For me, Dwight Howard and the Magic have to win this series before he’ll have a legitimate opportunity to demonstrate his prowess. Big Z is no challenge for him. He has to play against a competent, athletic front line. Denver and LA pose the proper challenge for him. Cleveland does not.

He scored an easy 30 points last night. It was the same thing in the Boston series. He won’t score loud meaningful points until he has a man in his face who can consistently contest his shot. He hasn’t had to dust off any of his Ewing School post moves. He hasn’t had to show any range on his shot. He gets what he wants.

Contrast that with the insane, creative shots that LeBron made in the lane last night with Howard in his grille. Amazing! Cleveland can’t call Dwight up to a higher level. Only Denver and Los Angeles can do that this season.

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Just for a little perspective, Rashard Lewis came into the NBA in the SAME YEAR as Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitki and Vince Carter. Perhaps its his face or the fact that he played in Seattle, but I believe there is a tendency to see him as something like a 5-year project. He’s far from that. He’s never been on this stage before, but this is his time.

Rashard is not a kid.

Mo Williams said he was up at 5 in the morning — nerves. It showed when his legs were gone and he front-rimmed so many shots last night. The Cavs probably felt a little pressure. Delonte makes that corner J and this is a totally different conversation. It’s on the Coach of the Year to show some bonafides and induce another panic.

The layoff was nine days. Cats probably thought they were on summer vaca.

The one thing, I noticed about the Magic this year is there success hitting weak side jumper. I asked almost every coach in the league about defending that baseline jumper after the interior double and the length of the Magic helps tremendously.

Rashard Lewis is a problem and if the Cavs continue to check Lewis with Anderson, they will lose this series. Straight up.

Going into Cleveland and winning is big…even after the layoff.

I hope this is a long series so can see Howard grow up before out eyes. He needs this experience.

Gotta love the playoffs.

I agree.

Mizzo:

Seven Pounds.

The Cavs should keep their 1st half strategy of allowing Dwight Howard to “get his”, while containing everyone else. It was very effective as Hedo and Lewis only made 1 FG each. The Cavs’ defense was swarming the perimeter and the Magic shooters could not get a good open looks. This is the same strategy the Bulls used on Shaq early in his career and it seemed to work the majority of the time.

The Cavs’ lack of focus in the 3rd Qtr allowed Orlando back in the game and led to their defeat. If they are to be a championship team, they must play 4 Qtrs of basketball. I look for them to come out in game 2 and try to mirror what they did in the first half of game 1. They also might want to put Lebron on Hedo.

Game two should be just as exciting as game one.

Do you think CLE just had too much time off?