Whatever good vibes were had after the first two games is out the window. Losing isn’t unexpected and is understandable. Losing in a fashion they did, the worst in playoff franchise history, is unacceptable.
Every playoff series is like its own regular season – there’s ups and downs and every game seem like the highest high or the lowest low. If there’s anything this Cavaliers season has taught us is that they’re consistently inconsistent on a game-by-game basis. There’s no predicting what was around the next corner.
We knew the Magic would bounce back shooting wise and would come out ready returning home after two tough losses to open the series. What we didn’t know is the Cavs wouldn’t come out ready.
The Cavs look like they had little to play for while the Magic looked like they had everything to play for. The physicality and focus the Cavs played with in games one and two seemed like many moons ago.
Now with all that said, it is only one game. Some of the things shown in this game will be concerning moving forward but Cavs still have the chance to head home 3-1. There’s also the fact the Cavs literally couldn’t have played any worse.
The game started like the last two have: The Cavs getting off to a quick start to the tune of 10-3. The Magic started 0-6 from three-point range and it seemed like more of the same. Even when the Magic followed up with back-to-back three pointers, Jarrett Allen scored to make it every starter in the scoring column just 5 minutes in,
But the tides quickly shifted, and those two three-pointers were the tip of the iceberg. The Magic went 3-6 on three-pointers the rest of the quarter while the Cavs went an abysmal 1-12. The Magic were a +12 on three-pointers through one quarter. The Magic had a 10-point lead after one.
Jamahl Mosley made a change to their starting lineup going back to Wendell Carter Jr and it paid immediate dividends. The Magic had 9 (!) first quarter offensive rebounds that led to 13 second chance points. Carter Jr was only credited with one, but his strength and activity was able to keep Allen off the boards. The Cavs also did a poor job corralling the ball once it hit the rim.
The Cavs had five offensive rebounds all night. The Magic had that many five minutes into the game.
So, the two things that failed the Magic, shooting and rebounding, propelled them towards a 31-point quarter – their highest scoring quarter of the series (until the third quarter happened).
The Cavs were really focused on operating inside-out early on. 9 of their 22 shot attempts came within the paint, and so did 8 of their 9 made field goals. Only came from outside the paint and that was the lone three-pointer for the quarter.
Donovan Mitchell was a distributor early on with five assists. He took four shot attempts and only managed two opening quarter points in 10 minutes of play. Perhaps the intent was there but the same explosiveness and agility didn’t quite seem there all night.
One of the few bright spots in the first quarter was a stretch of Evan Mobley showing his skill on both ends. It started with a Carter Jr blocked shot attempt at the rim, followed by running the floor leading to foul shots. Then, he forced a bad Paolo Banchero shot attempt, and followed that up with an assist off offensive action to Max Strus under the rim. The impact on both ends was evident.
Outside of that, it wasn’t great. The Magic got going and they didn’t stop. The Cavs were up 21-20 late in the first, and the Magic went on an 11-0 run to end the quarter. That is the last time the Cavs would lead.
What do all Cavs have runs in common? Missed threes and turnovers. In that stretch, the Cavs turned it over once and missed four threes. The lineup that allowed that streak (Garland-Okoro-LeVert-Niang-Mobley) was a game worst -8 in the four minutes it played over two quarters.
Sam Merrill finally got some second quarter in place of Isaac Okoro who failed to make much of an impact in his on-court minutes. Upon entering, the Cavs had made two threes to that point while the Magic made 6.
Caris LeVert tried his best to be good LeVert and get the Cavs back in the game but even that didn’t put a dent in the Magic machine tonight. LeVert had 9 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists at half, and was one of the few Cavs weapons able to get inside and finish efficiently.
Another Magic run, this time an 8-2 run in just over a minute, forced another Cavaliers timeout. At that point midway through the second quarter the Cavs were already down 16.
Mitchell was comfortable to play distributor to start but sensing the Cavs needed his scoring, he started to get more aggressive late in the quarter. He started 1-6 but in the final 2-ish minutes he managed a quick seven points. However, the Cavs would still be down 16 points heading into half.
The Magic began to hit their perimeter shots and then followed it up going 9/11 on two-pointers in the second quarter and shot 66.7% for the entire quarter. Whatever the Cavs were doing on defense simply wasn’t working.
Part of it was the Magic reverting back to the mean after below average performances. The Cavs stuck to their strategy in sinking on drives, giving up corner threes on drives, and forcing the Magic shooters to beat them. Tonight, they did.
The Cavs were able to manage their turnovers well (six at half) and eliminated second chance points in the second quarter, but it might have been too little too late as the Magic’s shot was back and so was their confidence.
Banchero was already at 19 points at halftime when he scored just 21 points and 24 points in the entire game one and two. Jalen Suggs was at 11 halftime points with two three-pointers – he scored 9 and 13 points in the previous two games and only made one three-pointer.
If Garland is only going to have 5 points at halftime of a playoff game, the bench is going to have to step up and help the scoring load. LeVert did his part with 9 points, but he was the only bench points at half. The Magic had 19.
With a half like the Cavs had, you would hope they came out firing in the third quarter and set a tone for the quarter, and rest of the game. Nope. The Magic came out immediately on a 7-2 run to push their lead to 20+ points. Not ideal.
The Magic continued the quarter with another run, this time to the tune of 12-0. This pushed the Cavs deficit to over 30 points.
And 30 points must have been the threshold for Marcus Morris and Tristan Thompson getting some minutes, as their first playoff appearances this year came shortly thereafter. Those two shared the court for 4+ minutes in the quarter and were a -3.
If a 16-point lead wasn’t bad enough, the Magic doubled up the Cavs for the quarter: 35-16 and doubled their lead in the process.
The fourth quarter turned out to be a slop fest with Damian Jones getting 7 minutes, Morris and Thompson getting 5 minutes, and Garland and Georges Niang getting some minutes to get their shot going. Niang did, Garland didn’t.
Niang hit his first three for the series in the fourth quarter, but the question is: How much longer does Bickerstaff stick with Niang first off the bench? It’s not like Okoro has lit the world on fire but lessening minutes opens minutes for Merrill which is what they made need to spark the bench unit offensively and provide a tougher matchup for Banchero more consistently.
The other question is what the heck do you do with Garland to get him going? Despite a very successful regular season against the Magic (third highest ppg amongst opponents this year), Garland had another dud of a first half with 5 points, 2 rebound, 1 assist and was 2-6 from the field. This is now three games in a row where the scoring, the urgency and the playmaking is not there from the start. The Cavs can afford him to score but not dish out assists, or playmake out the wazoo and not score as many points, but they can’t afford both. They’re also not paying him like a player where that’s acceptable.
The first quarter was just the start, but the Magic punished the Cavs on the boards all night. They were a +19 in that category by game’s end.
One place we talked about the Magic exploiting more, since their efficiency the last two games has been above average, is fast breaks. Well, they doubled up the Cavs tonight to the tune of 22-11. The Magic ran more and found more offensive success.
The most disappointing part of the loss wasn’t the loss itself, it was the lack of urgency displayed throughout the game. The Cavs looked like they felt they had a game to spare and didn’t feel the need to play through the punches. Instead, they returned to their corner and were willing to take the knockdown.
Now on the other hand, Suggs’ step back three-pointers and Banchero fall away jumper after fallaway jumper leads you to believe it’s just one of those nights. The Cavs didn’t have it, and the Magic did.
But let’s keep this in perspective: It’s only one game. Every playoff game is magnified which is why some felt like the Cavs would sweep after two wins and why some feel like the Cavs won’t win again after this one game.
Let’s also realize the Magic are really good at home. During the regular season they had the second-best home record in the Eastern Conference and it was a top-5 home record in the NBA.
The Cavs still have an opportunity to head home 3-1 with a chance to wrap up the series on homecourt. They must take it one game on the time. It’s not a series until a team wins two games on the road.
Mosely adjusted by starting Carter Jr, what’s Bickerstaff’s adjustment? I’m not sure you can play the same sink and pray coverage with the Magic at home or continue to trot out the same rotations especially given their lack of offensive punch.
Bickerstaff is going to say it starts with defense but in eight playoff games now they’ve been held under 90 points (twice) more than they have scored more than 100 points (once). A Garland and Mitchell backcourt simply cannot lead an offense that has that level of playoff offense, it must be better.
This is your regular reminder the Cavs really miss Dean Wade. They miss his shooting, his rebounding, his defense and his base level of play. Without him, the Cavs really only have Niang as a playoff playable 'big'.
The Cavs need more from their role players. Okoro, Strus, LeVert and Niang have scored 72 points in 3 games and over 280+ minutes. 8-40 from three-point range also isn't going to get it done. The Cavs brought in Strus and Niang to help in the playoffs, especially with shooting, hoped Okoro would take the next step, and kept LeVert because he was a 6th-man of the year candidate. So far each guy has had their 'game' but none of them have been consistently productive.
Up next: Cavs stay in Orlando for a 1PM (ET) Saturday game.
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