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Behind The Scoreboard
By Claude Vinson It seems Cleveland just quit The Orlando Magic left little doubt about their readiness to make a run for the last leg of the playoffs. Actually,
they had enough time for a mini-vacation if they were so inclined. They
gave the Atlanta Hawks no chance at all in their best of seven. The
first three games were all “clock busters.” And the fourth and deciding
game missed that distinction by two points. To
say that the Magic is on a playoff roll would be putting it mildly.
They had won 14 straight games until Sunday. There was not a blemish on
their record against both early series opponents. Their
coach, Stan Van Gundy, made it plain that winning eight straight
playoff games didn’t necessarily mean that you get the key to Fort
Knox. There are plenty of pro coaches (and non-pro coaches), who
practically abhor long breaks in a playoff run. They fear that the
euphoria which the team exhibited will have abated before the next
contest. Whether or not that was the case with the Magic in Sunday’s
game against the Boston Celtics, can be a matter of conjecture or cause
for debate. Or it just might be that the Celtics were completely fired
up. And that brings us to a most painful juncture
in this week’s offering. The Celtics and the Cavaliers were running
neck and neck until Tuesday the 13th took on Friday the 13th
connotations. The Celtics went into Cleveland with a lot of cons and
very few pros. The Celtics’ Kevin Garnett was adamant about giving
LeBron James and his cohorts another chance on their home court. After
the Celtics had completed the dismantling of Cleveland in that game
five, the worst defeat of their modern playoff history, Garnett had
stated that the game in Boston on Thursday would be their “game seven.”
“We don’t need to go back to Cleveland against the best team in the
league.” Golden praise from an opponent. I am
sure that I don’t have to remind you of my faith in the Cavaliers. This
just had to be their moment in time. It has been almost three
generations since Cleveland has been the cream of the crop. Why
didn’t they bring it to fruition? If you watched the deciding game,
then you know that the Cavaliers pulled a “Forest Gump.” Remember when
Gump just stopped running? Inexplicably. With five minutes and seven
seconds left, it seemed as if Cleveland just quit. Inexplicably. They
didn’t appear overly tired. It was more like a concession. Since
this barb from the Cavaliers is still stinging, it just might be a good
idea to concede this one to Kobe and the Lakers.
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