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2023-24 Season | Game #23 | Cavs @ Magic | Dec. 11, 2023 | 7:00 p.m.

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Wham with the Right Hand

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Having defeated the short-handed Magic on Wednesday and the short-handed Heat on Saturday the Cavs make the short trip north for a rematch against the 15-7 Magic, this time in their building. The Magic have won eight straight at home and are 10-2 overall in their house. Both teams had two days off in sunny Florida to prepare for this one. The Cavs will be playing three games in the next four days, all on the road, against Orlando, Boston, and Boston. This will probably be the toughest four days of the season.

The Magic have enjoyed a rather easy schedule and 10 of their 15 wins have come against teams with records under .500. The Cavs beat a depleted Magic roster in Cleveland on Wednesday by a 121-111 score. Starting center Wendall Carter Jr and starting point guard Markelle Fultz were out and starting shooting guard Jalen Suggs left with an ankle injury in the first half.

With three starters out Paolo Banchero stepped up and scored 42 points, his career high. He was virtually unstoppable, going 16-for-26 against several Cavs’ defenders. Fortunately for the Cavs, the Magic shot just 2-for-23 on 3-pointers.

Orlando is allowing just under 110 points per game, ranking 6th in scoring defense, but the Cavs had a great shooting night and finished with 121. Garland and Mitchell combined for 61 points, 10 rebounds, and 15 assists.

The Cavs had a fouling problem, allowing the Magic to attempt 31 free throws, three over their league leading average of 28. Fortunately the Magic missed 10 of them. I doubt they will be so bad at free throw shooting and 3-point shooting tonight. It will take a better played game by the Cavs to knock off the Magic in their building, in my opinion.

Jarrett Allen got in early foul trouble and only played 19 minutes so he has to be careful. Banchero is way too quick and strong going to the hole and Allen needs to know when to lay off and just let him have the bucket.

The big question is who will be available tonight. Fultz and Carter are still out. Suggs did not play Friday night against Detroit and is listed as a game time decision. If he can’t go the Magic will have the same personnel that lost to the Cavs last week. Evan Mobley and Caris LeVert are out for the Cavs. LeVert missed Wednesday’s game but Mobley played 37 minutes and was instrumental in the win. Without Mobley the Cavs will be at a disadvantage against a team whose starting front line is 6’10” at all three positions.

This looks like a rematch of last week’s game except the Cavs will be missing Mobley and the game will be in Orlando.

The Magic average nearly 11 offensive rebounds per game but in their win in Cleveland the Cavs limited them to seven. The Cavs need to continue to protect the defensive glass while cutting down on fouling against this team. The Magic rank 3rd in forcing turnovers at 16 per game so the Cavs need to protect the ball. They had 15 turnovers in the first game.

Franz Wagner, averaging 20.7 ppg, was held to 3-for-16 by the Cavs last week. It was his worst shooting game of the year and I expect he’ll want to bounce back with a vengeance. Being able to contain the damage from Wagner and Banchero will be key, but that will be tough without Mobley. Dean Wade is going to have to step up. I assume he will start and be tasked with keeping Banchero from scoring 42 again.

Cole Anthony is averaging 15.4 points off the bench, making him their third leading scorer. He had 19 points and 7 rebounds against the Cavs last week, so they need to do a better job on him. Banchero, Wagner, and Anthony combine to score 50% of the Magic’s points, so those three need to be the focus of the Cavs’ defense.

The Cavs have a game in Boston tomorrow so if they get behind I expect Bickerstaff will go to his bench and give some significant minutes to Porter, TT, Niang, Okoro, and Merrill. But if it’s close he’ll go for the win because we’re not beating Boston on the road the night after flying in from Florida no matter who plays. The Cavs have played just one game in the last six days so they will be rested and ready to rock.
 
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Absolute must win game. For the Magic.
 
Hard to call them depleted when they have their 2 best players and the role players stepping in are playing better than the starters. Not to mention both Wendell Carter & Markelle Fultz are two of the biggest pieces holding the team back.
 
Great weekend with the Cavs beating the Heat in Miami and the Browns beating the Jaguars. Let's keep it going into Monday, shall we?

I like to see two teams play each other twice in the same week because you can see the adjustments that are made. For example, how are the Cavs going to defense Banchero, who averages 20 ppg but scorched them for 42 last week? Mobley is out so I assume they start Wade on him, but can Dean avoid getting in foul trouble while not letting him take over the game? And what about when Niang comes in?

Garland and Mitchell went nuts on the Magic last week - will the Magic try to trap them when they have the ball?

With Mobley out I expect Tristan Thompson will get more minutes - will the Cavs be able to keep the offense going without a scoring threat at center? And with their best defender out will the Cavs be able to prevent Orlando from going to the free throw line 31 times?

Franz Wagner, also averaging 20 ppt, was 3-for-16 against the Cavs. Will he come out aggressively to try and bounce back from his worst game of the season?

No way the Magic go 2-for-23 on 3-pointers in their building. And we can't count on them to miss 10 free throws. The Cavs are going to have to play way better to win this one.
 
The vibes continue to be good, and thus, we will continue to win games.
 
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Minus Mobley to make Wagner's life miserable, I think it will be tough for the Cavs to slow down that frontcourt. Wade has the length and tenacity to make sure it's not easy for Wagner, but it's not the same as Mobley.

We need the guards to excel here. Hopefully, Banchero's shooting normalizes a bit and he misses some of those tough mid-rangers he was nailing the other night.

This will be a tough game, but I have a feeling the good guys end this one with an L, all things said. Fingers crossed that I'm wrong.
 
"Magic Aim to Fix Mistakes in Rematch with the Cavs"

by Jason Beebe (Orlando Sentinel)

Magic coach Jamahl Mosley kept his answer concise when asked what improvement he’d like to see from his team against Cleveland on Monday compared to last week’s road loss to the Cavaliers.

“Don’t shoot 2-for-23 [from 3-point range], don’t miss 10 free throws and defensive rebound,” he said after Friday’s 32-point win over the Detroit Pistons.

Those three categories made the difference when Orlando (15-7) suffered a 10-point loss at Cleveland (13-9) on Wednesday.

The Magic shot 8.7% from beyond the arc, finished 27 of 37 at the charity stripe and allowed 10 offensive rebounds that led to 19 second-chance points for the Cavaliers.

“We’ve got to get them back,” Orlando center Goga Bitadze said Friday. “It was a rough game. They did their job, came out and won the game — but now it’s our turn.”

Bitadze is set to make his 18th start of the season while filling in for Wendell Carter Jr., who continues to rehab the fractured third metacarpal on his left non-shooting hand.

It’s possible the Magic could be down three starters for the second game in a row. Carter and Markelle Fultz (left knee tendinitis) were ruled out Sunday afternoon while Jalen Suggs (right ankle strain) was listed as questionable for Monday’s game.

Suggs missed Friday’s game due to the ankle injury, marking just the second time he’s sat out this year.

Veteran sharpshooter Gary Harris filled in for Suggs while rookie Anthony Black made his 16th start in place of Fultz.

Orlando could also be without forward Jonathan Isaac again. He’s listed as questionable due to a sprained right ankle that’s forced him to miss three straight.

If Isaac can’t go, Bitadze and reserve center Moe Wagner will have their hands full with Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen.

In last week’s win over the Magic, the lengthy Allen grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, scored eight points, dished out two assists and recorded a steal in 19 minutes.

The Cavaliers, however, will be without a key starter of their own. Evan Mobley (left knee soreness) was ruled out Sunday and will miss his second straight game.

Against Orlando last week, Mobley scored 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go with five rebounds, two assists and one block in 37 minutes.

Without Mobley on Friday against Miami, Cleveland started Dean Wade, who had six rebounds with three steals and five points during 25 minutes in the 12-point road win.

Regardless of who fills in for Mobley, the Magic know Cleveland will be a challenge. That’s because of the backcourt play of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, who combined for 61 points against Orlando last week.

“We’ve just got to be really physical with them,” Bitadze said. “We know those big guys are great rollers. We’ve got to box them out, run them down and be smart with our decisions.

“We are ready to do that.”

My comment:

It will be interesting to see how physical the refs let the Magic be with Mitchell and Garland. If I'm JBB I would be talking to the officials before the game and point out that quote so the officials are aware that the Magic will be grabbing and holding Donovan and Darius. If the officials call it tight early then maybe we get to see a basketball game instead of a wrestling match.
 
Looking at the Magic's on/off numbers at cleaningtheglass.com, it's interesting that Jonathan Isaac has the highest on/off on the team at 13.6 points per 100 possessions. He only averages 14 minutes per game as a backup to Paolo Banchero. Joe Ingles is second at 12.2 followed by Greg Bitadze at 11.9.

Their injured starters are all in the negative; Fultz is -5.6, Suggs is -5.7, and Carter is -6.3. Their top three scorers are even worse; Cole Anthony is -6.9, Paolo Banchero is -9.0, and Franz Wagner is -9.5.

I'm trying to figure out how this team is 15-7 when all their starters are in the negative. They do have four players over +10.0 but they're all reserves. Most surprising is that the Magic is being outscored by 9 points with Banchero and Wagner on the floor. These guys are supposed to be their best players.

They do have six close wins and a few big losses which could skew the on/off numbers a bit.

The Cavaliers' top four players in this category are Strus, Mitchell, Garland, and Mobley, which is what you would expect.
 
The Magic's biggest weakness is 3-point shooting where they rank last in the NBA at 29.8%. The next worst team is 31.1% and the league average is 35.8%. The Cavs need to keep switching, stay in front of them, keep them from penetrating, and force them to shoot as many 3's as possible.

However, the Magic rank 3rd in offensive rebounding so the Cavs need to hit the glass after forcing a missed 3. They need to be prepared to grab those long rebounds off bricked 3's.

The Magic rank 23rd in turnover rate so the Cavs need to apply pressure defensively to force bad passes and create opportunities for steals.
 
Wham with the Right Hand said:
It will be interesting to see how physical the refs let the Magic be with Mitchell and Garland. If I'm JBB I would be talking to the officials before the game and point out that quote so the officials are aware that the Magic will be grabbing and holding Donovan and Darius. If the officials call it tight early then maybe we get to see a basketball game instead of a wrestling match.
Click to expand...
Officiating will be very important in this game. We need DM & DG to be dominant. The Magic need their front line to be dominant. If they don't allow Allen, Wade, Niang and TT to play physically we are going to have a problem. If they allow physical play on DM & DG we have a problem. In their gym, I'm not hopeful that whistles are going to go our way.
 
Okay, I expect to see a lot of Tristan Thompson in this game. Maybe 30 minutes worth.

I'm not confident we can win this game without Mobley. Does anyone know what his injury is?

I think we have only a 40-45% chance of winning. Garland and Mitchell will have to shoot lights out. Good games from Strus and Wade as also important. I'd feed Allen early and often and put the Magic bigs on their heels and get them in foul trouble.

Then, we also have to hit our free throws..
EDIT: I made a typo:
If we do all that I see a 116-113 Cavs victory.
 
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jjvors said:
Okay, I expect to see a lot of Tristan Thompson in this game. Maybe 30 minutes worth.

I'm not confident we can win this game without Mobley. Does anyone know what his injury is?

I think we have only a 40-45% chance of winning. Garland and Mitchell will have to shoot lights out. Good games from Strus and Wade as also important. I'd feed Allen early and often and put the Magic bigs on their heels and get them in foul trouble.

Then, we also have to hit our free throws..

If we do all that I see a 116-133 Cavs victory.
Click to expand...
Knee soreness…..same as LeVert!
Although I can’t ever remembering him hurting it!
 
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