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OK, Game 4, time to man up. Or not.
Game 3 was pretty much a perfect storm for the Magic as all their adjustments worked beautifully and the Cavs were outplayed, out-fought, out-shot, and pretty much manhandled at every turn. The Magic talked a lot of smack as they buried the Cavs, stretching the lead to 43 points at one point and making the entire 4th quarter and half the third garbage time.
So now we find out if the Cavs have a response.
Banchero stopped trying to force his way to the rim, which resulted in 15 turnovers the first two games, and took a different approach which was to back his way to his spots while keeping his body between the defender and the ball, then shooting mid-range fallaways over the shorter Cavs. The result was 31 points and zero turnovers.
The home court and friendly crowd helped the Magic's 3-point shooting and their guards, who had been completely neutered in Cleveland, came alive and started hitting shots they previously bricked. The Magic also turned around the rebounding as they were dominated on the glass the first two games. That changed completely on Thursday as they grabbed eight offensive boards in the first quarter alone, out-hustling and out-muscling the Cavs time and again.
Now the Magic know the formula to beat the Cavs and they will undoubtedly bring it again. The question is whether the Cavs can make their own adjustments and match the intensity and physicality of the Magic, who now have the bit in their teeth.
My feeling is the Cavs need to start consistently hitting 3's. Their percentage for the series is 27%, which will not cut it. All seven games between these teams have been won by the team with the higher 3-point shooting percentage; it's the only common denominator as far as I know. Hitting 3's will force the Magic to close out hard, opening up pump fakes and blow-bys.
The Cavs need to force missed shots, get the first rebound, and hit 3's, which will spread out the Magic defense and open up the rest of the offensive menu. If they don't win it won't be the end of the world as it will be best of three with two games in Cleveland. But they do need to start finding some answers to what the Magic did to them on Thursday.
Game 3 was pretty much a perfect storm for the Magic as all their adjustments worked beautifully and the Cavs were outplayed, out-fought, out-shot, and pretty much manhandled at every turn. The Magic talked a lot of smack as they buried the Cavs, stretching the lead to 43 points at one point and making the entire 4th quarter and half the third garbage time.
So now we find out if the Cavs have a response.
Banchero stopped trying to force his way to the rim, which resulted in 15 turnovers the first two games, and took a different approach which was to back his way to his spots while keeping his body between the defender and the ball, then shooting mid-range fallaways over the shorter Cavs. The result was 31 points and zero turnovers.
The home court and friendly crowd helped the Magic's 3-point shooting and their guards, who had been completely neutered in Cleveland, came alive and started hitting shots they previously bricked. The Magic also turned around the rebounding as they were dominated on the glass the first two games. That changed completely on Thursday as they grabbed eight offensive boards in the first quarter alone, out-hustling and out-muscling the Cavs time and again.
Now the Magic know the formula to beat the Cavs and they will undoubtedly bring it again. The question is whether the Cavs can make their own adjustments and match the intensity and physicality of the Magic, who now have the bit in their teeth.
My feeling is the Cavs need to start consistently hitting 3's. Their percentage for the series is 27%, which will not cut it. All seven games between these teams have been won by the team with the higher 3-point shooting percentage; it's the only common denominator as far as I know. Hitting 3's will force the Magic to close out hard, opening up pump fakes and blow-bys.
The Cavs need to force missed shots, get the first rebound, and hit 3's, which will spread out the Magic defense and open up the rest of the offensive menu. If they don't win it won't be the end of the world as it will be best of three with two games in Cleveland. But they do need to start finding some answers to what the Magic did to them on Thursday.
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