, but that foul on Nelson was legit. Marv and Reggie replayed it several times and he got Nelson's arm from all angles.

I don't think either team was shafted in terms of calls in this game. The difference was marginal if any.

Agreed. I wasn't going too crazy about the calls(not like I was in the playoffs last year at least which was TERRIBLE). It was slightly favoring the Cavs, but you have to expect that at home.

With that said the problem I had with the calls were the ones with the 2 big man. Dwight and Shaq combined for 10 fouls and at least 5 or 6 of them were off the ball. Let the big men battle and at least "earn" the foul. Shaq's 2 in the 3rd were good foul calls, Dwight's 4th(what a stupid foul), 5th were both good as well, so it looked like they were starting to get it right in the 2nd half. Dwight had to play all 12 minutes in the 4th quarter to get just under 31 in the game and I'm pretty sure Shaq played about 7-8 of his 18 in the 4th. When they don't combine for 36 minutes in the first 3 quarters of the game, you know they aren't letting them play. Dwight only played 18 out of the first 36 mins and Shaq plays 10-12 in the first 36, especially with how many were off the ball.

[sportsrock37]

I agree there were iffy calls going both ways, but man everywhere I go there are Orlando fans saying they got stiffed by the refs. Even comments on the Orlando Sentinel site are acting as though this was one sided. Fact is, the Cavs had more fouls called on them and Orlando had more free throws eventhough they were fouling at the end to try catch up.

I think the main problem was that most of the foul calls were on the Magic's better players especially in the first half. Dwight played 13 mins, Shard played 12 because of foul trouble. Vince had to sit earlier than usual with 2 fouls in the first quarter. Pietrus our best guy at guarding Lebron had 3 fouls in his first 8 minutes of the 1st half and Barnes had 2 quick ones as well. Shaq and AV both had 3 fouls for you guys, but I'm pretty sure the only other person in foul trouble(2 or more) in the first for you guys was Jawad Williams. While obviously that wasn't the reason why you guys jumped out to such a big lead in the first, it certainly didn't help that the Magic's 3 best players had to sit earlier than usual in the first quarter. Other than that and like I said in my previous post the calls against both big man, I really didn't have much of a problem with the reffing. A couple here and there, but it went against both teams. (favored Cavs more, but it wasn't more than a typical home game calls)

You guys deserved to win that game, you out played us, your defense stepped up when it mattered(and Jameer self destructed, but it was helped by your defense) and your role players made big shots, which was the problem against us in the playoffs. It looked like we just ran out of gas towards the end and great teams take advantage of that, which the Cavs did. I can't wait for the 21st! Hopefully that will be a better barometer for the Magic with Delonte healthier and both teams having at least 1 day off before the game. Is there any chance Mo will be back by then?

[ORLd12]

The Magic's horrid backcourt play killed them, not the refs.


Hey quick question for Cavs fans - do you think your team is good enough to win the 'ship now and a trade will just solidify your position on top of the league or do you feel a trade is necessary to get you there? Will trading for a guy like Jamison or Murphy be more of a win-now move or more of a "help us achieve continued future success" or both? If you do make a trade and it doesn't pan out (losing in the Finals or not even making it there again) do you think you'll regret making a deal and not riding the momentum? Just curious on your mindset heading into the trade deadline.

[TheOUTLAW]

The reason that you guys had so many foul calls early is that LeBron was out on the break early in the game and you guys chose to foul him instead of allowing the dunks. That wasn't a ref thing it was a strategy thing.

To be honest, I don't think we shot all that well from outside. Jawad couldn't hit a thing nor could Parker and LeBron shot like crap up until the 4th quarter.

[Hilltop]

I agree there were iffy calls going both ways, but man everywhere I go there are Orlando fans saying they got stiffed by the refs. Even comments on the Orlando Sentinel site are acting as though this was one sided. Fact is, the Cavs had more fouls called on them and Orlando had more free throws eventhough they were fouling at the end to try catch up.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm just tired of that being the excuse people use for losing to us. The only acceptable excuse is that "we didn't play well enough to win".

Well I think it's natural for 'some' fans to go about making excuses. It happens every time. Boston fans do it, and so do Cavaliers fans. I agree though, the calls were a wash. I thought the officiating was incompetent but totally unbiased.