Short-form Running Thoughts for tonight’s big game between the Cavs and the Magic:

First Quarter:

-  The Cavs have started this game rebounding very well, holding the Magic to one shot per possession.  The Magic rely on Dwight Howard for most of their offensive rebounds, and so far Z and Varejao have managed to keep Dwight from crashing the basket too much.

-  It helps that Howard has no feel on his hook shot tonight.  It’s much harder for him to get offensive rebounds when he’s already taken 5 shots in the first quarter.

-  For most of the season, the Cavs have been an excellent first quarter team, typically jumping on the opposition right from the get-go.  This week, however, the team has been dead in the first quarter, averaging just 17 points in the first period.  

-  I’m liking how slow LeBron is at the free throw line tonight.

-  At the end of one, the Cavs trail by 5, 27-22.  It could be worse, but again the Cavalier defense is giving up way too many points.

Second Quarter:

-  I know the Cavs are a jump-shooting team, but there’s no need for Z or Joe Smith to be shooting fadeaway 18-footers like this.  If you’re going to go isolation without LeBron out there, do it with Wally.  Or just don’t do it.  Yeah, that’s a better idea.

-   The Magic want to shoot, they don’t want to pull it down and drive around you.  So there’s no excuse for Mo and Z not to put a hand up in earnest running at Tony Battie on the two 15-footers he’s hit this quarter.

-  The Cavs currently trail by 11, 37-26.  Expect the Magic to shoot a lot of threes right now to try to stretch that lead out big.

-  And you thought the first quarter was bad: the Cavs are shooting just 3-for-14 in the second quarter so far.  Guess the Magic won’t need the threes to stretch this lead.

-  Can someone send Mo Williams a copy of the book on him that says that he won’t make any effort at all to get back on transition defense?

-  We’ve seen this before with the Cavs, most recently when they lost to the Rockets in Houston: once things start to deteriorate for the Cavs, they are very suseptible to falling into big deficits.  The Cavalier defense relies on a lot of rotations, and when the players start getting frustrated, they don’t make those rotations as quickly and they don’t clog the lanes as well.  It doesn’t help when the Magic have made the tough ones, while missing more than a few wide-open shots in the first half.

-  On the flip side, I don’t think the Cavs had more than two open shots all half.  And now they trail by 17, 55-38.

Third Quarter:

- Um, wow.  Glad to see the Cavs were working out a solution in the locker room over halftime.  The Magic run out of the half on a 16-2 run, and suddenly that 17 point lead is a 31 point lead.  The Magic are an excellent shooting team that is shooting extremely well, but the Cavs are making no effort to defend.

-  Not sure what Mike Brown is doing leaving those starters in anymore.  You’re telling me that Tarence Kinsey and J.J. Hickson could do a worse job right now?  How about a little accountability for your team tonight Coach?

-  Not to cop out right now, but it’s never been a question that the Magic can beat anyone when they play their perfect game.  Their peak performance, in my opinion, is actually higher than the Cavs’ peak performance.  The problem is that they are still young and inconsistent.

-  Isn’t it fun to watch every Cavalier abandon the team concept and just go one-on-one now that the game is out of hand?  That’s probably all that team chemistry shining through.

-  Yes, I’m frustrated.  No, there’s really nothing more to say about this game.  Yes, it’s brutal, but no, the Cavs are not 40 points worse than the Magic, even in Orlando.

-  Well, the Cavs did end the third quarter on a 7-0 run.  Unfortunately they gave up 37!!! points in the quarter, and the game is over.  At the end of three, the Cavs trail by 32, 92-60.

Fourth Quarter:

-  Marcin Gortat made his first three of the season.  And the Cavs lost by 29, 116-87.  

Miserable night, but not a complete surprise all things considered.  I’d much rather have this happen a) on the road, and b) before the Playoffs, but I’ll feel much better about that thought if the Cavs manage to beat the Spurs on Sunday.

Go Cavs.  And go Rockets, because that grip on the best overall record got real tenuous real fast over the last two nights.

Wrapping up last night’s, well let’s just call it pathetic, performance:

The Good:

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

-  Nobody.  Sure, there were guys who had solid performances offensively, but the team gave up 109 points on 51% shooting to a terrible Wizards team.  So no one deserves any credit for any “successes” they might have had last night.

-  Check that: the Wizards belong up here for their gameplan tonight.  They went with a huge starting lineup with Caron Butler at the shooting guard spot, Antawn Jamison at the small forward, and Dominic McGuire at the power forward.  Size has been the Achilles heel of the Cavaliers, and the Wizards knew that and took advantage of it.  Playoff opponents will be watching this game very closely to see how an inferior team was able to exploit the few Cavalier weaknesses to perfection.

-  Oh, one more: At least there’s another game tonight so I don’t have to think about this one too long.

The Bad:

-  LeBron James, having a fantastic night otherwise, turning the ball over SIX times against the less-than-formidable Wizards defense.  It was clear that LeBron was not taking this game seriously (he has been fantastic at not turning the ball over lately), and that trickled down throughout the team.

-  Mo Williams admiring his shot so much that he was burned by Wizards streaking down the floor behind him no less than four times.

-  Delonte West playing matador defense when Nick Young (Nick Young?!?) drove to the lane for the game-sealing layup.

-  Mike Brown deciding to play Joe Smith just 8 minutes.

-  Wally Szcerbiak getting positively worked by Darius Songaila.

-  Zydrunas Ilgauskas resorting to slapping wrists every time a Wizard took the ball to the hoop, earning him five of the weakest fouls I’ve ever seen.

The Questions:

-  Really, what just happened?

-  I know that ESPN can’t help themselves, but does Gilbert Arenas really deserve credit for a big win in a game where he went 3-for-11 (27%) from the field and didn’t hit a single big shot?

Go Cavs.  Gonna be a rough one tonight in Orlando.