Game Five: Cleveland Cavaliers 112, Orlando Magic 102

LeBron James is the best player in the NBA. Kobe Bryant is good. LeBron is better.

With his team facing elimination, needing a win against a team it has simply could not beat the last three seasons, James took over when it mattered most and willed his team to a victory. It was clear from the opening tip, James was going to rule this game like the king his nickname suggests he is.

After blowing a 22-point first quarter lead, James scored 17 points and had four assists in the fourth quarter to hold off the Magic's rally and force a Game Six on Saturday night with a 112-102 win.

James took over in the fourth quarter to help Cleveland distance itself and win the game. But this game was won by the James gang.

From the get-go, Mo Williams made sure he would be the difference in this game. Williams hit six of his nine 3-pointers and scored 24 points. He was aggressive and finally hit his open shots.

It was Williams who helped the Cavaliers rout the Magic in the first quarter and helped them build a 22-point lead. James was relatively quiet in the first quarter.

The Magic were outworked and outhustled. They looked slow and uninterested -- much like the beginning of the first two games.

But Orlando had another run in them. As poorly as the team played in the first quarter, it pushed itself and closed the gap to a manageable amount by halftime. The Magic can clearly play with the correct energy and effort to win this series. For some reason in Cleveland, Orlando cannot do it for 48 minutes.

But they finally showed up in the second quarter. So it was an even game entering the third quarter.

At that point, it became about execution. For the most part, Orlando executed well. Then the team did not. The Magic fell in love with their 3-pointers and it got them in trouble as they could not hit them this time. They shot eight for 25 from beyond the arc, led by Rafer Alston's dreadful one for seven performance. Rashard Lewis struggled shot one for five from beyond the arc too.

In Game Four, those shots went down. In Game Five, they did not.

Orlando was most successful in this game when the team involved Dwight Howard on the pick and roll or attacked the basket off the dribble. Howard scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds before fouling out with 2:20 to play (that was when you could tell the game was over -- the Magic trailed by eight after giving up the shot and foul to James).

This is what Orlando must do. The team cannot settle for jumpers. The Magic must always be looking to attack. That is something this team has always struggled with.

Cleveland came out with a lot of energy tonight. It was something Orlando could not match. Slowly, the Magic climbed back and brought the energy. Orlando could not execute enough at the end to pull out the win.

All these games have been toss ups. The Magic finally hit a rut where they could not execute enough to win. Certainly without their best player and key cog, it became much tougher. James simply did not want to lose tonight.

It will be tougher for Cleveland to do this in Orlando. Stan Van Gundy should let these guys know, their backs are against the wall now.