Game 1: Orlando Magic 107, Cleveland Cavaliers 106

Incredible. Undescribable. Indecipherable. Indelible. Unbelievable.

Dwight Howard fouled out. LeBron James was on to the tune of 49 points, six rebounds and eight assists. An equation for a Magic loss in a Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Those demons of "lack of mental toughness" and "unpreparedness" began to crop up as the Cavaliers ran circles around the Magic to take a 14-point halftime lead.

Maybe those demons were exorcised in the first minute of the game. Dwight Howard's early jam that tore down the shot clock reminded the TNT crew of another Orlando big man.

Then in the fourth quarter, after mounting a 16-point comeback on the road and looking completely lost after 24 minutes of play, Rashard Lewis came free on the right wing and nailed a shot over Zydrunas Ilgauskas to give the Magic a one point lead with 14 seconds to play.

James could not get free against Mickael Pietrus and dished out to Maurice Williams who found Delonte West, who hit a 3-point less than 30 seconds earlier to give Cleveland the lead and create the end of the game's back-and-forth drama. West missed his shot and the Magic held on as Williams missed a desperation 3-pointer off a jump ball.

There are no words to describe this win. If winning Game Seven was the biggest win in Magic history, it just got trumped.

Cleveland was 39-2 in the regular season at the Quicken Loans Arena and had a 16-point lead while dominating every facet of the game. The Magic did not show up until the middle of the second quarter.

But give Orlando credit. The team found a way to keep LeBron in check despite having a big game. James shot 20 of 30 from the floor. It appears that less than half of them were from inside the paint.

When Cleveland was playing great it was because James was attacking the basket and getting others involved. That is how the Cavaliers need to play. When James is forced to shoot jumpers, it makes Cleveland's offense stagnant.

Meanwhile on the other end, Dwight Howard got what he wanted offensively. Neither Zydrunas Ilgauskas nor Anderson Varejao could control him. The only people that could were the officials as Howard was in foul trouble for much of the game. He scored 30 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

At the end of the game it was Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis finishing strong. The two had the final 17 points for the Magic including two big shots by Lewis in the final 30 seconds.

When those two players are agressive, it is extremely difficult to defeat the Magic.

It is still unfathomable to describe how gritty this win is. I have noted all season how the Magic just find ways to win, even when they do not have their best game. The Cavaliers will come back strong in Game Two. Their active hands on defense really bugged the Magic and they pass too well and defend too well to not come back with a more concerted effort to keep Orlando from taking two in their building.

But Orlando gutted out this win. And it was a big win. The important thing is to stay hungry.