If there`s anything Cleveland should take from Friday night`s 96-95 win over the Orlando Magic, it`s that the Cavaliers are at their best when they show aggression on both ends of the floor.
LeBron James provided his normal dozen or so highlight-reel drives, Sasha Pavlovic made Orlando`s interior defense look silly several times and even Mo Williams decided to stop missing his 3-point attempts and start driving into the paint so he could miss short floaters – although he slightly atoned for himself with a pair of big fourth-quarter shots.
Those plays and others like it kept the Cavaliers afloat while the Magic whittled down Cleveland`s 23-point first-half lead. They also, just as in Game 1, kept Orlando`s All-Star center Dwight Howard on a loop from the floor to the bench as he racked up foul after foul trying to defend under the basket.
The aggression on the defensive end was also particularly effective against Howard. Instead of playing one-on-one against Howard, as they did when he scored 30 points in Game 1, the Cavs sent two and sometimes three defenders against the big man early in the game. The result was several of Howard`s shots getting blocked, multiple strips of the ball from his hands or a foul that sent him to the free throw line, where he was 4-of-8 for the game.
“We made the decision to double (Howard) right before tip-off,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said. “So most of the night we stayed with the double-team, and sometimes we called it off just to keep them guessing. We were going to live with him trying to find guys on the perimeter and us trying to close out and contest late to their shooters.”
When the Cavs didn`t go for the jugular, it hurt them badly.
The greatest example came on the defensive end, where Cleveland defenders chose time after time to go under high screens and continuously paid for the decision. Orlando would use a screen on the perimeter to free the shooter, and the Cavaliers weren`t fighting over the top of the screen or making a quick switch between defenders.
The result was the Orlando ballhandler getting an extra second to either shoot the 3-pointer or take off for the basket, and the two Cleveland defenders were left watching from behind.
“We had a double-digit lead when they started going to the pick-and-roll game with Courtney Lee and Rashard (Lewis),” Brown said. “They hit some shots, and the next thing you know they`re very confident.”
But there were several instances where Cleveland defended the perimeter well, getting out quickly in front of a Magic player and putting a hand in his face. It helped keep Orlando`s shooting percentage down compared to Game 1, but the Magic did hit enough second-half shots to finish with a respectable 48-percent shooting night – 44 percent from 3-point range.
Besides aggressive decision-making on offense and physical play on defense, the Cavaliers also benefited from hustle everywhere in between. Cleveland players were diving all over the court and into the stands after loose balls.
Williams went flying over a group of Cavs fans in the front row and landed on the TNT broadcast table after trying to chase down a ball he poked away from Magic guard Anthony Johnson.
Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas threw his 7-foot-3 frame on the ground to save a Cleveland possession with less than two minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
“Every time I think back to the game, he was diving on the ground for a loose ball,” Brown said. “It took him a long time to get down there on the dive, but he was on the ground getting after them. He came up with two or three of them, which were huge possessions for us.”
But the biggest example of aggression paying off for the Cavaliers came with one second left on the clock. Trailing 95-93, James decided to launch a
3-pointer instead of trying to get a higher percentage shot closer to the basket. The result was a Cavaliers victory and a trip to Orlando with the series tied at one win apiece.
“We just couldn`t afford to go down 0-2 in this series,” James said. “That`s a great shot, but we know we still have a lot of things to clean up.”
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

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