The Orlando Magic entered Wednesday night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers as the third seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 14-6. They’re no joke and no pushover. Still, the Cavs managed to pull off a 121-111 over this budding young Magic core.
Cleveland largely played well against this emerging Eastern Conference contender, but it wasn’t perfect.
Let’s get into some Game Grades!
Cavaliers Offense: A
The Cavs had a near-flawless game from the offensive end against the Magic. The Darius Garland–Donovan Mitchell duo combined to score a season-high 61 points, while the team as a whole shot 53% from the field and 41% from behind the arc.
A lot of this had to do with Cleveland’s incredible start, in which they finished the first quarter with an offensive rating of 148.0.
I did say near-perfect, though.
The Cavaliers still committed 17 turnovers, allowing Orlando to score 20 points off their miscues. Yes, it’s nit-picky, but it’s the little things such as this that could come back to bite the Cavs in tighter contests.
Cavaliers Defense: B
Playing with a lead is something that the Cavs have struggled with all season. The Wine and Gold climbed out to a 23-point lead early in the game, but watched it slowly disappear as the night went on.
At one point, the Magic cut it down to just eight points, giving everyone flashbacks to last Thursday against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Paolo Banchero was also a problem for the Cavaliers. He dropped a career-high 42 points and exploited Cleveland’s lack of defense against wings. On top of this, the Magic outscored the Cavs in the paint 68-58, which really shouldn’t be happening when you start two seven-footers.
Another issue for Cleveland was the fouls. Oh, the fouls.
It felt like every other play, a whistle was being blown. The Cavs finished with 27 personal fouls, with Evan Mobley, Max Strus, and Jarrett Allen each committing five.
No, the Cavs’ defense was not horrendous, though. A positive was that the Magic shot just 8.7% (2-for-23) from behind the arc.
However, some problems still need to be worked out.
Overall: A-
This was a big win for the Cavs.
They proved that they could maintain a lead after gaining one early, and beat one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference while doing so. Mitchell and Garland looked like the All-Star backcourt fans expect them to be, and Cleveland has now won eight of its last 11 games.
There’s still some things that the Cavs need to shake out on the defensive end, but that should not take away from a positive win such as this one.
