Your Eastern Conference Finals Preview

(1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (3) Orlando Magic

The Schedule:

Game 1: Wednesday at Cle, 8:30pm

Game 2: Friday at Cle, 8:30pm

Game 3: Sunday at Orl, 8:30pm

Game 4: Tuesday at Orl, 8:30pm

Game 5: 5/28 at Cle, 8:30pm

Game 6: 5/30 at Orl, 8:30pm

Game 7:6/1 at Cle, 8:30pm

 

The Line-ups:

Cleveland Cavaliers

G: Mo Williams

G:  Delonte West

F: LeBron James

F:  Anderson Varejao

C: Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Key Reserves:

F: Joe Smith

G: Wally Szczerbiak

G: Daniel Gibson

 

Orlando Magic:

G: Rafer Alston

G: J.J. Redick

F: Rashard Lewis

F: Hedo Turkoglu

C: Dwight Howard

Key Reserves:

G: Courtney Lee

F: Mickael Pietrus

C: Marcin Gortat

G: Anthony Johnson

The Keys to Victory:

• Can the Cavs Contain Dwight Howard? This is a question all teams face when going up against the Magic. Unlike Boston, Cleveland has much more depth in the interior. They can rotate Varejao, Z, and Ben Wallace who are all capable on the defensive end. 
• Can the Magic slow down LeBron? There is no such thing as containing the world's best player. LeBron will be guarded by Rashard Lewis who is two inches taller which could help out in effecting some of LeBron's jump shots.
• What happens to Cleveland when they face their first bit of adversity? Cleveland swept their way through the first two rounds and has had a layoff because of it. Orlando meanwhile won tough games and sent home the defending champions in seven games in the end. Does it pay to be battle tested here? Or is it better to have your rest and bank on having the efficiency of the first two rounds carry over?
  

My prediction: I can't pick against LeBron because his team is on such a roll entering the series and also is on a mission. I think they are clearly the better team, and defend their home floor like no one else in all of basketball. Because of that I will take the Cavaliers in 5 games, and advance to the finals against the Lakers.

Peace.