Orlando Magic’s top moments vs. LeBron James
2. Eastern Conference Finals Game 5
May 28, 2009
Down 3-1 in their Eastern Conference Finals series, the Cleveland Cavaliers were back in Cleveland, needing to hold on and scratch out a win to extend the series. It seemed inevitable LeBron James, the King Of Akron, would put up a kingly performance.
He single-handedly willed the Cavaliers back to Orlando for a Game 6 showdown with the Orlando Magic. He put up a 37-point monster triple-double, as he tallied 14 rebounds and 12 assists. Even with the customary six lead changes in the second half, the Magic never gained more than a point or two above the Cavaliers.
Dwight Howard struggled with fouls throughout the series and it finally caught up with him in this game. He picked up his fifth foul with six minutes to and the Magic down one before fouling out of the game with 2:22 left and the Magic down eight.
That only opened the lane for James to put the finishing touches on this masterpiece performance.
Hedo Turkoglu, as came to be expected, was the only other player to put up 20-plus points as he had 29 while shooting efficiently, 55 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3.
This was about James and his masterful performance of orchestrating an offense. The Cavaliers hit every shot they needed to while the Magic missed the ones they needed to keep things close.