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Tonight's game between the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers might prove to be the most anticipated matchup between an 11-7 team and a 7-10 team in recent history. I invite you all to discuss LeBron James' return to Cleveland in this thread, because as much as I prefer to keep the frontpage focused on the Orlando Magic--this site's focus is indeed, after all, Orlando--there's also an undeniable national interest in this game. I sincerely hope the fans in Cleveland boo him without incident, and the biggest takeaway from the game is the final score, and not some moron charging the court, or some other such similar nonsense.

Neither team is in great shape right now, with Miami struggling to meet its potential on either end of the floor and the Cavaliers simply bereft of talent outside of, I dunno, Ramon Sessions and J.J. Hickson.

While you're waiting for tipoff, I recommend reading the separate pleas for sanity Andrew Schnitkey and Kelly Dwyer made at Waiting For Next Year and Ball Don't Lie, respectively. Also, here's SB Nation's Andrew Sharp on why James ought to win Sportsman of the Year.

Enjoy the game. Magic coverage resumes tomorrow.

The Orlando Magic are among the four NBA teams who have tonight off. If you'd like to talk about the 13 games on the schedule tonight, though, here's the place for it. ESPN's games--featuring the Chicago Bulls at the Oklahoma City Thunder at 8 PM, followed by the Portland Trail Blazers visiting the L.A. Clippers at 10:30 PM--should be a lot of fun. But even if you're just watching, I don't know, the Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs on League Pass, or whatever, you can talk about that, too.

Have at it. I'll be running some stats for tomorrow morning's installment in the Preseason Lookback series.

When I discussed the NBA Finals on this site before, I was met with some indifference, which is understandable. Without being too obvious, the Finals involve the Boston Celtics and the L.A. Lakers, and not the Orlando Magic, so it's reasonable that Magic fans wouldn't be interested in watching it. But tonight, in Game 7, the season is on the line. If you're not a fan of either team--or just outright hate both teams, really--tonight's game is the one to watch. And in case you missed the first 6 games, NBA.com has cut together these nice mini-movies to help you get caught up:

Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6

Discuss the game in this thread.

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Privately, a few of you have expressed an interest in having threads to discuss playoff games that don't involve the Orlando Magic. You're in luck. Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals between the Phoenix Suns and L.A. Lakers tips tonight at 8:30 PM. Talk about that game in this space. And for more on the Suns, check out Bright Side of the Sun; for the Lakers, visit Silver Screen and Roll.

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Privately, a few of you have expressed an interest in having threads to discuss playoff games that don't involve the Orlando Magic. You're in luck. Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals between the Phoenix Suns and L.A. Lakers tips tonight at 9 PM. Talk about that game in this space. And for more on the Suns, check out Bright Side of the Sun; for the Lakers, visit Silver Screen and Roll.

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Scoreboard Watching will give Orlando Magic fans a heads-up on which games with potential playoff implications to pay attention to.

The Orlando Magic could learn tonight which team they'll face in the Eastern Conference Finals, as the Boston Celtics have the opportunity to finish off a huge upset tonight when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs dropped Game 5... by 32 points... on their home floor. Of this year are no doubt already aware, given the hyperbolic media frenzy that ensued; Bradford Doolittle of Basketball Prospectus says we should all get a grip. Reigning MVP LeBron James had a hideous game, and while there's no doubt he needs to step his play up--here are some suggestions from the incomparable Kelly Dwyer--there's more to it than that. It's about his teammates playing better and his coach realizing that Anderson Varejao needs more minutes, writes John Hollinger. And GM Danny Ferry goofed bigtime when he turned down the chance to acquire Amar'e Stoudemire to instead obtain Antawn Jamison, writes Mike Prada.

But this sort of analysis, as Kevin Pelton tweeted, is a bit unfair to the Celtics: they've played a great series, yet now "exist solely as props to allow us to judge LeBron."

Enough of that, though. Comment on the game in this thread, Magic fans.

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Scoreboard Watching will give Orlando Magic fans a heads-up on which games with potential playoff implications to pay attention to.

If you're a basketball fan, you've probably already planned to watch tonight's Game 5 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics. But if you're an Orlando Magic fan, this game means more to you than most others, because the winner of this series will face the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals. Discuss tonight's proceedings here.

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