Cavs look for a silver lining

By BRIAN WINDHORST

Cleveland players trail in the series but say there’s hope to find.

Orlando, Fla. — It may sound counterintuitive, but Cavaliers fans actually should have some optimism in the series with the Orlando Magic.

Indeed, the Cavs — the heavy favorite to begin the Eastern Conference finals, so heavy that in Las Vegas an $800 bet on them to win the series would have yielded just $100 if correct — are behind, 2-1, going into tonight’s Game 4 at Amway Arena. It is true that they have been outplayed in every area except superstar output in the first three games. It’s even accurate to say it took perhaps the greatest shot in team history to avoid being down, 0-3.

Even the Cavs admit things look pretty bad.

“Coming down the court, we’re already at a disadvantage because they create so many matchup problems for us,” Cavs guard Mo Williams said. “It is evident. It is no secret. We know it. Everybody knows it.”

However, there’s another way to look at things.

It is a downright miracle the Cavs are still in the series considering the events of the past six days. But a victory in Game 4 would even things up and return home-court advantage to the Cavs.

LeBron James and Anderson Varejao, though he was virtually nonexistent in Game 3, have combined to shoot 54 percent in the series.

The rest of the Cavs — 30.6 percent.

Truly, it is somewhat of a mystery just how the Cavs have averaged 97 points per game in this series.

Mostly, it is because James is just willing them, averaging 41.7 on his own.

The Magic are shooting 49 percent as a team. Orlando was one of the best shooting teams in the league during the regular season at 45 percent.

Yet the Cavs actually are keeping Orlando slightly under its scoring average for the regular season despite this great shooting by an already great shooting team.

Mickael Pietrus is averaging 13 points on 54 percent shooting off the bench for Orlando.

The entire Cavs bench is averaging 10.5 points per game and shooting 42 percent in the series.

So Pietrus is playing well, right? How about the best in his life.

Heading into the conference finals, Pietrus was averaging 7.6 points on 42 percent shooting in 24 career playoff games.

The Magic are getting a career performance from a reserve role player combined with greatness from its starters, and the Cavs still are surviving to this point.

Williams has missed 37 shots in the first three games.

It is the most shots he’s missed in a three-game span this season.

The two times he missed more than 30 over three games in the regular season, he averaged 33.5 points on 26-of-39 shooting in the fourth game.

All of that says the Cavs are in a slump, and the Magic are hot, but the series isn’t over.

It is not too late for the Cavs, who do own 75 victories this season, including the playoffs, to switch around the momentum.

There’s no doubt Orlando enjoys certain advantages over the Cavs that are not a easy fix by any stretch.

There is a reason why the Magic have beaten the Cavs four of the six times the teams have played this season.

But it is important to note the Cavs have not lost three out of four games this season and are 13-2 coming off losses.

“They are a very good team — give them credit,” James said. “We’re very confident. I know I am as an individual, and I’ll make sure our team is.”