CLEVELAND – LeBron James got his wish, and the Cleveland fans got a show during the first half of the Cavaliers` 96-95 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night.
James called for Cavaliers coach Mike Brown to give reserve swingman Sasha Pavlovic more minutes off the bench after Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals and again after practice Thursday, and the coach responded by sending Pavlovic into Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals with 3:25 left in the first quarter.
“Coach and LeBron told me to be ready, and I was,” Pavlovic said. “I know I have to remain focused before every game, because you never know when the coach is going to call your name.”
James believed that Pavlovic`s 6-foot-7, 235-pound frame and his athleticism would be better suited to guard Orlando`s perimeter shooters and make it harder for the Magic guards to see under the basket for easy entry passes.
“Orlando has a lot of tall guys who stay out on the perimeter,” Pavlovic said. “(6-10) Hedo Turkoglu and (6-10) Rashard Lewis can both hit the threes, so we want to have someone out there that we know can get a hand in their face and make it a lot harder for them to get off a good shot.”
While Pavlovic provided the solid defensive spark James was hoping for – including a steal on an inbounds pass right before the halftime buzzer – the versatile Serbian also provided an offensive boost.
James found him with a crosscourt pass at the end of the first quarter, and Pavlovic buried a 24-foot 3-pointer to give the Cavs a 30-16 lead. He followed it early in the second quarter with a driving layup around four Magic defenders and another drive he finished with a finger roll that increased Cleveland`s lead to 20 points.
“That was the play that was called,” Pavlovic said of the second-quarter drives. “I just go in there and try to follow the play 100 percent.”
Pavlovic led all bench players with nearly 22 minutes, the most he`s played in a playoff game this year. He played only 38 total postseason minutes going into Friday night`s game, including two games where he didn`t take off his warm-ups. One of those was Cleveland`s Game 1 loss to the Magic on Wednesday, which may have been why James felt the need to go to bat for his teammate.
“He`s the greatest player in the world,” Pavlovic said. “So it felt amazing when he said those things.”
Pavlovic added another layup in the fourth quarter off a James pass and finished the game with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting, grabbed a rebound and had two assists. He also had a steal and didn`t turn the ball over. The offensive production was needed as the Cavaliers only received five bench points – from Joe Smith, who scored five more in Game 2 – in the Game 1 loss.
Before Friday night`s game, Pavlovic had made 6 of 11 baskets (55 percent), pulled down 10 rebounds, had an assist and two turnovers. So it had to be nice for James, Brown and the Cavaliers fans to watch Pavlovic provide a spark Friday night to help Cleveland even the series at one game apiece.
But probably not as nice as it was for Pavlovic to watch James hit his buzzer-beating 3-pointer to pull out the victory. Pavlovic also witnessed James` Game 5 victory against the Detroit Pistons in the 2007 Eastern Conference finals when James scored the team`s final 25 points, and was asked which of the two games was James` best postseason performance.
“His best playoff moment will be in the game where he wins us an NBA championship,” Pavlovic said.
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

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