A decade before he won the 2020 NBA championship alongside LeBron James, Dwight Howard was competing against the King for a berth in the Finals. During his recent appearance on Paul George’s podcast, Howard recalled the mindset his Magic had going into the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals.
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James had led his Cavaliers to the 1st seed with 66 wins on the season while Orlando had fallen to the third seed. Despite winning seven less games than their opponents, Howard & Co. believed that they were the favorites to come out of the East due to their superior roster construction.
Commercials anticipating a blockbuster NBA Finals series between the Kobe Bryant-led Lakers and the LeBron-led Cavs added extra motivation for Howard and his Orlando side. It was almost as if everyone had written them off even before the Conference Finals took place.
“Y’all just going to put us to the side like we just didn’t beat the Cavs in the regular season like that? And so we took that as very offensive. So, every game we was like, we’re trying to end the Cavs, like embarrass them,” the three-time Defensive Player of the Year recalled.
Howard’s Magic had won the regular season series against LeBron’s side and he believed that it was disrespectful for the NBA media to not give them their fair due as title contenders. His team channeled that energy into their ECF matchup, knowing well that James would make them work for the victory.
After a one-point win in Game 1, Orlando stole home court advantage from the Cavs. In the final seconds of Game 2, it looked like they would escape from Cleveland with a comfortable 2-0 advantage, until LeBron buried a buzzer beating three to snatch the win out of their hands.
“But you know what, actually, surprisingly, when we got back to the locker room, we were like ‘We finna beat their a** next game, don’t even worry about it.’ We weren’t tripping because we knew that it took a lucky shot from LeBron to beat us. A miracle shot. So, nah we weren’t tripping,” Howard added.
The Magic backed up their words by winning the next two games and eventually, the series. However, LeBron himself would disagree with Dwight about whether his buzzer beating heave was a ‘lucky shot’.
LeBron James broke down his iconic 2009 ECF moment
The King might be shooting over 40% from deep over the past two seasons, but 16 years ago, his offensive skillset was far more oriented to the paint. As such, it shouldn’t be surprising to learn that his buzzer beating three-pointer was an improvised play.
On this day in 2009, LeBron James hit his first playoff buzzer-beater against the Magic in the Eastern Conference finals 👏 pic.twitter.com/EkZoeWdT1R
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 22, 2022
During an episode of ‘Mind The Game’, JJ Redick got James to break down the shot from Game 2 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals.
“Play was for [me] to fake up and go back-door for the lob. And Turk played it perfectly. So, I faked up and I tried to go back for the lob and I said, ‘It’s not over.’ So, I just came to the ball,” LeBron revealed.
Given his aerial wizardry, it makes much more sense that 24-year-old James was drawn up a lob play. It wouldn’t have won his Cavs the game, but it would have tied the score. Thankfully for Cleveland, the King was so adept at reading defenses that he was able to counter Hedo Turkoglu’s defense by creating a three-point opportunity for himself.
