James, Cavaliers force Game 6
The superstar scored 37 points as part of a triple double as Cleveland stayed alive.
CLEVELAND - LeBron James made a new guarantee: Game 6.
With Cleveland's season on the line, James collected 37 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists last night as the Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic, 112-102, in Game 5 of the NBA's Eastern Conference finals at Quicken Loans Arena.
Mo Williams, who had boldly predicted that the Cavs would come back to win this series, added 24 points.
It's back to Florida for Game 6 tomorrow night at Amway Arena in Orlando. The Magic still lead the best-of-seven series, three games to two.
"This was a big game for us," James said. "You never want to disappoint the home crowd by not coming out and playing as hard as you can. It was win or go home."
The Magic overcame a 22-point deficit but missed their first opportunity to close out the Cavaliers, who are trying to become just the ninth team since 1947 to rally and win a series after being down by three games to one. Orlando will have two more tries to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1995.
For Cleveland, a city banking on James to deliver a championship after a 45-year drought, the MVP was again in a league of his own.
James scored 21 points in the second half - 17 in the fourth quarter - and had a hand in 29 of Cleveland's 34 points in the final 12 minutes.
Hedo Turkoglu scored 29 for Orlando, and Dwight Howard had 24 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 2 minutes, 22 seconds remaining.
Chipping in for the Cavs were Zydrunas Ilgauskas (16 points), Delonte West (13) and reserve Daniel Gibson (11), who made two huge three-pointers in the fourth.
"We'll be back here for Game 7," Gibson told the crowd afterward.
The Magic have twice ended series on the road this postseason, winning Game 6 against the 76ers at the Wachovia Center and Game 7 in Boston to make the conference finals. For a while, it looked as if Orlando might do it again, taking a 79-78 lead into the fourth quarter.
But James sealed the deal in the final quarter, finishing with four rebounds and four assists in the period.
Cavaliers 112, Magic 102
Orlando 18 37 24 23 – 102
Cleveland 35 21 22 34 – 112
FG FT Reb
ORLANDO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Turkoglu 42:41 10-18 7-9 1-6 2 4 29
Lewis 40:44 4-13 6-9 0-8 1 3 15
Howard 37:02 8-10 8-13 3-10 2 6 24
Alston 28:17 1-10 0-0 1-2 4 4 3
Lee 35:03 3-5 2-3 0-1 1 2 9
Pietrus 23:06 4-6 2-3 0-2 0 4 13
Johnson 18:30 2-6 2-2 0-2 2 1 6
Gortat 10:58 0-1 1-2 1-4 0 3 1
Battie 3:39 1-3 0-0 2-3 0 0 2
Totals 240:00 33-72 28-41 8-38 12 27 102
Percentages: FG .458, FT .683. 3-Point Goals: 8-25, .320 (Pietrus 3-5, Turkoglu 2-5, Lee 1-2, Lewis 1-5, Alston 1-7, Johnson 0-1). Team Rebounds: 11. Team Turnovers: 12 (18 Pts). Blocked Shots: 4 (Gortat 2, Howard, Lewis). Turnovers: 11 (Alston 3, Howard 3, Lee 2, Turkoglu 2, Lewis). Steals: 11 (Lewis 4, Lee 3, Turkoglu 2, Alston, Howard). Technical Fouls: Coach Van Gundy, 6:04 second.
FG FT Reb
CLEVELAND Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
James 45:30 11-24 15-19 3-14 12 3 37
Varejao 28:47 3-6 1-2 3-8 2 6 7
Ilgauskas 26:41 6-8 4-5 0-6 1 6 16
MWilliams 41:38 7-14 4-5 0-1 2 3 24
West 41:28 6-13 1-1 0-2 3 2 13
Gibson 21:38 3-5 2-2 0-1 1 2 11
Wallace 16:18 0-2 0-0 2-5 0 1 0
Szczerbiak 13:34 1-3 0-0 0-2 0 2 2
Pavlovic 0:58 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Smith 3:25 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
Kinsey 0:02 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 239:59 38-76 27-34 8-39 21 25 112
Percentages: FG .500, FT .794. 3-Point Goals: 9-18, .500 (M.Williams 6-9, Gibson 3-4, Szczerbiak 0-1, James 0-2, West 0-2). Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 12 (21 Pts). Blocked Shots: 6 (Varejao 2, Gibson, Ilgauskas, James, West). Turnovers: 12 (James 4, West 4, Varejao 2, Gibson, M.Williams). Steals: 4 (M.Williams 2, James, West). Technical Fouls: Szczerbiak, 11:37 second.
Attendance: 20,562 (20,562). Time of game: 2:55. Officials: Dan Crawford, Bill Spooner, Marc Davis.