Sports Reporter | Capper
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The Orlando Magic have now lost four out of their last five games as well as dropping game one of the NBA Playoffs matchup and they will be looking to bounce back in Cleveland when they take on the Cavaliers in game two of their first-round matchup of the playoffs on Monday night. We take a look at this matchup to make a Magic-Cavaliers prediction and pick.
Orlando Magic (47-36) dropped game one of their first-round matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday. The game wasn't particularly close as the Magic shot an abysmal 33% from the floor and 22% from 3-point range. The lone bright spot was of course Paolo Banchero who led the team with 24 points but he also had 9 turnovers which is uncharacteristic for the star forward.
This Magic squad didn't give Banchero much help as Franz Wagner was the only other player who came close to scoring 20 points with 18 points of his own. However, the rest of the team had a combined 41 points. They will need to do a better job at creating shots and being more efficient from the floor if they are going to want to even the series in Cleveland on Monday night.
Cleveland's (49-34) came out in the first half putting it on the Magic as they got out to a 12-point lead at halftime. From there, they never let up outscoring the Magic in three of four quarters while keeping them under 30 points in every single quarter.
While the Cavaliers weren't as efficient as they normally are on offense they were still able to get it done with a big thanks to Donovan Mitchell's 30-point outing and the dominance in the paint from Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.
The towering Allen and Mobley manning the paint had a massive impact on Orlando being able to navigate any type of offense driving to the hoop. They also helped the Cavaliers outrebound the Magic 54-40 which limited the Magic's second-chance opportunities.
The Cavaliers will need to keep up this intensity on offense and defense if they want to continue their winning ways and take game two at home before heading off to Orlando on Monday night.
The Orlando Magic were looking like a team to watch out for as they made their playoff push and then they struggled down the stretch which continued into their game one matchup with the Cavaliers. The Magic struggled to hit their shots and turned the ball over a ton.
However, they were still able to limit the damage against them defensively against the Cavaliers. Despite Mitchell going off for 30 points, they kept the Cavaliers under 100 points and just 27% from 3-point range for the game.
The Magic were able to stop limit a very good offensive team in the Cavaliers to just 97 points where almost 1/3 of the points came from just Mitchell. They held the trio of Max Strus, Darius Garland, and Caris LeVert to just 26 combined points which is a great feat in itself. Now knowing how well they can perform on defense it's up to players aside from Banchero and Wagner to step up.
They certainly need more from Markelle Fultz, Gary Harris, and Wendall Carter Jr. and if these secondary players can up their game this second game of the series could go their way as they look to even the score in this Monday night playoff showdown.
The Cleveland Cavaliers came out in the first game of the series looking to set the tone. They pushed the pace and made Orlando shoot contested long-range shots that were off the mark early on. The Cavaliers got off to a 12-point lead at halftime only to cruise in the second half to capture game one with a 97-83 victory covering the -5-point spread with relative ease.
It was the Donovan Mitchell show who was seemingly unguardable as he racked up 30 points on 11-21 shooting from the floor and 3-8 from beyond the arc. He did have help from the best tandem in the frontcourt in the NBA.
Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley combined for 32 points, 29 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 blocks.
They eliminated the paint the offensive boards and second-chance points for the Magic. However, the rest of the Cavaliers team severely underperformed according to their standards.
In game two, Garland, LeVert, and Strus will need to pick it up because they can't expect the Magic to shoot so poorly this time around. If the Cavaliers can keep up the intensity on defense but pick it up on the offensive side of the ball they can snag game two before they head to Orlando.
The Cleveland Cavaliers certainly have what it takes to get the job done here against the Orlando Magic. While I expected the last game to be closely contested, the way that the Magic played it's hard to expect anything different in this game two matchup. They didn't have an answer for Mitchell, Allen, and Mobley and that should remain the same in Monday night's matchup.
Expect Mitchell to have his way with this Orlando Magic defense while Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley man the paint but also shooters like Srus, Garland, and LeVert to have better games this time around. With that said, take the Cavaliers and lay the points as they go up 2-0 against the Magic in this Eastern Conference playoff matchup.
FINAL MAGIC-CAVALIERS PICK & PREDICTION: CLEVELAND CAVALIERS -5.5 (-110)
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