ORLANDO, Fla.— The Cleveland Cavaliers needed another miracle Tuesday night.
They didn’t get it.

And because they didn’t, they are staring at the end of a season that once seemed destined to end in a much happier way.
The Cavs fought and scratched and competed and tried different lineups and took Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals to overtime — yet they still lost to the Magic, 116-114.
The Magic head to Cleveland with a 3-1 lead, and though the series isn’t over, the Cavs are staring at elimination.
To reach the NBA Finals, the Cavs will have to win three in a row — though two will be at home.
Tough? Very.
Impossible? Nope.
Not with LeBron James on the court.
James hardly seemed rattled as he spoke of the team’s deficit, and what to do next.
“Move on to the next game,” he said. “We had our chances and we didn’t execute. Move on to the next game. Try to get the game on Thursday back home and come down here and try to get Game 6. I’m looking forward to the challenge.
“I’ll be ready and I think our guys will be ready also.”
James almost single-handedly sent the game to overtime, then almost single-handedly brought the Cavs back from 111-105 with 1:12 left, and 115-111 with six seconds left.
James made a gravity-defying 3-pointer off a timeout with 4.1 seconds left, then had one last chance as time ran out after Rashard Lewis made one-of-two free throws.
The Cavs had no timeouts, so they had to inbound under the Magic basket with 3.2 seconds to go.
The Magic put two guys on James, but he broke free down the left side of the court.
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said that with James on the court, 3.2 seconds seems “like two minutes.”
James dribbled past midcourt and took a 38-footer from just inside the midcourt line. It looked on line, but it fell short — just like the Cavs’ efforts.
“It’s a shot I can definitely make,” James said. “It just didn’t go.”
The Cavs walked off the court defiant, but understanding their situation is not good.
And as well as James played — 44 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists — he still had four turnovers in the fourth quarter, three in overtime.
“Unacceptable,” James said.
There were other plays that will cause the Cavs and their fans heartache.
The first came with one-half second left in regulation and the Cavs behind by one. At that point, the second of James’ two free throws rolled off the front of the rim and into the net.
Had it fallen out of the basket as it looked like it was going to do, Anderson Varejao was standing under the basket ready to tip the miss in.
“I was there to try if it came out,” said Varejao, who was put into the game by coach Mike Brown specifically for a possible tip-in.
There’s nothing whatsoever to criticize or question with James making two free throws with the crowd producing a deafening roar and the game on the line.
You just have to wonder what might have happened had the second one rolled off the front of the rim as it looked like it would.
Instead the game went to overtime.
There, Dwight Howard continued to plague the Cavs.
He dominated inside, then made two key free throws. Howard is not a good free-throw shooter, but prior to the game he did nothing but practice them. Just like he did prior to Game 3.
With 21 seconds left, the Cavs fouled Howard rather than give him a layup. He made two to give the Magic a 113-109 lead.
Howard had said he was singing a song to himself as he shot free throws, and that it helped relax him.
Once he made them, he was whistling a happier tune.
Finally, the Cavs let Rafer Alston hurt them terribly in the third quarter. Alston had 15 points in that quarter, including 10 in a row to wipe out a 58-50 Cavs’ halftime lead.
It’s one thing to have Howard or Hedo Turkoglu or Lewis beat you, quite another for it to be Alston.
“They’re daring me to shoot it,” Alston said.
The furious nature of the game went right down the final seconds of regulation.
Lewis made a 3-pointer with 4.1 seconds left to give the Magic a 100-98 lead.
James took the inbounds pass, went to the basket and he and Michael Pietrus both fell.
Foul? Referee Scott Foster thought so. He called a block on Pietrus.
After James’ free throws, the Magic tried a lob to Howard, but he and Varejao tumbled to the floor as the ball fell harmlessly.
The crowd roared for a foul.
None was called.
Howard stood and said to the local media in front of him: “Are you serious? If that was LeBron ... “
There was a lot of between-game chatter, and after the win the Magic were making fun of Mo Williams’ guarantee.
“He’s going to have to live with what he said,” Alston said. “I wanted to go at him and he didn’t even guard me.”
The Cavs played a good first half, ending both quarters strong to take leads.
Alston changed the nature of the game, and the Cavs played catchup the entire fourth quarter.
Through the game, the Cavs went small — barely using Joe Smith and turning to Daniel Gibson and Wally Szczerbiak.
The effort was valiant.
The result, though, was one more disappointment.
Right now, the Magic belongs in Orlando.