The Cleveland Cavaliers will likely draft Duke freshman Kyrie Irving in Thursday’s NBA Draft. ESPN is reporting that the Cavs are committed to doing so.

I understand the reasoning.

It’s a PG league.

Point guards are needed because a lot of the better teams have quality ones. Chicago has 2010-11 NBA MVP Derrick Rose. Oklahoma City has Russell Westbrook. Memphis has Mike Conley. Boston has Rajon Rondo. New Orleans has Chris Paul.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers was the sixth and final team to meet with LeBron James last week and they made sure it was memorable with this video presentation.

The right elbow of LeBron James is top talk of the playoffs.

The world’s most famous injured right elbow resides in Akron, Ohio. 

LeBron James is hurt.

He didn’t want to dwell on it or talk about it after the Cleveland Cavaliers won their first-round series against the Chicago Bulls by winning Game 5, 96-94, at Quicken Loans Arena. As he put it, if he’s on the court, he’s OK.

Well, after watching him attempt a free throw left handed with the game still in the balance late in the fourth quarter and wince in pain, it’s clear this is not a minor injury.

James is hurting.

Shooting just 5-of-12 from the field and 8-of-14 from the line Tuesday is a clear sign of it.

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LeBron James scored 37 points in leading the Cavaliers past the Lakers on Thursday night.

After scoring 12 consecutive points in the fourth quarter of Cleveland’s 93-87 win against the Los Angeles Lakers, James sat in his locker with his feet in ice and his knee wrapped in nice.

Still trying to figure out what he’s doing with his hair these days, but when you score 37 points, dish out  nine assists and grab five rebounds against the defending NBA champions, you can wear your hair anyway you like.

Here’s what James had to say after the game.

You talk about (closing games) all the time. You really commanded it in that last couple of minutes?
“Uh, that’s what it’s about. I know you guys are like what we waiting on and why we wait until the fourth quarter so much, but we know that’s money time. That’s when most of the games are won 85 percent of the time games are won in the fourth quarter. In our case, probably 95 percent of the time so it was a big game for us. We played well and we’ve just go to keep the momentum going.”

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Instead of NYC, columnist Sam Smith believes LeBron may join Kobe Bryant in L.A.

With the Cleveland Cavaliers playing at the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden tonight on ESPN (8 p.m.), it gives reason to discuss the possibility of LeBron James playing for the Knicks or the New Jersey Nets after this season.

James will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. Just for argument sake, check out Sam Smith’s column on the idea that James may head to Los Angeles to join Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

Now, the question isn’t will or will he not go. It’s more of should he go.

My take?

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Final score: Orlando Magic 103, Cleveland Cavaliers 90

Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic are in the NBA Finals.

Analysis: With Dwight Howard scoring  a career playoff-high 40 points, the Magic ended Cleveland’s historic season by winning Game 6 in splendid fashion Saturday. Once Howard forced Cleveland to change the way it played defense, the Magic got their 3-point shooting going. Cleveland never cut the lead under 10 points in the second half.

The go-getter: Howard carried Orlando to the series-clinching win the Eastern Conference finals. Howard scored 40 points on 14-of-21 shooting, grabbed 14 boards and added four assists. Howard was also 12-of-16 from the line.
The brick-layer: Not only did Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Cleveland) shoot just 1-of-5 from the field, he couldn’t handle Howard. Z wasn’t up to that challenge.
The stunning stats: Once again, Orlando reserve forward Mickael Pietrus outscored the entire Cleveland bench. Pietrus finished with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting. The Cleveland bench had 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
The play: With the Magic leading late in the game, Howard made a spin move on Anderson Varejao and threw down a one-handed power dunk to give Orlando a 101-84 lead with two minutes and 12 seconds left.

What’s next: As Cleveland’s season concludes, the Magic and Lakers will play Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday in Los Angeles (ABC, 9 p.m.).
What to expect: For the Cavaliers, the question is how will this impact whether LeBron James stays or goes after the 2009-10 season when he becomes a free agent. However, the bigger question is what is Cleveland going to do to upgrade its roster to improve their chances to win a title to please James enough to influence him to stay. As for the finals, I’ll break the Los Angeles-Orlando series down.

LeBron James either scored or had an assist on 29 consecutive points for the Cavs in the fourth quarter.

In winning Game 5 to stay alive in this Eastern Conference finals series, 112-102, Thursday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers made three key adjustments.

1. Put LeBron James on Hedo Turkoglu in the fourth quarter. The strategy TNT NBA analyst Kenny Smith has been calling for disrupted the pick-n-roll Orlando loves to use a bit.

2. Posted up James, who finished with a triple double (37 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists), at the free throw line and surrounded him with three shooters -  Wally Szczerbiak, Daniel Gibson and Mo Williams – and the hustling Anderson Varejao. Not having to drive from the top of the key, James didn’t need to dribble much to either score or find Varejao cutting to the basket.

3. Made the cold shooter for Orlando keep shooting by defending everyone else. This time, it was Rafer Alston, who shot 1-of-10 from the field. He was 1-of-7 from 3-point range and Cleveland funneled its defense to leave Alston open.

Can this work in Game 6 for the Cavaliers?

We’ll find out Saturday when the series switches to Orlando with the Magic leading 3-2.

Final score: Orlando Magic 107, Cleveland Cavaliers 106

Two of game's best - LeBron James and Dwight Howard - went head to head in Orlando's Game 1 win Wednsday night.

Analysis: Orlando came back from a 15-point halftime deficit to hand the Cavs their first playoff loss. Rashard Lewis’ 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds left won it for the Magic, who won despite LeBron James scoring a career playoff high 49 points. Orlando hit clutch shots while Cleveland leaned too much on James, who battled fatigued and cramped up after the game.

The go-getter: Got to go with Lewis (Orlando). He scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half including the game winner. Dwight Howard, who broke the shot clock with a two-handed power dunk in the first quarter, was also spectacular in scoring 30 points and grabbing 13 rebounds before fouling out.
The brick-layer: Delonte West (Cleveland) shot 4-of-13 from the field for 11 points. Now he hit a big 3-pointer late to put Cleveland ahead, 103-102, with 40.8 seconds left, but missed a 3-pointer that would have given the Cavs the lead with 4.9 seconds left.
The stunning stats: James and Anderson Varejao shot a combined 26-of-38 from the field. The rest of the team shot 17-of-50.
The play: Called the X factor by James, Lewis rose up over Varejao to hit the game-winning shot.

What’s next: Game 2 Friday at Cleveland, 8:30 p.m.
What to expect: Many have asked how would Cleveland respond to adversity. After losing Wednesday, we will find out just how tough the Cavaliers are. Another thing to look for is to see if Cleveland plays with more offensive efficiency and if Orlando can maintain the inside-outside balance it had in Game 1.

Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics bowed out Sunday to the Orlando Magic by losing Game 7.

The Orlando Magic finally made the defending NBA champions disappear.

The Magic took care of the Boston Celtics, 101-82, to win Game 7 and advance to the Eastern Conference finals to take on NBA MVP LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Took a game longer than I thought they would to beat the Celtics, but the Magic put way the Celtics, who were without injured leader and defensive force, Kevin Garnett.

Still have to give Orlando credit. The Magic made the Celtics play their style Sunday night.

The Magic have some mismatches in their favor against the Cavaliers. Dwight Howard could have a field day and between Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu, the one James doesn’t guard will get an opportunity to do work against Anderson Varejao.

LeBron James, Mo Williams, Anderson Varejao and the Cleveland Cavaliers are up 3-0 against Atlanta.

With Boston clawning back into its Eastern Conference semifinal series by winning Game 4 tonight, it ensures the semifinal series will continue until at least Thursday for Game 6 in Orlando. Game 5 is Tuesday in Boston.

So if the Cleveland Cavaliers close out their series against Atlanta by winning Game 4 on Monday night, they wouldn’t play again until likely Sunday.

If a Game 7 is needed in the Orlando-Boston series, it wouldn’t played until Sunday, May 17. So Cleveland wouldn’t get back at it until Tuesday, May 19, at the earliest.

So the Cavaliers could go another week without playing a game. Remember they were off nine days after sweeping Detroit before playing Atlanta, which needed seven games to beat the Miami Heat.