Now that Orlando is leading Cleveland 3-1, there seems to be a lot of stories coming out about how Dwight Howard is finally getting the recognition he deserves – and in some cases arguing that he might just emerge as a bigger superstar than Lebron thanks to this success. One of the more ridiculous ones is from the Orlando Sentinel (which is obviously a little biased, but still) that goes so far as to say:
Isn’t it entirely possible that LeBron could turn out to be Karl Malone, one of the greatest players of all-time who happened to be unlucky enough to play in the era of Michael Jordan?
I suppose it’s possible, but the argument just doesn’t hold up to even the lightest scrutiny. What’s happened in this series is not Dwight being better than Lebron. It has been Dwight’s supporting cast being better than Lebron’s. By a country mile.
Just look at the game last night. Yes, Howard’s heroics in overtime make for a great story line, but here’s another important stat – between the first six minutes of the game, and the start of overtime, Howard scored a total of six points. Six. Yes, the double teams he commanded helped free up Orlando’s shooters, but it’s pretty hard to argue that the attention Lebron attracts doesn’t free up his Cavalier teammates as well. And if Lebron had scored just six points during that same time frame, Cleveland probably would have lost by 20 or 30 points.
He just doesn’t have the option to not dominate offensively for 42 minutes, or even games at a time – Howard does, as he’s done time and again. Notably, he took a whopping 8 shots in each of games 2 and 3. In the wins against Boston, he took 12, 8, 16, and 9… in order. Could you see Cleveland winning a series if Lebron took 9 shots and scored 12 points in a game 7? C’mon. To have a chance in games against Orlando right now, Cleveland needs Lebron to score around 40 points, get 7 or 8 assists AND boards, and guard Orlando’s most dangerous weapon – whether they play the 1, 2, 3 or 4. Orlando needs Dwight to be a powerful presence /threat inside, score points when available, and guard someone who’s either basically immobile (Big Z), offensively weak (Varajo), or offensively non-existent (Wallace). Slightly different.
That’s the real story here. Delonte West and Mo Williams, the starting backcourt, went a combined 12 for 30 last night, and 0 for 6 from 3-point land. The Magic shot a whopping 45% from 3-point land, including 6 of 12 from Rafer. The first time the game was REALLY on the line it wasn’t Howard carrying the team – it was Rashard Lewis hitting that amazing 3. And if he wasn’t doing it, Turkoglu might have. Or Peitrus. Or Alston. Or Lee. This theme has carried on all series – Orlando has a lot of people that can score right now, and Cleveland doesn’t – with Mo William’s shooting percentages of 31.6%, 33.3%, 31.3%, and 33.3% in the first 4 games (and 6 of 27 for 3s overall) as the most glaring example. And as mentioned in the Yahoo! player notes, this isn’t great defense – Orlando is daring him to shoot. They’re just not going in.
We’re down to four teams in this playoffs. Three of them – Orlando, L.A., and Denver – have a superstar surrounded by an amazing supporting cast. Cleveland has Lebron supported by very little, relatively speaking. Some people seem to have forgotten that. The fact that Cleveland is even in the discussion for the championship is a testament to the fact he plays on a different level than everyone else in the league – and if he ever gets a real supporting cast (say, joined in the starting line-up by Bynum, Gasol, Ariza, and Fisher, with Odom et all coming off the bench) a dynasty will be upon us.
So while much of the league should be afraid of the Magic for the forseeable future, what they should really be afraid of is Lebron getting proof-positive from this series that his teammates in Cleveland just don’t cut it – and going to find some that do in about a year.
