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After a day off the Cavs take on the last place Orlando Magic (20-55) tonight at the Q. The Magic have lost 5 of 7 and are missing their top draft pick, Jalen Suggs. Suggs is not exactly tearing it up in the ROY race, shooting 36.1% from the field and 21.6% on 3’s and averaging 12.1 ppg.
The Cavs beat the Magic by 13 points in late November. They play the final game of the season series on April 5.
The Magic have a tough time putting the air bag inside the rim, ranking 29th in scoring. They’re 28th in effective field goal percentage and 28th in 3-point percentage. They are 25th in turnovers and 27th in free throw attempts per possession. They’re 29th in offensive rebounding percentage. Just a very bad offensive team across the board.
Defensively they’re better but still below average, ranking 21st in scoring defense. They’re 9th in opponents’ 2-point percentage and 26th in 3-point percentage, so they seem to defend the paint better than the perimeter. They’re 6th in opponents’ points in the paint so they’re actually quite good at defending the rim. They’re 29th in steals so you can get your shots up against them.
The Magic don’t have any stars. Eight players average between 9.5 - 16.9 points per game. The last game they used a 10-man rotation with the five starters playing 33-34 minutes and five reserves playing 19-20 minutes in an overtime loss.
The Magic have lost their last two games to Sacramento and Oklahoma City, who are in 13th and 14th place in the West. But they were missing starting center Wendell Carter, Jr who averages 15.0 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. He had 19 and 12 in the first game against the Cavs.
Point guard Anthony Cole is their leading scorer at 16.9 ppg, but he's only shooting 39.2%. Rookie Franz Wagner is having a fine season at 15.4 ppg and 46.6% from the field. I believe he's third in the ROY race in most opinions.
There's no excuse for any team with playoff aspirations not to beat this team, especially playing at home. I’ll just leave it at that.
At this point it's all about getting ready for the play-in, IMO. We're two games behind the Bulls and they play 5 of their last 8 at home. We're a game behind the smoking hot Raptors and they play 6 of 8 at home. I don't think finishing 6th is realistically attainable. We have four home games left and we have games against Dallas, Brooklyn, Philly, and Milwaukee. Those last two teams are 0.5 games out of first - they're not going to be resting starters when they play us.
Toronto was 23-23 before their 19-9 surge. That and the injuries to Markkanen, LeVert, and Allen knocked us out of the top six. So at this point the last eight games are about preparing for the play-in. JBB needs to figure out who he wants to go with. Is he still in on Cedi or will Stevens take his minutes? What about Windler? He got 12 minutes in a game they were really trying to win against Chicago. Is Levert taking Okoro's starting job from here on out? Will Rondo be back?
Will Allen be back in time? I think they have to assume he won't be and figure out the rotations.
The Cavs really need to finish 7th or 8th because you only need one win to get in. If they finish 9th they would need to win two. Brooklyn and Charlotte are tied for 8th, 2.5 games behind Cleveland. If the Cavs finish 4-4 both of those teams would need to go 6-1 to take the 7th and 8th spots.
The Cavs beat the Magic by 13 points in late November. They play the final game of the season series on April 5.
The Magic have a tough time putting the air bag inside the rim, ranking 29th in scoring. They’re 28th in effective field goal percentage and 28th in 3-point percentage. They are 25th in turnovers and 27th in free throw attempts per possession. They’re 29th in offensive rebounding percentage. Just a very bad offensive team across the board.
Defensively they’re better but still below average, ranking 21st in scoring defense. They’re 9th in opponents’ 2-point percentage and 26th in 3-point percentage, so they seem to defend the paint better than the perimeter. They’re 6th in opponents’ points in the paint so they’re actually quite good at defending the rim. They’re 29th in steals so you can get your shots up against them.
The Magic don’t have any stars. Eight players average between 9.5 - 16.9 points per game. The last game they used a 10-man rotation with the five starters playing 33-34 minutes and five reserves playing 19-20 minutes in an overtime loss.
The Magic have lost their last two games to Sacramento and Oklahoma City, who are in 13th and 14th place in the West. But they were missing starting center Wendell Carter, Jr who averages 15.0 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. He had 19 and 12 in the first game against the Cavs.
Point guard Anthony Cole is their leading scorer at 16.9 ppg, but he's only shooting 39.2%. Rookie Franz Wagner is having a fine season at 15.4 ppg and 46.6% from the field. I believe he's third in the ROY race in most opinions.
There's no excuse for any team with playoff aspirations not to beat this team, especially playing at home. I’ll just leave it at that.
At this point it's all about getting ready for the play-in, IMO. We're two games behind the Bulls and they play 5 of their last 8 at home. We're a game behind the smoking hot Raptors and they play 6 of 8 at home. I don't think finishing 6th is realistically attainable. We have four home games left and we have games against Dallas, Brooklyn, Philly, and Milwaukee. Those last two teams are 0.5 games out of first - they're not going to be resting starters when they play us.
Toronto was 23-23 before their 19-9 surge. That and the injuries to Markkanen, LeVert, and Allen knocked us out of the top six. So at this point the last eight games are about preparing for the play-in. JBB needs to figure out who he wants to go with. Is he still in on Cedi or will Stevens take his minutes? What about Windler? He got 12 minutes in a game they were really trying to win against Chicago. Is Levert taking Okoro's starting job from here on out? Will Rondo be back?
Will Allen be back in time? I think they have to assume he won't be and figure out the rotations.
The Cavs really need to finish 7th or 8th because you only need one win to get in. If they finish 9th they would need to win two. Brooklyn and Charlotte are tied for 8th, 2.5 games behind Cleveland. If the Cavs finish 4-4 both of those teams would need to go 6-1 to take the 7th and 8th spots.
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