Lil Red Machine

The Cavs must be going crazy.  By this point, they must hate eachother, for they are only getting to play against one another.  Come Wednesday night, they will finally get to face someone outside of the practice confines.  It’s been a LONG layoff.  The rest is good for aging vets such as Z and big Ben Wallace, but is there such a thing as TOO much rest?

Coming to the Q is an Orlando Magic team that presents a variety of matchup problems for the Cavaliers.  Dwight Howard is an absolute beast.  Ben Wallace isn’t fast enough to cover him, and Anderson Varejao isn’t big enough.  It will really have to be a team effort to contain him.  Do they double on him, which would leave the outside shooters wide open for those 3-pointers that they love to take, or do they go at him man-to man, let him do his thing, and focus on the perimeter?

Orlando has really put together a nice core.  It’s not just the Dwight Howard show.  Hedo Turkoglu can put together a flurry of points, and Rashard Lewis likes to hang out on the perimeter.  Who will guard him?  He’s gonna suck one of the Cavs’ big men away from the basket.  That could lead to offensive rebounding opportunities for Orlando.

Here’s how I see this shaking out: Dwight Howard won’t be stopped.  He will post his numbers.  I think Cleveland can limit the other guys.  Our defense is fast, and motivated.  Orlando lives and dies by that outside shot.  The rims always seem to get a bit tighter for those sort of teams.

Cavs in 6.  Their goals are much bigger than the Eastern Conference finals, whereas I feel Orlando is gonna be not only fatigued from a tough Boston series, but in general, it will just be happy to be here.  I like the Cavaliers backcourt better than what the Magic present, and homecourt advantage is huge.  The guys really feed off that crowd.  This is our year.  Only 8 more wins to go.