CHINA: BASKETBALL - Orlando Magic defeats Cleveland Cavaliers in NBA pre-season match

The Orlando Magic edged out the Cleveland Cavaliers 90-86 in a pre-season exhibition match played out to a capacity crowd in the Chinese financial capital of Shanghai on Wednesday (October 17) night. Orlando center Dwight Howard's 31 points was the highlight of the game as the Magic took control of the court late in the game. Orlando had been behind 46-42 at halftime but rallied to take a 49-48 lead before an aggressive fourth quarter saw then run away with the points as the Cavaliers left its star player, forward Lebron James, resting on the bench. Orlando's head coach Stan Van Gundy said he was satisfied with the way his players took on a good team like the Cavaliers. "It's that we just kept fighting in the game even though it was a frustrating night for a lot of our guys. And I thought to stay even on the boards with a team like Cleveland, and to defend them as well as we did, I thought was encouraging," he said during a post-match news conference. Howard said he felt his aggression in the second half and his 14 rebounds were key to breaking down the Cleveland defence. "For the first half, the coach was a little upset that I wasn't taking the ball to the basket strong. So the second half, I tried to do a better job of getting myself open. My teammates found me in the right spot, and I just tried to finish as strong as I could," he said. For most part of the matchup, the Cavaliers were leading but the game took a turn in the final quarter as head coach Mike Brown said he put up his subs to fight against the starting five of his opponents. "A lot had to do with my team at the end of the third quarter when we were up. I took my starters out and I played backups against their starters. And you know their first five is better than our second five," he said. While forward Lebron James led Cleveland with 17 points in the game, he said he was not too bothered but his lack of shot attempts during the game. "Well I know as the pre-season goes on, as our minutes increase, knowing this is a pre-season game, I am not looking for shot attempts. I know that's going to come. That's not my concern right now, it's about trying to get better everyday as a unit and improve our team," he said. Next up in China, the Orlando Magic will challenge an All-Stars Chinese national side in Macau on Thursday (October 18) before matching up against the Cavaliers again on Saturday (October 20).

ITN Source | October 19, 2007

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