- The game was there for the taking, unfortunately there wasn’t a Cleveland team willing to take it.
- Game 7 is a win or go home scenario. But Game 6 felt like a must win for the Cavs. Down Jarrett Allen. Down Dean Wade. Evan Mobley injured his ankle. Donovan Mitchell playing on one knee. A Magic team gaining confidence with every game. A Cavs team losing confidence in their shot with every game. The longer this series goes on, the less it feels like the Cavs can overcome the obstacles they’re facing.
- That’s not even mentioning the historic Donovan Mitchell performance we witnessed. For all the “Donovan Mitchell doesn’t show up in playoff” talk, Mitchell quickly erased any doubt he wasn’t up for the moment. Mitchell was problem was the rest of the Cavaliers were not.
- A question looming larger than any loss is this: Does Mitchell walk away from Game 6, putting up 50 points on a bum knee, feel any better about his future with the Cavs losing to a first-time playoff team on the road with little help in the second half of a close out game? There’s not likely a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.
- A potential closeout game in the first round of the playoffs and the Cavs are left to start recent buyout signing Marcus Morris Sr. This is no disrespect to Morris, but this is where the Cavs are at with current injuries, and current rotational limitations. It also doesn’t help when the Magic lose Gary Harris to injury and insert Jonathan Isaac in the starting lineup leaving Jalen Suggs the only player below the 6’8”/6’9”/6’10” size range.
- You knew it might be one of those games when Suggs was hitting logo threes to start the game. One was a 34’ pull-up, buzzer beating bailout three. When those types of shots go in, it makes you wonder if the Cavs are going to get the breaks they need to win on the road.
- With that said: You must give credit where credit is due. Suggs stepped up and hit shots when called upon, something Cavalier role players have been unable to do all series. Suggs’ 6 made three-pointers for the game was one less than the Cavs as a team. Let that sink in.
- The Cavs had the right idea early: Get downhill, get in the paint, and work inside out. 13 of the Cavs 24 first quarter shots were within the paint. They went 10-for-13 on those shot attempts, and 2-for-11 outside the paint. This would be a theme.
- The Cavs were 1-for-8 on three-pointers in the first quarter, while the Magic were 4-for-10. This has been an indicator of which way games would go each step of the way, and the Cavs perimeter game has not traveled well all series long.
- But when the Cavs guards stay aggressive it does give them a chance. Garland had 3 paint buckets, a few assists off penetration and 2 fouls drawn. That sort of aggressive play that needs to be consistent and puts pressure on the defense.
- Mitchell’s drive game was there too even if his jumper wasn’t there early. Mitchell missed three first quarter jump shots but made his paint touches. His jumpers were short all night as he seemed to struggle with lift on his perimeter shots.
- The first quarter has been where the Cavs have made their hay and created some breathing room in wins – not so much this time. The Cavs allowed a 7-2 Magic run midway through the second quarter and were playing catch up for much of the half after that.
- The Suggs shots were one thing, the Cavs missed fastbreak opportunities were another. A few advantage opportunities ended up with zero points for the Cavs. A missed Isaac Okoro layup led to a and-one on the other end. The Magic end up going up by 6 instead of the Cavs cutting the Magic lead to 1. These types of mistakes compound and come back to haunt you on the road.
- The Cavs starters for the first quarter? -5
- Somehow JB Bickerstaff decided the missing part of the Cavs Game 5 win was Georges Niang. Look, the Cavs have limited options on the bench with the injuries at that spot, but Niang has looked overmatched all series. Meanwhile, Sam Merrill hasn’t gotten the same opportunity to exhaust that option. Yet here we are.
- It’s hard to overcome the zeros Niang and Caris LeVert have been contributing off the bench, especially on the road, while the Magic bench is contributing something.
- If LeVert’s play is usually somewhat erratic, it bordered on manic in Game 6. There was no rhyme, reason, or rhythm exhibited in anything LeVert was doing on the court. He had 2 turnovers in his 7 minutes on the court, and only contributed 1 point, 2 rebounds and 1 assist otherwise. $16 million players will have holes, but you can’t be a complete blackhole.
- The problem with Niang and LeVert is when they’re not contributing, they’re unplayable. They contribute little else in other parts of the game when they’re not scoring. LeVert can at least defend (some) and playmake, but when his scoring is off so is his playmaking and any semblance of control.
- The Cavs somehow tied the Magic with 24 points despite going 0-for-6 on three-pointers in the quarter. It’s hard to imagine the Cavs managing to hang around a game where they could barely make anything outside the paint.
- By the half, the Cavs had 40 paint points to the Magic’s 18. And this was with the Cavs frontcourt players accounting for 11 total points. The Cavs guards were getting inside often and converting.
- Somehow it felt like a minor victory the Cavs would only go into halftime down 4 points. For all the shooting troubles they had, for all the breaks the Magic were seemingly getting, the Cavs were still within striking distance.
- And hey, what do you know: The Cavs come out of the locker room well for once. After a Magic bucket, the Cavs went on a 13-0 run with Mitchell going into take over mode. He would have 9 of the Cavs 13 points in that stretch. He continued to be aggressive attacking the Magic in the paint and utilizing his finishing ability to make the most of a gimpy knee.
- Hey, what else did the Cavs run have? Some three-pointers! Mitchell and Strus both threw one in which would be two of their four for the quarter.
- One of those threes for the quarter would come Niang which would be his only second made three pointer for the series despite 85 series minutes.
- The message the Cavs sent the Magic coming out of the locker room was well received. The Cavs going up 7 points was short lived as the Magic cut the Cavs lead to 1 point in under 90 seconds. What took the Cavs over three minutes to build was gone in half the time. The Magic went on an 8-2 run with two made threes in that stretch.
- Of the Cavs 29 third quarter points, their most on the night, Garland and Mitchell accounted for 20 of them. The Cavs were going as their guards were going (all night) and it was a struggle to get anything from anyone else.
- Somewhere along the way Evan Mobley came down awkwardly on his ankle trying to haul in a rebound. It’s hard to say it should have any impact on him after Mitchell put up 50 points on one knee but it’s also hard to say it didn’t since finishing ability was noticeably flat.
- Through 23 minutes in the first three quarters Mobley had three field goal attempts – three! This is without Allen. How does your third best player get so few attempts? No postups, no spot-ups, and limited pick-and-roll opportunities. Whatever pick-and-roll game the Cavs were running with Allen, they weren’t operating with Mobley. Allen was eating in the short-roll area – it was nonexistent with Mobley.
- Playing a competitive road third quarter for once and going into the fourth quarter with a 5-point lead would seem to be a recipe for success, right? You would think.
- The Magic quickly came out of the quarter with a 6-0 to take the lead. After the Cavs controlled much of the third quarter, the Magic were back in the game.
- If you thought the Cavs had limited output in the third quarter, the fourth quarter took it to a whole new level. Mitchell was the only Cavalier player to score. Yes, he scored all 18 Cavalier points.
- Only four other Cavs player attempted a shot and Mobley is the only one who attempted more than one shot.
- How Garland plays the entire quarter, takes one shot, has no assists yet three turnovers will be a mystery.
- Garland had a good game up until the fourth quarter but little of that will be remembered for how it finished. For Mitchell trying to will his team to victory, Garland was the one he needed most to join him on the frontlines only to see him fall back to the rest of the struggling ranks.
- There were opportunities there for Garland to which he effectively dribbled out.
- It’s not even scoring all the Cavs fourth quarter points or doing it on one knee that is so impressive for Mitchell. It’s the fact that the offense was give it to Mitchell, get out of the way, and it was that pretty much every time down court and he still scored.
- Whatever actions the Cavs run in games up until the fourth quarter may be great, but they seemingly go out the window when the rubber hits the road. The pace slows, the ball sticks, and the shots are late in the shot clock. It puts pressure on the Cavs best players to make something happen.
- Despite all that, the Cavs were somehow in this game late. The Magic and Cavs traded basket for most of the fourth quarter with the Cavs having a lead as late as five minutes in the fourth.
- But of course, the story of the series has been the Magic hitting the shots needed to win. So, it was no surprise when Suggs and Banchero hit back-to-back three-pointers late to give the Magic the lead.
- Mitchell was doing just enough for the Cavs to be within three under the two-minute mark with a defensive rebound away from having the ball and a chance to take the lead. But a Cole Anthony offensive rebound pushed the Magic lead to 5 which seemed more like double digits with how much a struggle it was for the Cavs to generate good offense outside of Mitchell’s heroics.
- All of that is glossing over the Cavs penchant for committing turnovers at inexplicable times. None more inexcusable than Garland receiving an 8-second violation despite no pressure from the Magic in the backcourt. The possession clock may have started early but that’s no excuse not to recognize time and score at that point in the game.
- The Cavs had three turnovers in the last five minutes of the game, the Magic had none.
- For a first-time playoff team, the Magic seem to be the ones doing all the little things necessary to win at a high level.
- And when the Cavs are supposed to be the more experienced team, and the one to learn from their wrongs in last year’s playoff series, it looks like they’re more the first-time playoff team than the Magic do.
- In seeing the culture and play style of the Knicks and Magic in back-to-back years, it really makes you feel like the Cavs are farther away from competing than they should be. Both the Magic and Knicks felt prepared for the moment and were able to rise to the occasion. Inexperience wasn’t an excuse, and both seemed mentally tough to tackle obstacles thrown their way. Can you say that for the Cavs?
- The other noticeable difference in the Cavs and Magic is the positional size for each team. For as many good defensive possessions Strus or Okoro might have in one-on-one defense, none of that mattered when it was time to contest shots and Banchero and Wagner were able to go up and over them for the score. It underscores how much that wasn’t prioritized when building out this team.
- Danny Cunningham had a great stat: The Tristan Thompson late third quarter field goal was the last field goal scored by a Cav not named Mitchell for the rest of the game. The Magic had six players score over that same time span.
- Another playoff game, another under 100 scoring effort.
- No Cavaliers players had a positive plus-minus.
- Up next: Game 7 Sunday at 1PM (ET)