Cavaliers-Magic: Cleveland One Miracle Shot from Being Failures

It’s as simple as this:

If LeBron doesn’t hit that ridiculous buzzer-beating three to win Game Two, the Cavaliers are sitting at home right now just like the rest of us—being tortured by those LeBron and Kobe puppet commercials during commercial breaks of these NBA Playoffs.

How does a team that went 66-16 in the regular season, including a league-best 39-2 at home, fall behind 3-1 to the Orlando Magic (59-23 regular season) in a best-of-seven series?

How does a team that steamrolled its way into the Eastern Conference Finals, going a combined 8-0 in the first two series, proceed to drop three of its next four games when it matters the most?

That’s a good question, and one that I’m sure is perplexing even LeBron James at this very moment. Well LeBron, let me break down a few things that are going on.

One guy in particular I’d like to focus on: Mo “Mr. Guarantee” Williams.

When the postseason began, I wrote an article pertaining to Mo’s importance to Cleveland’s success in these playoffs. I referred to him as “the most underrated player in the NBA Playoffs.” Clearly, I was right about one of those two statements.

Williams has been in the ballpark when it comes to comparing regular season vs. postseason numbers in terms of points, assists, and assist/turnover ratio, however his shot has been M.I.A. to this point.

In the regular season, Mo shot .467/.436/.912 (field goal, three-point, and free throw percentages). However, in the postseason those percentages have decreased in every single category and now look like this: .400/.333/.704.

After William’s guarantee, he proceeded to shoot 5-for-15 from the field in Tuesday night’s loss in Orlando. Come on Mo, you’re supposed to be an All-Star. [Read more...]