2024 NBA Playoffs - East 1st Round: #4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. #5 Orlando Magic (CLE leads 3-2)

[Eagle4]

Orlando may be able to get a game, things can change but it's looking kinda similar to cavs of last year that just weren't ready for prime time.

[Statlanta]

Is Orlando the worst playoff team in NBA history?

No they are the worst offensive team of the 16(probably all 20, including the play-in) teams. They are probably as good or better than the Pacers.

[HumbleRen]

Weltman has a lot of work to do in the off-season.

This isn’t a simple “young team, no experience” situation. It’s a fundamentally broken offensive team that won’t get better via an off season of development.

I think he has to sacrifice in the short term and take a slight step back on defence and focus on getting offensive players that fit Paolo’s skillset.

[Ralof]

pretty even serie(in theory),just one team has a superstar,the other team has not

[The Rainmaker]

The Magic is the worst type of team to be in the postseason. A team that can't shoot, a defense only no offense team, and a young inexperienced team.

[toooskies]

pretty even serie(in theory),just one team has a superstar,the other team has not

To be fair, the difference between having a superstar and not having one is pretty important.

[cupcakesnake]

And it's time to remind everyone that the Cavs intentionally blew a big lead to the mighty Charlotte Hornets in the last game of the regular season to get this first round pairing with the Orlando Magic. Genius indeed.

It may work, but a lot of this is self inflicted by the Magic too. We're two bad first quarters away from closer games (that I think we still lose because Cavs just have better shot making and more experienced guys).

It's more about Cavs' fans expectations. I think they would not be happy with the season beating us and getting destroyed by the Celtics.

I dont get this argument.
Lose to the Celtics in the 2nd or the 3rd round, what difference does it make. You're not gonna roll over when you face them. Doesn't matter what round you play them in.

Fans, media, players, (basically everyone) definitely care about how deep a team goes in the playoffs.

I think for elite contenders, you know you're going to have to beat everyone in whatever order to obtain your goal of a championship. When you're in the next tier like the Cavs (dangerous playoff team that no one expects to win the championship this year), or any non-contender that makes the playoffs, I get why people care about the order of opponents. A conference finals run is very legitimizing.

I don't care for teams jockeying for seeding position unless it's really simple. Play silly games win silly prizes, I say. But I get why fans care about this.

[cupcakesnake]

And it's time to remind everyone that the Cavs intentionally blew a big lead to the mighty Charlotte Hornets in the last game of the regular season to get this first round pairing with the Orlando Magic. Genius indeed.

It may work, but a lot of this is self inflicted by the Magic too. We're two bad first quarters away from closer games (that I think we still lose because Cavs just have better shot making and more experienced guys).

It's more about Cavs' fans expectations. I think they would not be happy with the season beating us and getting destroyed by the Celtics.

First and foremost, I don’t really see Cavs getting “destroyed” by Celtics. Beaten? Sure. But destroyed? People continue to underestimate the Cavs and I’m not sure why.

With that said, yes, I’d be satisfied with a second round exit. We’ve had a lot work against us this year with the absurd amount of injuries and yet to still go farther than last year is fine in my book. Cavs are not ready to be title contenders just yet. They’ve shown so much internal improvement and development, and to be so young makes this all the more exciting. If we truly are a second round exit… that’s fine. I can still at least laugh at all the people who were convinced we’d be a first round exit.

I'm not looking past this series yet (it's not a series until someone loses at home) but obviously there are serious doubts that this Orlando offense can generate anything against this Cavs defense. Cavs can barely score against this Orlando defense but there are degrees to this.

But I'm with you in that I'd be excited to see the Cavs defense against the Celtics. They'll force Boston to live and die by the 3 which could produce games where the Boston offense sputters out. I don't really see how the Cavs manage to score on the Celtics though. Huge guards and switchy wings to throw at Mitchell and Garland, and I don't see what Cleveland counters with.

[3ddman23]

Maybe. But Magic are definitely the worst team in the playoffs this year despite being a 5th seed.

They’d lose to any of the other 15 teams from either conference in a 7 game series imo.

The Pacers got run off the court by a Bucks team without Giannis. The Heat without Butler and Rozier aren't a playoff team period.

If the Heat without Butler and Rozier can beat Chicago then they can beat Orlando too. And Pacers played one game lol.

I love how other teams get excuse but the magic don't. It's quite funny how the magic just continue to get bashed on for some reason all while being the youngest team lead by 3 22 and under players who have never been to the playoffs before. Just nuts how context is never used.

[Jadoogar]

Cavs are playing really poorly and they are winning easily. Magic's weaknesses are really glaring.

[The Real Dalic]

Cavs are playing really poorly and they are winning easily. Magic's weaknesses are really glaring.

The Magic's defense is making it look like the Cavs are playing really poorly. It's been all year that teams say they played really badly against us. It's not that they're playing badly, they're getting clamped up.

[Jadoogar]

Cavs are playing really poorly and they are winning easily. Magic's weaknesses are really glaring.

The Magic's defense is making it look like the Cavs are playing really poorly. It's been all year that teams say they played really badly against us. It's not that they're playing badly, they're getting clamped up.

sure but they keep winning by 20 points

[The Real Dalic]

Cavs are playing really poorly and they are winning easily. Magic's weaknesses are really glaring.

The Magic's defense is making it look like the Cavs are playing really poorly. It's been all year that teams say they played really badly against us. It's not that they're playing badly, they're getting clamped up.

sure but they keep winning by 20 points

It was by 10, and that's because the Magic's defense is that elite and their offense has been MIA in Cleveland. Even career elite shooters like Joe Ingles was missing his open 3's.

[Iwasawitness]

Cavs are playing really poorly and they are winning easily. Magic's weaknesses are really glaring.

The Magic's defense is making it look like the Cavs are playing really poorly. It's been all year that teams say they played really badly against us. It's not that they're playing badly, they're getting clamped up.

A stat I read showed that the Cavaliers missed 18 open threes in game 1. 18. In game 2 they shot 61% on FTs on 26 attempts. The Magic defense has been good, but they haven’t really been clamping the Cavs.

[Jadoogar]

The Magic's defense is making it look like the Cavs are playing really poorly. It's been all year that teams say they played really badly against us. It's not that they're playing badly, they're getting clamped up.

sure but they keep winning by 20 points

It was by 10, and that's because the Magic's defense is that elite and their offense has been MIA in Cleveland. Even career elite shooters like Joe Ingles was missing his open 3's.

you could make the same argument for Strus, Niang and Mitchell.
Orlando hasn't cracked 90 points yet, that's wild stuff.

[Roger Murdock]

Cavs are playing really poorly and they are winning easily. Magic's weaknesses are really glaring.

The Magic's defense is making it look like the Cavs are playing really poorly. It's been all year that teams say they played really badly against us. It's not that they're playing badly, they're getting clamped up.

I haven’t been that impressed with the Magics defense. It’s good but people were making it seem legendary. Garland and Mitchell are getting lots of space for themselves and the reason the Cavs scored so few points game 1 was they missed 17 or 18 threes in a row, most pretty open. Cavs aren’t converting open shots at a high level.

[Michael Jackson]

Is Orlando the worst playoff team in NBA history?

No they are the worst offensive team of the 16(probably all 20, including the play-in) teams. They are probably as good or better than the Pacers.

If you combine Indy's offense and Magics D thats a killer team.... still inexperienced though and would have issues.

[JonFromVA]

I suspect Mitchell's knee is giving him more problems as the games go along and so they shift more of the offense to Garland and hope he can get himself going. They have each other's backs which is good and haven't had to completely turn the offense over to LeVert, Strus, or geez Niang would try; but a team that can't score 100pts at home can only go so far in this day and age.

While the Cavs can use all the playoff experience they can get, I'm afraid what they really need is a sweep and a prayer that nobody else gets hurt and they start to get healthier before the next round.

First they'll have to actually beat a playoff opponent on the road....

[Revived]

The Pacers got run off the court by a Bucks team without Giannis. The Heat without Butler and Rozier aren't a playoff team period.

If the Heat without Butler and Rozier can beat Chicago then they can beat Orlando too. And Pacers played one game lol.

I love how other teams get excuse but the magic don't.

What other teams are getting the excuse? What other 0-2 team has looked as bad in the first 2 games? Philly? Lakers? Come on those teams have looked much better in their losses than Orlando has so far.

[jbk1234]

Cavs are playing really poorly and they are winning easily. Magic's weaknesses are really glaring.

The Magic's defense is making it look like the Cavs are playing really poorly. It's been all year that teams say they played really badly against us. It's not that they're playing badly, they're getting clamped up.

I haven’t been that impressed with the Magics defense. It’s good but people were making it seem legendary. Garland and Mitchell are getting lots of space for themselves and the reason the Cavs scored so few points game 1 was they missed 17 or 18 threes in a row, most pretty open. Cavs aren’t converting open shots at a high level.

The Magic's defense is impressive when both Isaac and Suggs are out there, less so when they're not. The missed open 3s is relevant, but it's also relevant who the Magic are choosing to leave open to take those shots. Mitchell and Garland aren't getting open looks from 3.