All over the sports universe this morning, people are trying to explain how the Magic, as considerable underdogs, were able to come into the single toughest NBA arena and steal a win. Add in LeBron‘s superhuman performance, and everyone’s impulse is that there must be some sort of golden nugget justifying Orlando’s win. But the truth is that Orlando didn’t unveil a secret weapon, a never-before-seen defensive scheme, or some other new, brilliant strategy. The difference was really simple – Rashard Lewis made every goddamn shot down the stretch.

Too often we try to reinvent the wheel and explain wins and losses by magnifying a little tidbit as the singular reason why one team lost and the other team won.

Granted, in last night’s game the Magic made a bunch of small adjustments in the second half, which enabled them to close the gap. Orlando took advantage of LeBron’s smart decision making. After three quarters of barely hitting the rim on jumpers, LeBron wanted to get the highest percentage shot down the stretch. Instead of pulling from 20 feet as he had earlier, he started to take the ball to the basket a bit more. That was the smart move. But it ultimately played into Orlando’s hands, as his supporting cast didn’t make the Magic pay.

Ball Don’t Lie’s Kelly Dwyer does a great job of explaining how that played out…

LeBron James will never be part of any ensemble, at least not any time soon, because you’d be wasting his talents if he were. So, if he is the go-to guy, ball in hands, he has to mix it up. He never did. Face up, maybe a dribble, swish. 20 feet. 21 feet. 25 feet. It was awesome to watch, he truly is a marvel, and it was quite the show. Possibly the best we’ve ever seen him play.

But you can’t rely on it. And once the shots started missing from long range, the Magic were well on their way back.

And once James realized he had to drive, and the Magic were playing him for that drive and mucking up the lane for him, as we saw during the regular season, it fell on his teammates to start hitting shots. And they missed. Mo Williams hit one, Delonte West hit one, but that was about it. And with the Magic getting better and better offensively, the comeback was complete. Home court advantage, gone. Fo’-fo’-fo’ hopes? Dashed.

Like I said, that defensive strategy slowed Cleveland down. But that didn’t win the game for them. That was Rashard Lewis’ doing. He started the game 2-6 from the floor. He finished the game 7-7 from the field, scoring 17 of his 22 points after the break. If Lewis misses any one of those shots, the complexion of the game would have totally changed. When Rafer Alston missed a three with a drop under three minutes left, it did change the feel of the game. That opened the door for Delonte to put the Cavs back up with a big trey.

But Rashard was perfect – on the pick-and-pop and the three from the top of the key. If he wasn’t, Orlando wouldn’t have won. It’s just that simple.