The Boston Celtics have found out already just how difficult it is to put away the Magic these days – no soft underbelly, no massive flaws and one big man in the middle who apparently wants an NBA Finals ring more than anything.
Now Dwight Howard and company have started their quest to add the other big name in the Eastern Conference to their list of victims, and what a start it was as they became only the third team this season to win at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland – all this despite letting LeBron James rack up 49 points!!
Taking home advantage was always going to be the biggest battle in this closest of semi-final series and you can bet Dwight, Rashard and Hedo will be in no rush to rest on their laurels as that is when the Cavaliers can get oh so dangerous.
James wasn't named NBA MVP for nothing you know, and you can be sure that defeat will have hurt him just as much as the leg cramps that affected him during the last 12 minutes of the game, even though they didn't seem to affect his shot very much.
The Cavs were almost unstoppable at home during the regular season and at 66-16 had every right to think they would get to the finals…especially when their apparent main competition crashed out to Orlando.
But let us all not forget that the Cavs had not played in nearly two weeks, and that showed down the stretch when their defense went missing and the Magic's shooters matched them swoosh for swoosh.
And remember as well that Mo Williams and Delonte West both missed shots in the last 15 seconds that would have made it nine wins out of nine-play-off games so far this season for a Cleveland team who had not been beaten since the end of the season.
Complacency will be costly – and you can place a basketball bet on that!
