NBA Scores Eastern Conference Finals: Orlando Magic Drop Cleveland Cavaliers in OT, Take 3-1 Series Lead

Dwight Howard scored 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Rafer Alston added 26 points with 18 of those coming from six three-pointers and Hedo Turkoglu finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists as the Orlando Magic overcame a 44-point effort from LeBron James to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-114 in overtime on Tuesday to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals series.

Dwight Howard came out firing as he scored 11 points in the opening six minutes as Orlando jumped to a 19-12 lead but the second six minutes was a different story for the Magic as they managed just a pair of free-throws and the Cavaliers used a 13-2 run to take a 25-21 advantage into the second.

Orlando quickly found their range once more in the second and after a run that included four three-pointers they were back in front 43-35 and looked to have the Cavaliers in trouble. That look disappeared as Cleveland ripped off 12 straight points to take a 47-43 advantage and when Daniel Gibson buried a triple at the end of the half the Cavs were up 58-50.

Rafer Alston opened the third quarter scoring the first 10 points for the Magic as they climbed to within 63-60 but the Cavaliers wouldn’t let their lead go and managed to push their advantage to six following a LeBron three-pointer. Even though the Cavs wouldn’t let their lead go they couldn’t put the Magic away either and when Alston sank his 15^th point of the frame Orlando was within 79-78.

Cleveland came out flat in the fourth quarter and the magic made them pay as Alston stayed hot and after Courtney Lee sank a triple with 7:48 left in the game the Magic were up 91-83. Cleveland continued to battle though and managed to chip away at their deficit and after an 8-1 run late in the frame Cleveland reclaimed the lead 98-97. Hedo Turkoglu looked to put the Magic in front with a triple but missed and after LeBron grabbed the board he came down the court and missed his own jumper, giving the Magic one more shot at the win. It looked questionable for the Magic when Mickael Pietrus missed a three-pointer with seven seconds left but an offensive rebound set up a three-pointer from Rashard Lewis and with four seconds on the clock Orlando was up 100-98. Cleveland went to LeBron and with .5 seconds on the clock he drew a foul and sank a pair from the line to force the extra frame.

LeBron had the Cavs up 105-104 after he sank a long three-pointer but Orlando put together seven straight points to move in front 111-105 with just 1:12 on the clock. Once again LeBron took the ball for the Cavs and had them within 111-109 with 37 seconds but Dwight Howard sank two free-throws to push the lead to four. Zydrunas Ilgauskas pulled the Cavs to within two once more after he sank a pair from the stripe with 7 seconds but Rashard Lewis answered with two free-throws of his own with 6 seconds. LeBron then buried a triple with 4 seconds to get Cleveland within one but Lewis sank one of two from the line with 3 seconds left and LeBron missed a long 38-footer at the buzzer to give Orlando the win.

Orlando shot a staggering 17-38 from beyond the three-point line with six players sinking at least one from that distance. Cleveland hit just 6-22 from the same distance and LeBron was responsible for four of those buckets.

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