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

[PlatinumState]

Orlando got this as I said after game 5

[MrGoat]

Whoever wins this is getting destroyed by Boston

Who cares? Orlando wasn’t even supposed to be here. This experience and exposure is huge for a good young team.

THIS. There were some of us who thought we were getting swept by the Cavs... being swept by BOS is an unbelievable achievement. Lol

And with the way Boston occasionally just goes to sleep a sweep is no guarantee. See: Boston Miami game 2 without Jimmy Butler

The Magic's season is already a complete success and they're just playing with house money now

For as much as people ignored this series, it's the only game 7 we have this round so get hype

[RookieStar]

Who cares? Orlando wasn’t even supposed to be here. This experience and exposure is huge for a good young team.

THIS. There were some of us who thought we were getting swept by the Cavs... being swept by BOS is an unbelievable achievement. Lol

And with the way Boston occasionally just goes to sleep a sweep is no guarantee. See: Boston Miami game 2 without Jimmy Butler

The Magic's season is already a complete success and they're just playing with house money now

For as much as people ignored this series, it's the only game 7 we have this round so get hype

Yup.. and although the 1st 4 games were vlowoits by both sides, the last 2 were wire to wire and intense.

[Message Boar]

Right now, I'm honestly not sure if I want the Magic to win game 7. Boston is gonna straight murder whoever (tiredly) comes out of this matchup. Maybe going down in a competitive game 7 on the road would be better vibes going into the offseason than getting eviscerated

That game 6 was a difficult watch as a Magic fan, I thought we actually played quite poorly but found a way to get it done. Our offense was clunky (and clank-y) as it often is, a lot worse than games 3 and 4. And then on the other side we were allowing a layup line to their small guards of uncontested or mildly contested layups despite our size advantage, which we really didn't shore up until the final minutes.

As someone who has watched this entire series, Jarrett Allen being out weirdly feels like it has helped the Cavs, despite the good series he was having. It's not just the Magic defender that's being drawn out of the paint; one fewer Cavs body being in the paint has increased the ease with which Mitchell and Garland can drive to the rim tremendously. The Magic coaches should be debating if we shouldn't just leave Okoro open at this point.

P.S. game 7 being an afternoon game with only one day in between to travel is wild.

[Mad Guru]

Right now, I'm honestly not sure if I want the Magic to win game 7. Boston is gonna straight murder whoever (tiredly) comes out of this matchup. Maybe going down in a competitive game 7 on the road would be better vibes going into the offseason than getting eviscerated

That game 6 was a difficult watch as a Magic fan, I thought we actually played quite poorly but found a way to get it done. Our offense was clunky (and clank-y) as it often is, a lot worse than games 3 and 4. And then on the other side we were allowing a layup line to their small guards of uncontested or mildly contested layups despite our size advantage, which we really didn't shore up until the final minutes.

As someone who has watched this entire series, Jarrett Allen being out weirdly feels like it has helped the Cavs, despite the good series he was having. It's not just the Magic defender that's being drawn out of the paint; one fewer Cavs body being in the paint has increased the ease with which Mitchell and Garland can drive to the rim tremendously. The Magic coaches should be debating if we shouldn't just leave Okoro open at this point.

P.S. game 7 being an afternoon game with only one day in between to travel is wild.

The Magic are quite literally leaving Okoro open, they have all series.

That is 100% the game plan, guard everyone else while he is on the court.

[cgf]

Mitchell is a dwade caliber you don't trade that kind of player to prioritize mobleys development lol. I'm high on Garland but his game doesn't mesh well w/ mitchell as he needs the ball in his hand alot to really be effective.

Did you just call Mitchell Dwade Caliber? Dwade is arguably top 3 SG of all time. If Mitchell was Dwade caliber he would have won a title in Utah. You are either overrating Mitchell or have never seen Dwade play.

When did Mitchell play with anyone as good as LeBron or Shaq in Utah?

[cgf]

Am i seeing this right? Not only did Don the only Cavs player to score the entire 4th, he also outscored his entire team combined throughout the entire game?

You got that right lol and one of his teammates had 21 points on 17 shots 58% from the floor.

MJ and AI seem to be the only ones to have done it before in playoffs - Jordan 4 times, Iverson -2

Brunson almost joined that list, being outscored by just 3pts in game 4 when he put up 47 of our 97 pts.

[basketballRob]

I think Orlando can take Boston to 7 games. They've beat them 4 out of the last 6 games.

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[jpengland]

Right now, I'm honestly not sure if I want the Magic to win game 7. Boston is gonna straight murder whoever (tiredly) comes out of this matchup. Maybe going down in a competitive game 7 on the road would be better vibes going into the offseason than getting eviscerated

That game 6 was a difficult watch as a Magic fan, I thought we actually played quite poorly but found a way to get it done. Our offense was clunky (and clank-y) as it often is, a lot worse than games 3 and 4. And then on the other side we were allowing a layup line to their small guards of uncontested or mildly contested layups despite our size advantage, which we really didn't shore up until the final minutes.

As someone who has watched this entire series, Jarrett Allen being out weirdly feels like it has helped the Cavs, despite the good series he was having. It's not just the Magic defender that's being drawn out of the paint; one fewer Cavs body being in the paint has increased the ease with which Mitchell and Garland can drive to the rim tremendously. The Magic coaches should be debating if we shouldn't just leave Okoro open at this point.

P.S. game 7 being an afternoon game with only one day in between to travel is wild.

Said before that the Cavs should.cash out on Jarrett Allen. Their ceiling is much higher if they swap him for a big wing.

[cgf]

Right now, I'm honestly not sure if I want the Magic to win game 7. Boston is gonna straight murder whoever (tiredly) comes out of this matchup. Maybe going down in a competitive game 7 on the road would be better vibes going into the offseason than getting eviscerated

That game 6 was a difficult watch as a Magic fan, I thought we actually played quite poorly but found a way to get it done. Our offense was clunky (and clank-y) as it often is, a lot worse than games 3 and 4. And then on the other side we were allowing a layup line to their small guards of uncontested or mildly contested layups despite our size advantage, which we really didn't shore up until the final minutes.

As someone who has watched this entire series, Jarrett Allen being out weirdly feels like it has helped the Cavs, despite the good series he was having. It's not just the Magic defender that's being drawn out of the paint; one fewer Cavs body being in the paint has increased the ease with which Mitchell and Garland can drive to the rim tremendously. The Magic coaches should be debating if we shouldn't just leave Okoro open at this point.

P.S. game 7 being an afternoon game with only one day in between to travel is wild.

Said before that the Cavs should.cash out on Jarrett Allen. Their ceiling is much higher if they swap him for a big wing.

Mobley hasn't been ready to play Center. Kid is still part slender-man.

[orlando_joe]

Cavs fans may not want to hear this but for Mobley's own personal development, it might be best if Donovan Mitchel leaves.

If Cav fans are against that idea then you must not think his ceiling is really high.

His ceiling isnt that high. Garland is the perfect PG for Mobley and we've seen little evolution from him offensively the last few years relative to his potential.

He's not built for consistent playoff basketball. He couldn't screen Jalen Suggs and got knocked down him. Needs to add a ton of muscle and develop a better offensive game

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When a screened player knocks down the screener, that's an uncalled foul.

or a flop...lol

[basketballRob]

3 straight calls in the 3rd quarter at 2:30 went the Cavs way. Thompson clearly charged into Moe and knocked him down, and had no call. The next play, Mitchell, hacks Franz across the arm, and the ball goes to the Cavs. The next play, Thompson, hacks Paolo on the shot and doesn't get a call.

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[DowJones]

I didnt get to see the game... but 26 FTs to 10 is wild. Orlando got 89 FGA, to Clevelands 86 FGA... and then, they got 16 more FT attempts. No team can win with the other team getting that many more attempts to score.

Overall, it appears that Cleveland outplayed them, but Orlando out hustled them on the boards (15 ORebs vs. 7) and got a very friendly whistle. Turnover battle was equal.

Are the stats deceiving or is that how it went down?

Magic got a nice whistle tonight, but I don't think it was offensively bad. 6 of those BTW are from intentional fouling, so it's more like 20 to 10 FTs. I think people always forget this part when trying to quote free throw disparity. Could the Cavs have had like 2-3 more trips to the line? Sure.

But I also don't get the more paint points = team should get more fouls drawn.. especially with how poor our defense was inside today, a lot of layups and floaters from the Cavs, versus our drives kind of barreling inside with our bigs.

I think if there are bigger gripes for Cavs fans it can be physicality allowed on defense at times, versus specific fouls on plays at the basket giving them more free throws.

No, the whistle was offensively bad for Orlando. Orlando has been +40 from the free-throw line for the entire series. Orlando has been allowed to bump and shove every time a Cavalier has driven to the hoop.

[Message Boar]

3 straight calls in the 3rd quarter at 2:30 went the Cavs way. Thompson clearly charged into Moe and knocked him down, and had no call. The next play, Mitchell, hacks Franz across the arm, and the ball goes to the Cavs. The next play, Thompson, hacks Paolo on the shot and doesn't get a call.

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There was also a blatant backcourt violation on Garland that was missed (easily visible even without a closeup shot), and an out of bounds that was missed when a Cavs player stepped over his own baseline while gathering a defensive rebound, from what I recall.

[basketballRob]

3 straight calls in the 3rd quarter at 2:30 went the Cavs way. Thompson clearly charged into Moe and knocked him down, and had no call. The next play, Mitchell, hacks Franz across the arm, and the ball goes to the Cavs. The next play, Thompson, hacks Paolo on the shot and doesn't get a call.

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There was also a blatant backcourt violation on Garland that was missed (easily visible even without a closeup shot), and an out of bounds that was missed when a Cavs player stepped over his own baseline while gathering a defensive rebound, from what I recall.

The refs blew that one, too. The only reason I brought it up is that some of the posters here are claiming we're getting the benefit of the whistle.

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[One Last Shot]

Orlando won 4 of their last 6 games against Celtics. There's a chance we might see a Magical series if they advance to second round of Playoffs. Boston in 5.

[Audi]

I didnt get to see the game... but 26 FTs to 10 is wild. Orlando got 89 FGA, to Clevelands 86 FGA... and then, they got 16 more FT attempts. No team can win with the other team getting that many more attempts to score.

Overall, it appears that Cleveland outplayed them, but Orlando out hustled them on the boards (15 ORebs vs. 7) and got a very friendly whistle. Turnover battle was equal.

Are the stats deceiving or is that how it went down?

Magic got a nice whistle tonight, but I don't think it was offensively bad. 6 of those BTW are from intentional fouling, so it's more like 20 to 10 FTs. I think people always forget this part when trying to quote free throw disparity. Could the Cavs have had like 2-3 more trips to the line? Sure.

But I also don't get the more paint points = team should get more fouls drawn.. especially with how poor our defense was inside today, a lot of layups and floaters from the Cavs, versus our drives kind of barreling inside with our bigs.

I think if there are bigger gripes for Cavs fans it can be physicality allowed on defense at times, versus specific fouls on plays at the basket giving them more free throws.

No, the whistle was offensively bad for Orlando. Orlando has been +40 from the free-throw line for the entire series. Orlando has been allowed to bump and shove every time a Cavalier has driven to the hoop.

Likely has something to do with the fact that Orlando was #1 in the league at drawing fouls this season.

[cgf]

Orlando won 4 of their last 6 games against Celtics. There's a chance we might see a Magical series if they advance to second round of Playoffs. Boston in 5.

After all of the b***ing old heads have done about scoring being up, a Knicks-Magic rockfight in the ECF would be pretty hilarious

[bmurph128]

I didnt get to see the game... but 26 FTs to 10 is wild. Orlando got 89 FGA, to Clevelands 86 FGA... and then, they got 16 more FT attempts. No team can win with the other team getting that many more attempts to score.

Overall, it appears that Cleveland outplayed them, but Orlando out hustled them on the boards (15 ORebs vs. 7) and got a very friendly whistle. Turnover battle was equal.

Are the stats deceiving or is that how it went down?

Magic got a nice whistle tonight, but I don't think it was offensively bad. 6 of those BTW are from intentional fouling, so it's more like 20 to 10 FTs. I think people always forget this part when trying to quote free throw disparity. Could the Cavs have had like 2-3 more trips to the line? Sure.

But I also don't get the more paint points = team should get more fouls drawn.. especially with how poor our defense was inside today, a lot of layups and floaters from the Cavs, versus our drives kind of barreling inside with our bigs.

I think if there are bigger gripes for Cavs fans it can be physicality allowed on defense at times, versus specific fouls on plays at the basket giving them more free throws.

I agree with the latter point prior to last night. It's a smart strategy because you basically force the refs to call a foul every time which they aren't going to do, and then it becomes the norm to the officials.

I do have some grapes with the disparity when there were numerous occasions that Mitchell and Garland got fouled without a call - they miss things on both sides, but man it feels like the Magic are playing way too physical to be called for less fouls and, couple that with how much the Cavs attacked, have that many more free throws.

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[jbk1234]

I didnt get to see the game... but 26 FTs to 10 is wild. Orlando got 89 FGA, to Clevelands 86 FGA... and then, they got 16 more FT attempts. No team can win with the other team getting that many more attempts to score.

Overall, it appears that Cleveland outplayed them, but Orlando out hustled them on the boards (15 ORebs vs. 7) and got a very friendly whistle. Turnover battle was equal.

Are the stats deceiving or is that how it went down?

That's about it.