Knee-Jerk Reactions: Post-Game 1 of both Conference Finals

Nuggets-Lakers - The hope that the Nuggets frontcourt (Nene, Kenyon Martin, and Chris "Bird Man" Anderson) could outmuscle the Lakers frontcourt (Gasol, Bynum, Odom) is already over in my opinion. The Lakers were still able to push the Nuggets around, and outrebound them by a very healthy margin in game 1. The only reason the Nuggets stayed in the game is because Carmelo was on fire and the Nuggets were shooting very well. The Nuggets would have to shoot that well each night to have a chance. Long odds of that happening. However, one big area of improvement is available for the Nuggets: Coach George Karl. I have literally no idea what Anthony Carter was doing out there for the Nuggets. Yes, JR Smith was having an off-night. But Anthony Carter is a 6'2" PG. Why were the Nuggets playing 2 PGs deep in the 4th quarter? They also had Kleiza and Dohntay Jones available. I don't get it. Anthony Carter botched multiple plays, aside from the obvious awful inbounds pass that got stolen.

Knee-jerk prediction: Lakers in 6

Cavs-Magic: I am full of anger and sadness. I try to avoid writing about my own teams, but it is unavoidable in this situation. To state the defensive problems of the Cavs, here's an excerpt from Brian Windhorst, the Cavs beat writer:

It has been said often, and correctly, that the Magic are a "pick your poison" team. Well, you can't take both doses of poison and survive. The Cavs decided to let Dwight Howard go in this game and pinch the other guys instead. It worked well for awhile, LeBron James totally flustered Rafer Alston guarding him, Delonte West did a nice job on Hedo Turkoglu with help from frequent double teams and Rashard Lewis was sucked into playing 1-on-1 basketball. Sure, Dwight Howard was making a mockery of Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace and they weren't fouling him and letting him get great post position and allowing points in the paint like they were the Golden State Warriors. But the Cavs were up 15 in doing so because that was it Howard or bust.
Then when things got tight the Cavs abandoned that plan and went back to denying Howard with double teams. That's when Turkoglu, who was flat out great in running high pick-and-roll in the fourth quarter, and Lewis started killing them. Do you know what you call that sort of violent switching the game plan? Did someone say panic? Well it may not have been panic but in comparing it to how they played all year long it looked like it.

-Brian Windhorst, Cavaliers Reporter, The Plain Dealer

So... what are the Cavs options? If anyone saw the game, only Z had little to moderate success at keeping Howard out of the lane on his own. Even then, I'm being optimistic. Wallace's bad back means he shouldn't be playing. He was terrible. Varejao and Joe Smith were also unable to do much, and that was with the refs ignoring a lot of fouls that I saw. Thus, there is no one on the Cavs that can keep Howard out of the lane (unlike the Celtics who had Perkins to do that job). Thus, the Cavs kept sending help from the PF position... which resulted in Rashard Lewis being open, which resulted in Rashard Lewis shooting 70% from the field, including the game-winner (which was without Howard in the game due to fouling out.
Here is my brainstorming of ideas:
1) Complicated rotation arrangement such that Lewis is never left open and the next closest player (either Mo, Delonte, or preferably LeBron) rotates to Lewis when Lewis's man leaves
2) Playing the following insane lineup (where LeBron and Varejao switch)
PF - LeBron vs. Lewis
SF - Varejao vs. Turkoglu
C - Z vs. Howard
SG - Delonte vs. Lee
PG - Mo vs. Alston
Maybe LeBron can move fast enough to cover Howard AND Lewis?
3) Playing the following even more insane lineup:
PF - LeBron vs. Lewis
SF - Delonte vs. Turkoglu
C - (Z or Varejao) vs. Howard
SG - (Sasha or T. Kinsey) vs. Lee
PG - Mo vs. Alston
This puts the fastest players on the court, aside from when Z is in. Delonte did well on Turkoglu last night, relatively speaking, despite giving up a lot of inches.

That's all I got. I'm angry. Not typing anymore. Hoping the cavs can still win in 7, but feeling very skeptical now.