Cleveland Cavaliers @ Orlando Magic

The tip is set for 8:00 pm EST.

I preview tonight’s game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic here.

See an opponent’s take on tonight’s game here.

Starters

Orlando

Dwight Howard
Brandon Bass
Matt Barnes
Vince Carter
Jameer Nelson

Cleveland

Shaquille O’Neal
J.J. Hickson
LeBron James
Anthony Parker
Mo Williams

Final: Cleveland wins 102-93.

• Stats, analysis and a recap still to come.

End of 3rd Quarter: Cleveland leads 88-68

• The Magic had some opportunities to cut the lead but made some really dumb plays and allowed Cleveland to extend their lead.
• They blew some layups, had costly turnovers and even through the in bounds pass away with 5 second left in the quarter.
• It was Anthony Parker’s turn this quarter. He was 3-of-3 from downtown and had 9 points.
• The Magic shot 7-of-24 in the period (29%).
• Cleveland slowed down a little, shooting 40% in the quarter (8-of-20).
• Jameer Nelson was attacking the hoop. He has 15 points.
• Vince Carter has 22 points.
• LeBron James leads all scorers with 28.

Halftime: Cleveland leads 66-51

• The Magic were out-scored 31-23 in the period.
• The Cavs shot 10-of-20 in the quarter while the Magic shot 10-of-19, but Cleveland was 7-of-10 from the free throw line and 4-of-5 from downtown while Orlando was 3-of-7 and 0-of-5.
• The Magic started the quarter with both Marcin Gortat and Dwight Howard in an attempt to get more defense on the court, but the Magic could not stop Mo Williams.
• Mo Williams is a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 4-of-4 from 3-point land. He has 22 points and 4 assists.
• The Cavs are out-rebounding the Magic 22-11.
• Cleveland has 28 points the pain to Orlando’s 20, 14 second chance points to Orlando’s 5 and 12 fastbreak points to Orlando’s 5.
• Those are all numbers that will make Stan Van Gundy quite unhappy.
• The Magic are lucky Vince Carter is playing. He has 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting.  He has attacked the rim.
• Dwight Howard picked up his third foul early in the quarter but managed to play 9 minutes. He has 8 points and 2 rebounds. Because of his foul trouble, Howard couldn’t be the defensive presence that Orlando needs.
• Howard and Gortat are starting the third quarter together.

End of 1st Quarter: Cavaliers lead 35-28

• Orlando’s defense was awful in the first quarter. They allowed the Cavs to shoot 65% (13-of-20)  from the field and 2-of-3 from downtown. They also attempted 9 free throws, making 2.
• Luckily, Orlando is within 7 because they are shooting 57% from the field (12-of-21).
• Mo Williams had 9 points and 3 assists.
• LeBron James had 13 points in the first quarter.
• Dwight and Shaq were going at each other, but Howard picked up 2 fouls in just 2:18.
• Jameer Nelson had 11 points in the first quarter.
• Vince Carter looked just fine. He scored several different ways. He hit a 3-pointer, he attacked the hoop and even posted up Jamario Moon and scored. He has 10 points.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)