How They Can Do It

While playing "the right way" has worked for Cleveland this entire year, it's time to stop.

How did another cursed and dreary city (Detroit) win an NBA Title? They punked the other team. They made a deal with the Basketball Devil rather than trying to appeal to the Basketball Gods. This is exactly what the Cavaliers have to do to win three in a row, and they can do it.

The Cavs play a style where they shrink the court on defense and out-muscle and out-execute you at the end. The problem is, Orlando plays so above the fray, that they completely take that style out of the equation. It's maddening and frankly a little creepy. The look on Hedo Turkoglu's face when he hits a potential game-winner in the Eastern Conference Finals is the same look on my face when I hit any random shot in the fifth pick-up game in a row against the same people I always play with. Do they even know where they are? And the Cavs are just crumbling around the frustration that this way of playing causes.

So what's the plan of action? Bring the Magic back to Earth. Hit them. Play dirty. Cheat...whatever.

Think about it. If a team, no matter how good, is letting you shoot open threes doesn't that make it much easier to then hit contested ones? You know they won't touch you. There might be some visible obstruction of your view to the basket but at this point, you have a pretty good idea of what it looks like. You know it's going in. So what bothers you when shooting threes? Being unsure of what the other team is going to do. Instead of thinking, "Oh, Ben Wallace is on me, I can shoot over him," you have to make them think, "Oh, Ben Wallace is on me, is he going to punch me in the face if I shoot this?"

Threes are hard because if any of the mechanics are off, it doesn't go in because it is such a long shot. But if you have infinite confidence with no obstructions, there is no reason your mechanics will be off.

In Game 5, I want Ben Wallace to be ejected. He has to foul Dwight Howard with the intent to injure him (he's too big, he won't get injured...don't worry). I want Delonte West to sag off Turk until he shoots a three, then box him out before he lands. If he gets called for a foul, good. They have to make Orlando afraid to shoot threes. For the final blow, send Tarence Kinsey out as an obvious goon, overplay the Rashard Lewis three, let him go to the basket and knock him to the floor for a flagrant-2. And really get your money's worth. I also want Kinsey and Wallace barking maniacally at anyone on Orlando as they're getting taken out. Then, if we win, have LeBron on 'Shard's face calling him, and everyone in the area, and "Punk-ass Motherfucker" as loud as he can with his murder face on.

I know this sounds horrible, but it is the only way to get Orlando to enter the fray. If the playoffs were just an all-out brawl, Cleveland would beat Orlando...so let's make it that. If Orlando has to actually play, Cleveland can absolutely win three in a row.