Cavaliers-Magic: Orlando's Rafer Alston Finally Makes Them Pay
"Skip to my Lou" should know the drill.
Teams leave players open for a reason.
For most of his career, Rafer Alston has validated the roaming defenses that dare him to shoot with a stroke as icy as a fridge at a butcher shop.
His career 30-something percent accuracy from behind the arc has made fans wince, shudder, and scream.
How can this guy miss so many wide open looks?
Houstonians dubbed him "4-for-13" because he often finished games with that stat line. Fans struggled to appreciate his low-turnover floor game because he was so inconsistent at everything else.
Rockets supporters often flooded chat rooms, Houston Chronicle message boards, and sports talk shows to slam Alston and demand that team management trade him.
They wondered why coach Rick Adelman continued to start him over Aaron Brooks. Then, in the ultimate "gotcha" twist, GM Daryl Morey told fans, "I'm listening."
Alston's shipment from Houston to Orlando at the trade deadline drew mixed reactions. As the cheesy hair metal song from Cinderella goes, "you don't know what you got til' it's gone."
Only when the 10-year veteran and New York baller had left the Toyota Center for good did those dissenters realize they had asked their squad's general manager to hand the reigns over to a 24-year-old with little experience.
They threw another hissy fit when the trade's net return was Kyle Lowry and a Brooks promotion.
A pair of 6-footers running a veteran team's offense?
"You don't know what you got til' it's gone."
In hindsight, the deal proved magical for both teams.
Orlando General Manager Otis Smith needed a trustworthy and adequate replacement for All-Star Jameer Nelson when a shoulder ailment ended his season.
In the Magic's two wins over the Los Angeles Lakers, Nelson scored 27 and 28 points. He became the clutch shot catalyst for one of the league's best road teams.
His long-range wizardry was as responsible for a perfect West Coast road trip, that included wins in San Antonio and Denver, as Dwight Howard's inside play.
Alston could at least offer them a few similar hat tricks. Even if the act ended with a milk chocolate bunny instead of a real bunny rabbit, the Magic understood both the bane and brilliance of the prize.
The Rockets needed the reward of promise. A stagnant team in desperate need of a first round series win needed to unearth a point guard with room to grow.
Alston could not have carried the Rockets any farther than Brooks did in this postseason. In fact, Brooks' blinding speed, ability to shoot, and make plays off quick screens proved to be the weapon that wounded the Lakers on rapid fire.
It took Kobe Bryant's bunch seven games to solve the devastated-by-injury Rockets' riddle.
Would they have won Games Four and Six so convincingly with the respectable, but shoddy Alston eating up some of Brooks' minutes?
With Lowry as the semi-automatic on reserve, the Rockets' points in the paint average climbed as did the proper execution of drive and kicks to open shooters.
Morey let go of the solid starter who could never make opponents pay the way anyone in Houston wanted.
Alston usually found ways to play like a $5 million point guard, especially after games in which he outplayed superior talents like Deron Williams or Chris Paul.
Those "4-for-13" outings defined his Texas tenure.
Tuesday night, with his latest team on the cusp of a 3-to-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, he collected his money, bet it on a Blackjack hand, and doubled his winnings.
Alston skipped to the bank, passed go, and bailed his team out after a flat defensive first half with a 7-0 spurt to start the third period.
The vivacious, workmanlike Alston nailed six three-pointers en route to 26 points and became the thorn that stabbed the Cavs chances to tie this close affair.
Cleveland Coach Mike Brown entered the pivotal Game Four knowing his team had no answer for Rashard Lewis or Hedo Turkoglu off pick and rolls or Dwight Howard close to the rim.
With a dazzling shooting display that included a heat check that swooshed off the glass late in the third, Alston became the reigning coach of the year's latest headache.
The Advil doesn't work when Alston plays like this.
Those who watched the final moments of regulation and overtime will shower Lewis and Howard with all of the praise.
They made the monster plays and deserve credit for it.
Howard scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and asserted himself into the Orlando offense the way a dominant big man should.
Even Turkoglu finished a clutch drive in the extra minutes that afforded the Magic a small cushion.
None of those heroics would have mattered without Alston's starry night.
For most of it, his defender, LeBron James, seemed to do everything but wave pom-poms in a taunt.
"Shoot it Rafer. S-H-O-O-T. Shoot, shoot, shoot. All you want. Shoot, shoot, shoot."
The Magic's dance team might as well have led the chant.
Alston dogged James' double-dog dares in bagging most of his "no one within 50 feet of me" attempts.
The league MVP topped 40 points again, and his team lost.
Now, Cleveland heads home down three games to one with one logical reaction.
Aw, shoot.
For one night, Alston made them pay.
We'll see Thursday night if the Cavaliers have any money left.
