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The problem Howard will have is if he is guarding Z he can't hang near the rim or Z will hit 4 outta 5 from 20 feet and in. So Howard can't stop James from getting to the rim because the Magic have no one to contain him from the perimeter. Also James hits from mid-range way more then not nowadays.
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That's probably why he was guarding Varejo most of the time, it was the fouls that stopped him from contesting. LBJ is still streaky from midrange.
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I don't care what anyone says, no one is faster then James, maybe they look quicker because they are smaller, but no one gets to the rim with the ease James does. As I mentioned Paul anointed the fastest player he's ever seen and Barkley said he's the quickest to and above the rim ever. Rafer is not intimidated by anything, he simply couldn't get around James until he starting cramping up.
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What, Alston was going by James all game. The reason he gets to the rim is because he's 6 foot 9 inches and 265, or something almost as crazy.
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Finally no, Illgauskas had his average game, he hit the shots he normally hits and struggled otherwise. Whereas Howard, Lewis and Turk all way outperformed their average stats in most of the major categories. James can get whatever he wants whenever he wants as far as 49 points; that doesn;t help Cleveland, that means the team struggled and he had to do it all on his own. Lebron's best games are when he goes for 25+ 9+ rebounds and 9+ assists. The team is 89-3 (82games.com) the past three seasons when that is the case.
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Turk had was ice cold in the first half red hot in the second, same with Cleveland except the other way around. Big Z had what, 9 boards in the first half?
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The Lakers are the better team man for man, but Lebron is so much better a player and leader then Kobe that I don't think the Lakers can beat them. Bryant is the second best player in the league now that KG and Duncan have surpassed the 1,000 games mark, but he got punked by Paul Pierce in the finals because he was stronger and his teammates were more mentally tough then Bryant's. This is not coincidence. KG and Lebrons team mates respect and trust them, Kobe's team mates simply know he is better and defer to him.
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You can say that all you want, but ultimately the Cavs just aren't as good as the Lakers. Length, athleticism, size, skill, everything. Maybe if the gap between the two supporting casts was smaller I'd give Lebron the edge, but it's not. The Lakers annihilated the Cavs during the regular season and it wasn't a fluke. They create matchup problems at 3 of the 5 positions on the court when the starters are in, and at 4 of the 5 when the second unit is in, sometimes 5 if Bynum feels like playing. Lebron offsets this a little bit because he can take over a game at any given time, but the Lakers have the size and length to bother him, meaning he can go off for 35 whenever he feels like, instead of 40,and Kobe has the same ability to take over on offense that Lebron does. Not quite as potent, but it's there if the Lakers need it, which I'm predicting they won't.
More thoughts on Magic-Cavs: You know how Cleveland was just standing around waiting for Lebron to create in the second half? That's not a one time thing, it's exactly what happened during the regular season.