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The Cavs finally get a break in the schedule with a home game against the 4-16 Orlando Magic. The Cavs have had two days off at home while the Magic will be playing their third game in four days. This will be the second of a back-to-back after the Magic lost by 35 points last night at home against the Bulls.
To make matters worse for the Magic, Mobley and Stevens are expected to play, meaning the Cavs will be 100% with the exception of Sexton.
On paper it appears the Magic will need a lot of magic to come out of this with a win. They’ve lost eight of their last nine.
Their leading scorer, Cole Anthony (19.6 ppg, 6.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists), is questionable and missed the last couple of games with an ankle problem. After Anthony they have five players averaging between 10.4 and 12.6 ppg. As a team they are averaging 100.8 ppg which ranks 27th. If Anthony is out they're probably 30th in offense and with Mobley back points should be tough to come by even if Anthony plays.
The Magic are basically a three-point team, ranking 4th in percentage of points from 3’s. The shoot a lot of them, ranking 5th at 44.4%. But they’re only 22nd in accuracy, making 33.3% from deep. With all those 3’s they don’t get fouled a lot, ranking 26th in free throws per possession.
The Magic do not protect the ball well, ranking 25th in turnovers per play.
Defensively the Magic are 24th in scoring defense. They’re last in steals per possession and 26th in defensive rebounding percentage. They give up a lot of second chance shots. Opponents are averaging 110.6 ppg.
CBSports.com has the Magic ranked 30th of 30 teams in their Power Ranking. The Cavs are 22nd after losing five in a row.
Orlando has some big boys on their roster. Mo Bamba is 7’0”, Wendall Carter Jr. is 6’10” and 270 pounds, Robin Lopez is 7’0”, 280, and the Wagner brothers, Moritz and Franz, are 6’10” and 6’11”. When you add in Allen, Mobley, and Markkanen there are going to be a lot of trees on the court tonight. Any little kid attending his first NBA game with a front row seat is going to be blown away.
Rookie #5 pick Jalen Suggs, who was in the conversation for the Cavs at #3 if Mobley was gone, is shooting 33.0% overall and 23.7% on 3’s. He’s off to a rocky start to say the least. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic ranks him 10th among rookies. But as Vecenie points out, the Magic are doing well when he’s on the floor…
Jalen Suggs has been off to a disastrous start on offense, struggling to do anything in terms of producing box score numbers. The game looks fast for him. His handle hasn’t been all that great, and he’s shooting very poorly both from the interior and from 3. In terms of production, he’s been poor. Some metrics have him as the least effective rookie in the league right now, undoubtedly due to his lack of efficiency. He’s being asked to do a lot, acting as a secondary ballhandler who creates offense next to Cole Anthony and even at times being the primary initiator. Rookie 20-year-olds tend to be bad when a lot is put on their shoulders in terms of the primary offensive responsibilities (notice, all the guys ahead of him).
[My comment: Look at Darius Garland's rookie year]
But here’s the thing: Orlando’s starting lineup with Suggs on the floor has actually been really good, and that’s not exactly an immensely talented group by NBA standards featuring Anthony, Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter and Mo Bamba. That five-man lineup has an average age of 21 years old. It’s almost impossible for young players to play winning basketball at the NBA level, and this group has generally done it. The problem has been when anyone outside of those five has been out there.
With those five playing together, the Magic aren’t just outscoring teams; they’re actually kind of crushing them. In the 144 minutes they’ve played together, Orlando has won those minutes by 15.3 points per 100 possessions. Replace Suggs with his backup, Gary Harris, and the Magic are losing those minutes by 31 points per 100 possessions. Replace Suggs with Terrance Ross, and the team loses those minutes by 3.8 points per 100. Are these numbers noisy? Undeniably, they are. But those lineups have also mostly come against other teams’ starters too, and they’re still winning those minutes by a substantial margin.
Suggs (and Wagner, for that matter) has been to do what very few other rookies have been able to: be part of primary lineups that have been this purely effective thus far. In part, that’s because the team has defended well in those minutes, and Suggs is the biggest part of that on the perimeter. He’s been very effective on that end. He’s conscientious in transition, sprinting back to cover for the two-big arrangement. He’s constantly around the ball. He buzzes off the ball and is always in the right spot rotationally. He gets deflections and creates transition opportunities with his speed.
The Magic only lose their minutes in aggregate when Suggs is on the court by three points per 100. When he’s not on the court, they’re losing their minutes by nearly 18 points per 100. Once the production comes around and the game slows down, Suggs has a real shot to make a genuine impact on winning situations, even if he hasn’t been a positive individual performer thus far. That’s why he slots ahead of the next guy. (Jalen Green)
Bottom line is the Magic are 4-16 and are playing on the second night of a back-to-back against a rested Cavs squad in Cleveland. They may also be without their best player. On paper this should be a pretty easy win for the Cavs.
To make matters worse for the Magic, Mobley and Stevens are expected to play, meaning the Cavs will be 100% with the exception of Sexton.
On paper it appears the Magic will need a lot of magic to come out of this with a win. They’ve lost eight of their last nine.
Their leading scorer, Cole Anthony (19.6 ppg, 6.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists), is questionable and missed the last couple of games with an ankle problem. After Anthony they have five players averaging between 10.4 and 12.6 ppg. As a team they are averaging 100.8 ppg which ranks 27th. If Anthony is out they're probably 30th in offense and with Mobley back points should be tough to come by even if Anthony plays.
The Magic are basically a three-point team, ranking 4th in percentage of points from 3’s. The shoot a lot of them, ranking 5th at 44.4%. But they’re only 22nd in accuracy, making 33.3% from deep. With all those 3’s they don’t get fouled a lot, ranking 26th in free throws per possession.
The Magic do not protect the ball well, ranking 25th in turnovers per play.
Defensively the Magic are 24th in scoring defense. They’re last in steals per possession and 26th in defensive rebounding percentage. They give up a lot of second chance shots. Opponents are averaging 110.6 ppg.
CBSports.com has the Magic ranked 30th of 30 teams in their Power Ranking. The Cavs are 22nd after losing five in a row.
Orlando has some big boys on their roster. Mo Bamba is 7’0”, Wendall Carter Jr. is 6’10” and 270 pounds, Robin Lopez is 7’0”, 280, and the Wagner brothers, Moritz and Franz, are 6’10” and 6’11”. When you add in Allen, Mobley, and Markkanen there are going to be a lot of trees on the court tonight. Any little kid attending his first NBA game with a front row seat is going to be blown away.
Rookie #5 pick Jalen Suggs, who was in the conversation for the Cavs at #3 if Mobley was gone, is shooting 33.0% overall and 23.7% on 3’s. He’s off to a rocky start to say the least. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic ranks him 10th among rookies. But as Vecenie points out, the Magic are doing well when he’s on the floor…
Jalen Suggs has been off to a disastrous start on offense, struggling to do anything in terms of producing box score numbers. The game looks fast for him. His handle hasn’t been all that great, and he’s shooting very poorly both from the interior and from 3. In terms of production, he’s been poor. Some metrics have him as the least effective rookie in the league right now, undoubtedly due to his lack of efficiency. He’s being asked to do a lot, acting as a secondary ballhandler who creates offense next to Cole Anthony and even at times being the primary initiator. Rookie 20-year-olds tend to be bad when a lot is put on their shoulders in terms of the primary offensive responsibilities (notice, all the guys ahead of him).
[My comment: Look at Darius Garland's rookie year]
But here’s the thing: Orlando’s starting lineup with Suggs on the floor has actually been really good, and that’s not exactly an immensely talented group by NBA standards featuring Anthony, Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter and Mo Bamba. That five-man lineup has an average age of 21 years old. It’s almost impossible for young players to play winning basketball at the NBA level, and this group has generally done it. The problem has been when anyone outside of those five has been out there.
With those five playing together, the Magic aren’t just outscoring teams; they’re actually kind of crushing them. In the 144 minutes they’ve played together, Orlando has won those minutes by 15.3 points per 100 possessions. Replace Suggs with his backup, Gary Harris, and the Magic are losing those minutes by 31 points per 100 possessions. Replace Suggs with Terrance Ross, and the team loses those minutes by 3.8 points per 100. Are these numbers noisy? Undeniably, they are. But those lineups have also mostly come against other teams’ starters too, and they’re still winning those minutes by a substantial margin.
Suggs (and Wagner, for that matter) has been to do what very few other rookies have been able to: be part of primary lineups that have been this purely effective thus far. In part, that’s because the team has defended well in those minutes, and Suggs is the biggest part of that on the perimeter. He’s been very effective on that end. He’s conscientious in transition, sprinting back to cover for the two-big arrangement. He’s constantly around the ball. He buzzes off the ball and is always in the right spot rotationally. He gets deflections and creates transition opportunities with his speed.
The Magic only lose their minutes in aggregate when Suggs is on the court by three points per 100. When he’s not on the court, they’re losing their minutes by nearly 18 points per 100. Once the production comes around and the game slows down, Suggs has a real shot to make a genuine impact on winning situations, even if he hasn’t been a positive individual performer thus far. That’s why he slots ahead of the next guy. (Jalen Green)
Bottom line is the Magic are 4-16 and are playing on the second night of a back-to-back against a rested Cavs squad in Cleveland. They may also be without their best player. On paper this should be a pretty easy win for the Cavs.
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