# Game #9: Magic @ Cavs (11/18/2005)



## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

*VS* 

*Washington Wizards* *(5-1) @* *Cleveland Cavaliers* *(6-2)*

_*STARTERS*_


*BENCH*


*TIME:* 4:00 pm PT, 7:00 pm ET
*TV:* *ESPN*, FSOhio
*Radio:* *WTAM 1100*
*Location:* *Quicken Loans Arena*, Cleveland, Ohio

The Cavaliers play well at home and have done a good job holding serve thus far. Now the Cavaliers have a rematch with the Magic. In the last game between the two squads, the Cavaliers went out to a big lead, only to lose it and have the Magic storm back to send the game into OT. In the past few games, Larry Hughes has become more comfortable with the team and the players are getting better at team defense each time out. Steve Francis and Dwight Howard once again will be the focus. The Cavaliers need to cut off Steve-O’s drive and always keep a body on Howard down low. Dwight is 100% certified beast. Drew Gooden has been playing well lately, like a man possessed. But he alone can’t stop Howard from gobbling rebounds. That’s where Marshall comes to play. He’s been great in getting rebounds in a relatively short amount of time. Gooden and Marshall have to stick together and stay with Dwight. LeBron really put the ball on the floor and drove against the Wizards (more than he has in any game this season). If Damon Jones and Marshall can open the floor, James should look to drive against the Magic with the same determination and intensity.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement (Jul 5, 2004)

I have a fear that we may play down to their level Friday night, after being on such a high beating the Wiz tuesday night.

Hopefully i am wrong!


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Yeah you worry about this team starting to beleive their own press clippings. It's a little too easy right now for the Cavs. Hopefully Brown can keep them focused.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

I don't see us losing this one. On National TV, at the Q, with Lebron coming off a monster game where he finally seems to realize he can penetrate and score in the block at will. 

The only concern is D Howard dominating our interior players, he has been playing very well lately. We should attack the rim and get him in foul trouble.


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## KingoftheCourt23 (Jul 20, 2005)

They need to just keep up the great intensity, play strong D, and move the ball well again. They definetly need to make sure that they dont play to the level of their opponents and they should win this game. Hopefully the home court advantage continues and Z can get started early because I dont think the Magic can handle him. I like how Hughes is playing and he will play an important role in this game.


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## edyzbasketball (Nov 16, 2005)

I really wish you guys the best of luck!!!

LeBron and co. really played awesome against the Wizards. Magic should be easier though..


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

This would go in the bad loss category if we lost this. If we want people to take us seriosly have to win these games


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

A crazy thought: if Howards starts to get going, I would serioulsy consider putting Lebron against him. He would be giving up height but he is the strongest guy on our team and has the requisite athletic ability to give Howard a tough time.

Won't happen for a variety of reasons (foul trouble worries, etc) but I would at least think about it if I was Brown


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## JT3000 (Nov 3, 2004)

LeBron, in the post? Do you want Dwight to have a 40/40 night? He'd eat him alive. Not only is he giving up height, but at least 30 pounds as well. LeBron's freakish athleticism is negated by the fact that Dwight is equally freakish and has superior length to go with it. He'd shoot right over him.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

LeBron is 255, so if Howard is 30-40 pounds heavier, that would put Howard at the 285-295 range. I thought Dwight was about 270, but if he's pushing 280/298, then he could easily become a 300 pound player before its all said and done.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Howard is listed at 265 on NBA.com. He doesn't outweigh Lebron by that much. Again it is just a random thought but I don't think it's crazy. Our best defender against Brand has been Lebron in the past and he is far stronger then Z, Gooden, or Henderson.

Is this a game we miss Diop? LOL at the thought but considering his "emergence" I thought I would bring it up


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Many of the NBA's official weight listings are inaccurate. Some are too low, others too high and some weights just desperately need to be updated; or at least no longer taken seriously and discarded. LeBron's "weight" supposedly hasn’t changed from senior year of high school to now according to NBA.com. And we all know that's not the case. James is filling out and looks bigger (a sign he hasn't stopped lifting weights). The same probably holds true for Dwight. If you told me he's heavier than advertised, I wouldn't be shocked at all.


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## Cap (Nov 5, 2003)

Dwight has added muscle since the beginning of last year, he's probably 275 by now. Putting LeBron on him would be a bad idea, because strength is not about weight and never will be. It's about how you use that strength and how and where it's stretched over your frame.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

I'm really not that worried about Dwight, honestly. The Magic players don't really know what they got. Dwight gets his impressive numbers in spite of the fact that the team doesn't really seem to use him fully. Let Dwight get his, and focus on shutting Francis down.

Verejao would be a good guy to have for this game.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

futuristxen said:


> Verejao would be a good guy to have for this game.


AV looks ticked off at times on the bench. You can just look at him and tell how badly he wants to get out there and play.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

*Yahoo! | NBA | Orlando Magic/Cleveland Cavaliers Preview*











> *Orlando Magic/Cleveland Cavaliers Preview*
> 
> LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers take a five-game winning streak into a matchup with the one team that came close to beating them during the run.
> 
> ...


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## AndriuskeviciusFuture (Nov 18, 2005)

Hey guys long time browser first time poster...

I'm really excited about this game, only the 2nd Cavs game on National TV with the first being the beating the Spurs gave us. I'm excited to see Dwight and Francis tonight but unfourtunatley thats about as deep as they get. We match up much stronger than them and barring another 2nd half collapse I see us winning this one big at the Q 118-88. A big 1st quarter for the boys in the Wine and Gold.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

AndriuskeviciusFuture said:


> Hey guys long time browser first time poster...


Great to have you around and nice handle too! 



> I'm really excited about this game, only the 2nd Cavs game on National TV with the first being the beating the Spurs gave us. I'm excited to see Dwight and Francis tonight but unfourtunatley thats about as deep as they get. We match up much stronger than them and barring another 2nd half collapse I see us winning this one big at the Q 118-88. A big 1st quarter for the boys in the Wine and Gold.


This year's squad should fare better in these nationally televised games than last year. It almost seemed as if teams in recent years past were cursed or something.


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## Cap (Nov 5, 2003)

Yeah exactly, AV would be a perfect pest to put on Dwight. When the heck is AV going to be back or is he still mostly unpredictable at this point? Then again, Marshall is balling so he's not missed at the moment. Cavs will have the deepest frontline in the NBA when AV is back at 100%, and that'll be huge in the playoffs.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Gooden and Ilgauskas have scored to open things for Cleveland. Howard is active early for the Magic.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Cleveland is active on the offensive glass early in the 1st. The Magic are going to attack the Cavs on the other end, so it's good to attack them on the glass right back.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Francis is off to a good start. He is slashing and hitting the jumper.

On Cleveland's side of things, Big Z has been able to catch the ball in great position and get the type of shots he likes. It's a tight ball game with both sides getting what they want offensively.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

D. Jones in the game and nails the 3-ball.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Haha do you see how panicked the Magic defense gets everytime Lebron gets the ball in the post. They need to do that some more. They are triple almost quadruple teaming Lebron in the post. Not bad for a post player. And he can easily hit the open man.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Luke, Z, LeBron, Jones and Marshall in the game.

Cleveland still doing well on the offensive glass.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

- D. Jones nails another 3-ball.
- Francis slashes, gets in the lane and draws the foul (he has been successful so far in getting where he wants).

At the end of the 1st, Cleveland leads 30-24. Zydrunas had a great quarter to open things up.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Z is dominating out there. He's on pace for a 60 point night!


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Cleveland starting the 2nd quarter without James. Interesting.


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## Phenom Z28 (Nov 22, 2004)

Z is on pace for a good old fashioned 60/28 game...anyone wunna give me an over/under bet on this?


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Zydrunas has been taken out. Coach is resting Z and Bron at the same time.

Lane violation on the Magic. Hughes to shoot the free throw again. With the second chance, Larry still misses. Cleveland 5/11 from the line. Ack!


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

James back in the game. Gooden in the game now too.

E. Snow coast-to-coast. Not bad for an old man.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Haha Eric Snow just broke Steve Francis in the open court. Eric should go out for AND1 when he's done. He could be like....the entire washington generals...


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

James scores-and 1. Gooden takes the charge on Howard. Drew gets a rebound and Henderson gets another offensive rebound.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Gooden is beasting the glass out there. He's real active.

Battie scores his first points of the game.

Z scores on back-to-back jumpers. 20 points in the game.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Just ride Z tonight. Lebron looks like he's struggling to get his rhythm, but he's got a lot of energy. Haven't seen much from Marshall tonight, but Gooden is playing with a lot of passion out there. It's cool how so many playes on this team can step up.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Cavs hold the paint scoring edge 24-8.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

The Magic's defense has broken down the last few possessions. Drew Gooden rolled to the rim completely untouched and unnoticed.

At the end of the 1st half, Cleveland leads by 14 points as the score is 56-42.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Come out strong to start the 3rd and put this game away. No messing around.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Ive said it before but I have to say it again. The arena looks sweet since Gilbert pumped all that money into upgrading things but I'm getting impatient with the time table on the wine seats. Once all of those blue seats are gone, it will look so much better out there.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Cleveland holds a 30-19 rebound edge.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Drew Gooden is playing great. He's putting it all together out there.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Lebron's having one of those bad shooting nights...but the Cavs are still winning easily. Ha.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Maybe the bench crew will get some burn tonight and let The Q crowd have some fun.

D. Jones nailed a big 3-ball. The Magic were trying to creep back into the game but the lead is now back to 20. Also, what's with guys staying off Damon? He's had a few looks tonight where he hesistated and the defender still didn't close out on him. Strange.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Jackson with a sweet lob to LeBron!


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Sorry been watching on tivo tape delay. Got to say Hughes seems to step up at just the right time. Gooden and Z have been teaching Howard a lesson. Lebron is Lebron.

Luke Jackson looks good as well. Great ball movement.

Only negative is the FT shoooting


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Orlando's got to do something they have 3 decent players at PG: Dooling, Nelson, AND Francis. They need to trade one of them soon


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

I would run the offense through Dwight Howard if I coached that team. I'd give him the keys to the kingdom. There was a stretch tonight when he stopped getting the ball altogether.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Luke still isn't all the way back in terms of his around the basket game. He's not exploding like he wants to towards the rim. He can be more than a spot up shooter. Just needs to have patience. With his ball handling and passing, if he got more confidence he could be a poor man's ginobilli.


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## Like A Breath (Jun 16, 2003)

Howard still struggles mightily with double teams. He's much better at diving into the lane and crashing the glass right now, but they still should have run more plays for him.

Cavs have a ton of firepower...everyone they bring off the bench can be a hero on any given night. Drew Gooden looks like the player people thought he'd be out of Kansas. When AV replaces Henderson they won't have many weaknesses.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

*Box Score: Cleveland 102, Orlando 84*


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Luke looks like he's going to be at a mimimum a solid NBA bench player. He's got great ballhandling, good stroke, and has terrific vision (Lebron quality vision). It's obvious to me why he's taken over the backup role from Sasha.

Doubt Newble will take any from when he comes back. Jackson has shown me way more the Newble did all of last year.


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## Spudd (Jun 20, 2004)

This was the 1st game ive seen in a while, & i must say 4 main things stood out to me;
1. Big Z cant be stopped by smaller teams, i no he was shooting well, but he really just gets position & orlando couldnt do anything to stop him.

2. Donyell marshall didnt play great, but his signing i think is the most underated signing of the entire nba offseason, this guy is amazing, he brings so much off the bench.

3. Luke jackson will be a player in the future, he plays so smart, he looks a bit shaky going to the basket, but the thing i liked is that he can get to the basket, just needs to work on his finishing, on the defensive end he certainly does not seem slow.

4. Drew Gooden, this guy is unreal, we are now 7-2, & you will not hear a word about him, no praise nothing, but he goes out on a nightly basis & contributes, he doesnt get plays run for him, but to me no one on the court hustled as hard as him, he dove to the floor on many occassions & is truly playing alot smarter than ive seen him play before. I really hope he stays in cleveland.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Both Z and Gooden was very impressive. Gooden's motor has been absolutely great this year: hope he keeps it up after he gets his contract


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## The OUTLAW (Jun 13, 2002)

I just love the fact that we can win a game with LeBron having his worst game of the season and Hughes not really contributing much on the offensive end. Z and Gooden with big production helps this team a ton making us look alot more balanced on offense. Love that huge rebounding advantage. Seriously, this would have been a game we'd have lost last year, just because LeBron wasn't shooting well. We coasted to a win today without his normal production.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Spudd said:


> 3. Luke jackson will be a player in the future, he plays so smart, he looks a bit shaky going to the basket, but the thing i liked is that he can get to the basket, just needs to work on his finishing, on the defensive end he certainly does not seem slow.


I have to admit that Luke's drive looks like crap. But somehow, someway he gets into the lane with it. So I won't complain about it in that light. You're right, once Luke can finish a little better, his drive will be sneaky and sometimes catch people by surprise.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

remy23 said:


> I have to admit that Luke's drive looks like crap. But somehow, someway he gets into the lane with it. So I won't complain about it in that light. You're right, once Luke can finish a little better, his drive will be sneaky and sometimes catch people by surprise.


 I agree he somehow gets in the lane and had some good passes when he got in there as well. The one thing he seemed to have trouble was just finishing. Don't know if Future is right that he isn't a 100% back or he is just adjusting to NBA speed and height but we'll see if he can improve this aspect of his game


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## KingoftheCourt23 (Jul 20, 2005)

Yeah we pretty much owned. Home court advantage is alive and well. KILT!


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## LOYALTY (May 23, 2003)

Drew has become Cleveland's 'Horace Grant'. He is playing with a lot of confidence and not trying to do too much. He's playing strong like a power forward and NOT trying to dribble and pass and shoot 3's like a guard. Drew has grown up and learned his role. I hope Cleveland can work out terms to keep Drew. We need him on this team for the next few years.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Pioneer10 said:


> I agree he somehow gets in the lane and had some good passes when he got in there as well. The one thing he seemed to have trouble was just finishing. Don't know if Future is right that he isn't a 100% back or he is just adjusting to NBA speed and height but we'll see if he can improve this aspect of his game


Luke claims he feels great but the Cleveland insiders claimed he wouldn't fully be there until December. So either way, from a physical sense, Luke should be there soon. The consistency of skill and execution is something like you said, that only time will tell.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

One thing you have to love about Luke though is that defense. Coach Brown can put him out there off the bench, and he handles his business on defense. I've watched him closely on defense, and he rarely loses his man, and if he does he hustles over to him. Rare is it that Luke Jackson's man gets off a shot uncontested. Which I believe is a core tenent of what Brown is trying to teach.

I feel bad that Sasha lost out on the battle, because Sasha also has a lot of talent, but Luke has consistently brought it on the defensive end every night. He refuses to trip up. His offense has suffered because of that I think too. I think he's so focused on his defense right now that he hasn't really had time to get comfortable in the offense beyond catch and shoot. His decision making with the clock running down has been embarrassing so far this season. But like I said, I think some of that is the layoff, remember this is a guy who out jumped Josh Smith in the combines, so he should theoretically be able to do a little better than he's doing when he goes to the basket. But his driving skills are very shifty, like Ginobilli and Nash, and Cassell--where they kind of wind their way into the lane.

I think Luke is solid right now for what the Cavs need, and by the end of the year he should actually be pretty good. He'll get a little playoff experience most likely, and then next year is when he should really take off as a 6th man, giving us a little bit of extra pop in the offense.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

> The momentous clip will make all the relevant highlight shows, but it will be incomplete.
> 
> The part where Luke Jackson tosses an alley-oop to LeBron James for a one-handed power slam will be on millions of televisions. The guy lying on the floor 94 feet away won't be, so his justice will come in print.
> 
> ...


http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/basketball/nba/cleveland_cavaliers/13210432.htm


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

*Z steps up as Cavs stay hot*









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> *Z steps up as Cavs stay hot*
> 
> Saturday, November 19, 2005
> 
> ...


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