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 Wendell 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.
Injury report
Cleveland
Caris LeVert - OUT (knee)
Evan Mobley - OUT (knee)
Ty Jerome - OUT (ankle)
Orlando
Jalen Suggs - QUESTIONABLE (ankle)
Jonathan Isaac - QUESTIONABLE (ankle)
Wendell Carter Jr - OUT (finger)
Markelle Fultz - OUT (knee)