When: 8:30 p.m.

Where: Amway Arena.

TV/radio: TNT; WTAM AM/1100.

Game 4: Cavaliers at Orlando Magic

Tipoff: 8:30 p.m. at Amway Arena, Orlando, Fla.

TV/radio: TNT; WTAM AM/1100.

Notable: Mo Williams (stitches around eye) will play. . . . The Cavs have lost three consecutive games at Amway Arena. . . . The Magic is 5-2 at home this postseason; the Cavs are 4-1 away. . . . The Magic is shooting 42 percent from 3-point range in the series. . . . The Cavs allowed just 77.8 points per game in their first eight playoff games but have allowed the Magic to score at least 95 points in each game.

Orlando, Fla. - It may sound counterintuitive, but Cavaliers fans actually should have some optimism in the series with the Orlando Magic.

Indeed, the Cavs - the heavy favorite to win the Eastern Conference finals, so heavy that in Las Vegas an $800 bet on them to win the series would have yielded just $100 if correct - are behind, 2-1, going into tonight's Game 4 at Amway Arena.

It is true they have been outplayed in every area except superstar output in the first three games. It's even accurate to say it took perhaps the greatest shot in team history to avoid being down, 0-3, to the supposed No. 3 seed.

Even the Cavs admit things look pretty bad.

"Coming down the court, we're already at a disadvantage because they create so many matchup problems for us," Cavs guard Mo Williams said. "It is evident. It is no secret. We know it. Everybody knows it."

However, there's another way to look at things.

It is a downright miracle the Cavs are still in the series considering the events of the past six days. Actually, they are still very much alive. A victory in Game 4 would even things up and return home-court advantage to the Cavs.

Earlier this postseason, the Magic was down, 2-1, in a series, playing Game 4 on the road, and Orlando came back to beat the Philadelphia 76ers.

How is it a miracle? Consider the following:

LeBron James and Anderson Varejao, though he was virtually nonexistent in Game 3, have combined to shoot 54 percent in the series. What are the rest of the Cavs shooting? Try 30.6 percent. Truly, it is somewhat of a mystery just how the Cavs have averaged 97 points per game in this series. Mostly it is because James is just willing them, averaging 41.7 on his own. It's amazing they've even been in all three games in the final five minutes with those numbers, much less have a victory.

The Magic is shooting 49 percent as a team. Orlando was one of the best shooting teams in the league during the regular season at 45 percent. In the conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics, the Magic shot 45 percent as well. Yet the Cavs actually are keeping Orlando slightly under its scoring average for the regular season despite this great shooting by an already great shooting team. The sort of run the Magic is on right now - four rotation players are shooting 54 percent or better, and a couple of others are not far behind - is what midseason winning streaks are built on. Yet the Cavs have been in position to win every game.

Mickael Pietrus is averaging 13 points on 54 percent shooting off the bench for Orlando. The entire Cavs bench is averaging 10.5 points per game and shooting 42 percent in the series. So Pietrus is playing well, right? How about the best in his life. Heading into the conference finals, Pietrus was averaging 7.6 points on 42 percent shooting in 24 career playoff games. The Magic is getting a career performance from a reserve role player combined with greatness from its starters, and the Cavs still are surviving to this point.

Williams has missed 37 shots in the first three games vs. the Magic. It is the most shots he's missed in a three-game span this season. The two times he missed more than 30 over three games in the regular season, he averaged 33.5 points on 26-of-39 shooting in the fourth game.

All of that says the Cavs are in a slump, and the Magic is hot, but the series isn't over. It is not too late for the Cavs, who do own 75 victories this season, including the playoffs, to switch around the momentum.

There's no doubt Orlando enjoys certain advantages over the Cavs that are not an easy fix by any stretch. There is a reason why the Magic has beaten the Cavs four of the six times the teams have played this season. But it is important to note the Cavs have not lost three out of four games this season and are 13-2 coming off losses.

"They are a very good team - give them credit," James said. "We're very confident. I know I am as an individual, and I'll make sure our team is."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: bwindhorst@plaind.com, 216-999-5166