Magic beat Cavs in overtime to take 3-1 series lead

Appropriately enough, a living, breathing 7-foot timeline of the franchise's past and present sat a few feet from the court. The Orlando Magic crept within one victory on Tuesday night of making it to the NBA Finals, their first appearance since a certain onlooker named Shaquille O'Neal led the team to the title round in 1995. In a fiercely played game, the Magic defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-114 in overtime at Amway Arena to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.The Magic now have three chances to end the club's 13-year dry spell, much of it coming after Shaq exited as a free agent a year after being swept in the title round by the Houston Rockets.The Magic seized home-court advantage from the top-seeded Cavs in Game 1, and can oust them from the best-of-seven series in Game 5 on Thursday night at Quickens Loan Arena. A loss to Cleveland would have tied the series at 2-2, giving the Cavs two of three remaining games at home. Ousting LeBron James won't be easy. He will not go quietly, probably placing little stock in this historical trend that says this thing's over: Teams that go ahead 3-1 in seven-game series have advanced 95.6 percent of the time.
After Rashard Lewis made just 1 of 2 free throws for a 116-114 lead with 3.2 seconds on the clock, James tried to duplicate his Game 2 heroics, but this 3-pointer at the buzzer missed. Orlando went ahead 109-105 on Mickael Pietrus' 3-pointer and by six with 1:12 left on Dwight Howard's follow of Hedo Turkoglu's missed drive. But James hit a lay-up and, with 39.3 seconds to play, two more free throws to trim the Magic's led to 111-109. Howard then hit two free throws with 21 seconds left and Lewis added two more with 6.4 ticks remaining for 115-11 lead as the Magic held off any LeBron brilliance. With the Magic trailing 98-97 in regulation, Rashard Lewis, struggling all game, drilled a 3-point with 6.4 seconds left for a 100-98 lead. James took the ball with 4.1 seconds remaining, and went down after tangling with Pietrus, giving James two free throws with .5 seconds left. James made them both --- the second one hopping out and then back in – to send Game 4 into OT. The Cavs trailed by eight early in the final period, but stormed back with their season teetering. LeBron drove in for a dunk to cut it to one. The Cavs then fouled Dwight Howard, who made 1 of 2. After Delonte West drove on Howard for a lay-up to tie it at 97, Magic point guard Rafer Alston misfired. LeBron was fouled and hit just 1 of 2, but it gave Cleveland a 98-97 lead with 1:05 remaining. Pietrus then missed from the corner, but a floor-burn scramble between Howard and West resulted in Orlando gaining possession with 6.4 seconds left. James hit three free throws and a bucket after West's basket to make it 93-90 with just under five minutes left. CONTINUE READING..