2024 NBA Playoffs - East 1st Round: #4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. #5 Orlando Magic (CLE WINS 4-3)

[JujitsuFlip]

This is why the Cavs would be fools to trade Mobley. When he's 24-26, he's going to be a monster.

It honestly may be better to move Allen, so Mobley can have that safety net removed and slide to 5 full time. Trial by fire.

Allen's stock is gonna be so high this summer.

I like both guys because they are unselfish players who are willing to do the little things and don't complain about touches. That is so rare in this league. However, if you move Mobley to the 5, you absolutely need someone next to him who will also get on the glass, even if they are more a stretch player.

Could use prime Kevin Love, probably before he lost the weight and grew some hair lol

[3ddman23]

Cleveland was giving that game to orlando and they just couldn't take it. Stinks. This was such a winnable series

[Rainwater]

Well, this is an arrival moment for Paolo.

Hopefully this shows people how good he could be.

[Chokic]

Very impressed by paolo banchero. Dude is absolutely legit.

[SOUL]

Good game, Cavs. Not too mad about the loss even though we had a chance... hope we can push it to game 7 but not sure I would be able to stomach that game lol

[Tor_Raps]

Paolo made a ton of mistakes down the stretch but he played an amazing game. As he gets older, he will learn.

He made mistakes because he had to do EVERYTHING for the team offensively. Would have been nice to see Wagner help him...

[jbk1234]

Paolo made a ton of mistakes down the stretch but he played an amazing game. As he gets older, he will learn.

He made mistakes because he had to do EVERYTHING for the team offensively. Would have been nice to see Wagner help him...

He could've shared the ball once Mobley was assigned to him. It would've been the smart thing to do.

[Tor_Raps]

Paolo made a ton of mistakes down the stretch but he played an amazing game. As he gets older, he will learn.

He made mistakes because he had to do EVERYTHING for the team offensively. Would have been nice to see Wagner help him...

He could've shared the ball once Mobley was assigned to him. It would've been the smart thing to do.

Are you talking about when Wagner got his ass stuffed at the end trying to go after Mobley?

Banchero needed the ball at the end but Wagner tried being a hero.

[jbk1234]

He made mistakes because he had to do EVERYTHING for the team offensively. Would have been nice to see Wagner help him...

He could've shared the ball once Mobley was assigned to him. It would've been the smart thing to do.

Are you talking about when Wagner got his ass stuffed at the end trying to go after Mobley?

Banchero needed the ball at the end but Wagner tried being a hero.

Yeah, that was one play. It only came down to that play because Banchero decided to keep going at Mobley when the smarter play would've been to pass into the assist.

[ORLMagicGirl15]

He made mistakes because he had to do EVERYTHING for the team offensively. Would have been nice to see Wagner help him...

He could've shared the ball once Mobley was assigned to him. It would've been the smart thing to do.

Are you talking about when Wagner got [EDIT] stuffed at the end trying to go after Mobley?

Banchero needed the ball at the end but Wagner tried being a hero.

Franz doesn't play hero ball. If Paolo gave it up to Wagner it's because he have trust him. They have played like this all season. Even if one is hot, they will give it up to each other if they feel like they have the more favorable matchup. Sometimes they get it wrong. But it is really cool watching them play like this.

[Ugly Duckling]

the magic are like the second most boring team in the league. the first is boston. paolo and tatum are good though

[CDM_Stats]

My favorite series to watch TBH.. two teams in the East on the cusp of greatness.

Magic need some shooting, Cavs need some depth. Hell of a 1st round matchup

[PlatinumState]

I can see Orlando taking this in 7

[RookieStar]

Im not too upset we lost. Winning 2 games is already waaaaaay beyond our expectations.

[Iwasawitness]

I can see Orlando taking this in 7

At the beginning of this game I would have agreed with this, but…

Cleveland winning this game pretty much changed everything. This was Orlando’s opportunity to steal home court and Cleveland still managed to defend it.

Games like these are soul crushing in the playoffs. It’s one thing to lose a game down to the wire. It’s another to do it when the opposing team is losing one of their starters. Jarrett Allen has arguably been the best player core Cleveland throughout this entire series. A lot of people, myself included, expected Cleveland to lose this game due to his absence. That ended up not happening.

The big thing though is now Morris has just earned his spot in Cleveland’s playoff rotation (unless this is a one time thing, in which case JBB would need to be fired as soon as this season ends). I don’t think people realize how big of a deal this is. The Magic were killing Cleveland in those lineups involving Niang. Morris doesn’t have the same weaknesses as him and offers more advantages on top of being very experienced in the postseason. He isn’t afraid of the moment and he was the first cavaliers player off the bench in this series to score in double figures. I’ve been preaching all series why Morris needs playing time and the results speak for themselves.

I’ll be interested to see what Cleveland does with Morris in game 6. If Allen is still out for that game, I would put him in the starting lineup. Even if he isn’t, he needs to be closing out the game like he did last night until Allen is back in. I’m just glad we have a big who can spread the floor and play great defense off the bench. What a god send.

With all of this in mind, I would not be surprised if Cleveland ended up winning game 6.

[Dadouv47]

Im not too upset we lost. Winning 2 games is already waaaaaay beyond our expectations.

Didn't think Orlando would be this good already so yeah u right. Still a chance to win this series even if you guys are underdogs

[bmurph128]

I'm happy the Cavs won, but if I'm Altman, I'm sending the tape into the league and asking the league how they think this game was officiated.

the Cavs were hackin ruthlessly the whole game knowing they didnt have Allen to protect the paint

they werent subtle fouls

kinda why I was irritated the Magic werent attacking the paint more to end the game

I don't think many Cavs fans are upset with the fouls called on the Cavs in a vacuum. The problem is that the Magic are being allowed to play A LOT more physical and not getting called for as many fouls. I just want consistency

Sent from my Pixel 6 using RealGM mobile app

[bmurph128]

Im not too upset we lost. Winning 2 games is already waaaaaay beyond our expectations.

There is almost no chance the Cavs win in Orlando after what we've seen in games 3 and 4. This is going 7

Sent from my Pixel 6 using RealGM mobile app

[Magicman125]

I can see Orlando taking this in 7

At the beginning of this game I would have agreed with this, but…

Cleveland winning this game pretty much changed everything. This was Orlando’s opportunity to steal home court and Cleveland still managed to defend it.

Games like these are soul crushing in the playoffs. It’s one thing to lose a game down to the wire. It’s another to do it when the opposing team is losing one of their starters. Jarrett Allen has arguably been the best player core Cleveland throughout this entire series. A lot of people, myself included, expected Cleveland to lose this game due to his absence. That ended up not happening.

The big thing though is now Morris has just earned his spot in Cleveland’s playoff rotation (unless this is a one time thing, in which case JBB would need to be fired as soon as this season ends). I don’t think people realize how big of a deal this is. The Magic were killing Cleveland in those lineups involving Niang. Morris doesn’t have the same weaknesses as him and offers more advantages on top of being very experienced in the postseason. He isn’t afraid of the moment and he was the first cavaliers player off the bench in this series to score in double figures. I’ve been preaching all series why Morris needs playing time and the results speak for themselves.

I’ll be interested to see what Cleveland does with Morris in game 6. If Allen is still out for that game, I would put him in the starting lineup. Even if he isn’t, he needs to be closing out the game like he did last night until Allen is back in. I’m just glad we have a big who can spread the floor and play great defense off the bench. What a god send.

With all of this in mind, I would not be surprised if Cleveland ended up winning game 6.

While I agree that Jarrett Allen has been your best player and winning without him is probably confidence-instilling for your squad, I think your offense got opened up a lot more due to having Morris in the game. As a big who can hit a three and still play decent defense on our front court. The smaller starting lineup, while giving up a lot to Banchero, also helped you all play faster and it opened up things for Strus and Garland to get theirs (though I blame Cole Anthony's defense for like 8 of those Strus points).

Magic will still be incredibly tough for you to beat on their home floor and then this game showed that they absolutely can win in a game 7 if they can force one. Really feels like a coin flip to me if it gets to that point, they just need to be able to take this punch to the gut and come back focused and take care of business at home, like they did in games 3 and 4 and the majority of the regular season in their building. Regardless, we'll see how the young guys handle a do-or-die situation and they'll be all the better for it win or lose.

[Iwasawitness]

I can see Orlando taking this in 7

At the beginning of this game I would have agreed with this, but…

Cleveland winning this game pretty much changed everything. This was Orlando’s opportunity to steal home court and Cleveland still managed to defend it.

Games like these are soul crushing in the playoffs. It’s one thing to lose a game down to the wire. It’s another to do it when the opposing team is losing one of their starters. Jarrett Allen has arguably been the best player core Cleveland throughout this entire series. A lot of people, myself included, expected Cleveland to lose this game due to his absence. That ended up not happening.

The big thing though is now Morris has just earned his spot in Cleveland’s playoff rotation (unless this is a one time thing, in which case JBB would need to be fired as soon as this season ends). I don’t think people realize how big of a deal this is. The Magic were killing Cleveland in those lineups involving Niang. Morris doesn’t have the same weaknesses as him and offers more advantages on top of being very experienced in the postseason. He isn’t afraid of the moment and he was the first cavaliers player off the bench in this series to score in double figures. I’ve been preaching all series why Morris needs playing time and the results speak for themselves.

I’ll be interested to see what Cleveland does with Morris in game 6. If Allen is still out for that game, I would put him in the starting lineup. Even if he isn’t, he needs to be closing out the game like he did last night until Allen is back in. I’m just glad we have a big who can spread the floor and play great defense off the bench. What a god send.

With all of this in mind, I would not be surprised if Cleveland ended up winning game 6.

While I agree that Jarrett Allen has been your best player and winning without him is probably confidence-instilling for your squad, I think your offense got opened up a lot more due to having Morris in the game. As a big who can hit a three and still play decent defense on our front court. The smaller starting lineup, while giving up a lot to Banchero, also helped you all play faster and it opened up things for Strus and Garland to get theirs (though I blame Cole Anthony's defense for like 8 of those Strus points).

Magic will still be incredibly tough for you to beat on their home floor and then this game showed that they absolutely can win in a game 7 if they can force one. Really feels like a coin flip to me if it gets to that point, they just need to be able to take this punch to the gut and come back focused and take care of business at home, like they did in games 3 and 4 and the majority of the regular season in their building. Regardless, we'll see how the young guys handle a do-or-die situation and they'll be all the better for it win or lose.

If Allen is back in game 7, I have a hard time seeing Orlando winning that. Orlando is just so young and inexperienced and even at this point, it’s continued to show. It’s clear that Mobley defending Paolo changes everything, and if Strus is able to maintain some level of consistency… I think it’s game over for Orlando. You’ve mentioned Morris, but taking Niang out of the equation has now robbed Orlando of the lineup they’ve been taking advantage of the most against Cleveland.

So much of what I’m saying could be wrong. It will all depend on how game 6 plays out, which I still have Orlando winning. But I’m so curious as to how these new adjustments will play out for Cleveland.