Magic Continue to Show Resiliency

By Josh Cohen
May 28, 2009

CLEVELAND -- They first erase a 16-point deficit; impressive! They next expunge a 23-point hole; stirring! They then overcome a 22-point gap; wow!

No, the Orlando Magic didn’t win Game 5 and will have to wait until Game 6 on Saturday to attempt to earn a ticket to the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history.

But, they once again managed to do something that is extremely rare, especially on the road. The Magic rallied back from a mammoth deficit on Thursday night against the Cavaliers in Cleveland for the third time during the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Cavs lost just twice at home during the regular season -- with one of those defeats coming on the last day when they rested all their starters. Some analysts, moreover, didn’t expect a single team to beat Cleveland on its home court in the postseason.

Orlando handed Cleveland its first loss at Quicken Loans Arena in the 2009 playoffs in Game 1 and has proven three times now that no lead is big enough against the Southeast Division champs. After trailing by as many as 22 in the first half, the Magic stormed back and even led by eight in the third quarter.

“It’s really good that we’ll continue to fight and dig out of holes, but I think we have proven to the nation that we have mental toughness,” Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy said. “We don’t need to keep trying to prove that by being down 20-plus points at the start of games.”

Hedo Turkoglu, who finished with 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the floor, guided the comeback with his exceptional playmaking skills and attack to the basket. Dwight Howard, meanwhile, muscled his defenders around and concluded with 24 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

Orlando, however, didn’t have enough firepower nor defensive intensity to stop LeBron James down the stretch. James, who recorded a triple-double with 37 points, 14 rebounds and 12 dimes, was responsible for nearly all of Cleveland's points in the fourth quarter by either scoring or assisting.

“The game is basically all LeBron all the time,” Van Gundy said. “I do think there are some things we can do that we will look at going into Game 6.”

Unlike Game 4 when the Magic buried a playoff franchise-best 17 3-pointers, Orlando couldn’t really find the range from downtown in Game 5. It went 8-for-25 with Rashard Lewis, the team’s most reliable 3-point threat, hitting just one of those triples.

Cleveland, on the other hand, drilled several momentum-alerting 3-pointers in the second half. Mo Williams and Daniel Gibson combined to sink all nine of the Cavaliers’ buckets from beyond the arc.

The Magic know Game 6 at Amway Arena will be a different animal. They fully expect to come out with much more intensity and not fall behind like they have in Cleveland.

“We lost tonight. It is over with,” Howard said. “We got to come back ready for Game 6 from the start and protect our own floor. We bounce back well. We know what it is going to take.”