On Cleveland’s last possession, West missed his open 3 but James was able to tie up Turkoglu for a jump ball. James tipped it behind him to Williams, but his last-second prayer hit the back of the rim and the Cavs walked off knowing they had given up home-court advantage for this round.

“This is good for us,” Brown said. “We didn’t expect go undefeated.”

Williams ended the first half by swishing a 67-footer to give the Cavaliers a 63-48 lead.

Taking the inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds left, Williams dribbled once and sent a high-arching shot like the ones he and the Cavs’ shooters work on at practice toward the basket. When it splashed through, James raised his arms and then wrapped Williams in a bear hug.

It was the third consecutive Game 1 in these playoffs that the Cavs have closed the first half with a buzzer-beating bucket. James did it against Detroit and Atlanta.

In the Orlando locker room, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy ripped into his players for not stopping James, who had 26 in the opening half.

Slideshow   NBA playoffs Take a look at photos from the playoffs, including the Magic finishing off LeBron and the Cavs in Game 6. more photos

“He told us, ’We’re all witnesses,”’ Howard recalled, using the slogan James has popularized with his commercials. “That got us fired up.”

Leading by 15, the Cavs got complacent and lost their offensive rhythm in the third quarter. They stood around either waiting for James to do something or settled for jump shots that didn’t fall.

Orlando seized the chance to get back in it and with Courtney Lee and Mickael Pietrus hitting 3-pointers, the Magic outscored the Cavaliers 30-19 in the period to pull within 82-78 entering the fourth.

Notes: Orlando’s bench outscored Cleveland’s 25-5. ... NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown sat courtside. ... James isn’t surprised that he, Howard, Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony — all members of the U.S. Olympic team that won gold in China last summer— are all still in the playoffs. “We all worked really hard,” he said. “That experience was great for everyone.”

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