Basketball / Nick Shiambouros / 29 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Orlando welcome Cleveland to the sunshine state needing only one more win to progress to the 2009 final. Nick Shiambouros believes the home side can get the job done on Saturday night. Meanwhile, our man believes that Denver can force a decider...

The Cleveland Cavaliers avoided elimination on Thursday night, beating the Orlando Magic 112-102 in a tense affair.

Cleveland got off to a dream start and led 35-18 after the first quarter and traded at [1.09]. Mo Williams recaptured his form and hurt Orlando early on with some outstanding play inside the paint. But as we have seen before, the Magic began to chip away at the lead with some solid play inside from Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu. As the players walked off the floor at the half, the Magic had cut the lead to just one point and trailed 56-55.

In the second half, Cleveland began tentatively and lost the lead to a feisty Magic rotation and trailed by six points. Not for the first time in this intense series LeBron James became the only Cavalier handling the ball as he drove to the hoop on every possession. Cleveland managed to regain the lead in the fourth quarter and held on for the victory.

Cleveland travel to Orlando on Saturday trailing the series 3-2. I think the Magic will finally deliver the knockout blow and advance to the finals. The Cavaliers appear to have become a one dimensional team and the Magic are easily able to read this Cleveland offense.

I have been very disappointed with Anderson Varejao who is simply not getting in position in the paint to receive the ball. The great LeBron is showing signs of fatigue as he is playing an average of just over 44 minutes per game. If Cleveland are to force a deciding game seven then the rest of the Cavalier rotation should start participating rather than ball watching.

In the Western Conference finals the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday 103-94 to take a 3-2 lead in this pulsating series. These two teams traded punches all night and were tied at 76 points apiece heading in to the final quarter. The first ten rows at the Staples Center were filled with once a year celebrity visitors who looked on anxiously as the final quarter began. The Lakers turned the screw in the last few minutes with huge shots from Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant to streak away for the win.

The Nuggets host the Lakers in game six on Friday night and I will be backing Denver with the 5.5 handicap to force a deciding game seven.The Nuggets have matched the Los Angeles in every department and there is very little to separate these two teams. The Lakers are trading at [2.02] to win the NBA title which is a ridiculously short price for this team.

The real value at this stage of the proceedings is to back Orlando at [4.7] to win the title. They have what it takes to win it all. Orlando is the improving team in the post-season and they are battle hardened and hungry.

It is a rare treat for fans watching at home to be able to listen in during the time-outs to hear each coach give his instructions while the game is being played. Once again the NBA leads the way with innovative and creative thinking. It would be interesting to see this policy implemented in other team sports but I am not holding my breath.