Game Thread | 2021-2022 Season | Game #75 | Magic @ Cavs | March 28, 2022 | 7:00 p.m.

[Wham with the Right Hand]

After a day off the Cavs take on the last place Orlando Magic (20-55) tonight at the Q. The Magic have lost 5 of 7 and are missing their top draft pick, Jalen Suggs. Suggs is not exactly tearing it up in the ROY race, shooting 36.1% from the field and 21.6% on 3’s and averaging 12.1 ppg.

The Cavs beat the Magic by 13 points in late November. They play the final game of the season series on April 5.

The Magic have a tough time putting the air bag inside the rim, ranking 29th in scoring. They’re 28th in effective field goal percentage and 28th in 3-point percentage. They are 25th in turnovers and 27th in free throw attempts per possession. They’re 29th in offensive rebounding percentage. Just a very bad offensive team across the board.

Defensively they’re better but still below average, ranking 21st in scoring defense. They’re 9th in opponents’ 2-point percentage and 26th in 3-point percentage, so they seem to defend the paint better than the perimeter. They’re 6th in opponents’ points in the paint so they’re actually quite good at defending the rim. They’re 29th in steals so you can get your shots up against them.

The Magic don’t have any stars. Eight players average between 9.5 - 16.9 points per game. The last game they used a 10-man rotation with the five starters playing 33-34 minutes and five reserves playing 19-20 minutes in an overtime loss.

The Magic have lost their last two games to Sacramento and Oklahoma City, who are in 13th and 14th place in the West. But they were missing starting center Wendell Carter, Jr who averages 15.0 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. He had 19 and 12 in the first game against the Cavs.

Point guard Anthony Cole is their leading scorer at 16.9 ppg, but he's only shooting 39.2%. Rookie Franz Wagner is having a fine season at 15.4 ppg and 46.6% from the field. I believe he's third in the ROY race in most opinions.

There's no excuse for any team with playoff aspirations not to beat this team, especially playing at home. I’ll just leave it at that.

At this point it's all about getting ready for the play-in, IMO. We're two games behind the Bulls and they play 5 of their last 8 at home. We're a game behind the smoking hot Raptors and they play 6 of 8 at home. I don't think finishing 6th is realistically attainable. We have four home games left and we have games against Dallas, Brooklyn, Philly, and Milwaukee. Those last two teams are 0.5 games out of first - they're not going to be resting starters when they play us.

Toronto was 23-23 before their 19-9 surge. That and the injuries to Markkanen, LeVert, and Allen knocked us out of the top six. So at this point the last eight games are about preparing for the play-in. JBB needs to figure out who he wants to go with. Is he still in on Cedi or will Stevens take his minutes? What about Windler? He got 12 minutes in a game they were really trying to win against Chicago. Is Levert taking Okoro's starting job from here on out? Will Rondo be back?

Will Allen be back in time? I think they have to assume he won't be and figure out the rotations.

The Cavs really need to finish 7th or 8th because you only need one win to get in. If they finish 9th they would need to win two. Brooklyn and Charlotte are tied for 8th, 2.5 games behind Cleveland. If the Cavs finish 4-4 both of those teams would need to go 6-1 to take the 7th and 8th spots.

 

[Otsego Mar]

Playing Brooklyn for a 1 game play-in would be a nightmare.

I'm still holding out hope for the 6th seed and some help from Toronto.

Now THIS is a must win tonight.

 

[PIP]

Tonight is game 7 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals !!!

 

[Cavatt]

If they don't win this one...

They are playing worse than the last time Allen missed time.

I'd like to know what is really going on. Are they just tired? JB has to get his guys some rest, he has to play Goodwin.

 

[Jontibs]

Must win, not just for the standings but just for confidence. lose this and they might well end as the 10th seed.

As for issues, the second unit has cratered, for much of the season it was a huge strength but Love has hit a wall, Cedi has forgotten how to play and there is no playmaking, best case scenario there is getting Rondo back for 10 mins a night, Goodwin and Levert are far too erratic as creators to get the best out of a unit as the leader.

Too many games recently they have started so slow, giving up a ton of open 3'.

 

[Rich]

I think if Bickerstaff sticks with the players and style that got them back into the game in the 2nd half then they'll win this going away. If he doesn't, then they won't.


But I think they may have found something last defensively.


Osman I believe is finally done in the rotation and he's earned it. He's played about as bad as a player can for two straight months while keeping his spot. By the numbers he's been the teams 2nd worst player ahead of only Rondo. And by a significant amount.


So I expect to see Windler tonight and all I ask for is patience from the fans but mainly JBB.

He's gonna mess up but remember why he's playing in the first place and think about the future a little.

 

[Rich]

Also, limit the Love+Mark combo unless Garland is on the floor to control the ball.

Otherwise, it's too many one pass quick 3 and once they start missing the other team starts running. It snowballs quickly.

 

[TheISHT]

Playing Brooklyn for a 1 game play-in would be a nightmare.

I'm still holding out hope for the 6th seed and some help from Toronto.

Now THIS is a must win tonight.

I look at is as playoff experience. I welcome that. If we somehow managed to beat them and knocked them out, it would be great. If we lost, well it stinks we missed the playoffs, but at least we'd get a chance at the lotto and get to keep our pick. Imagine if we get #1 and get Chet is our SF....lol.

What happens if the pick doesn't convey this year and I know there is no chance in hell we would jump from 14 to the top, but even at 14. There may be a guy that could actually shoot and/or a backup PG as well (some stuff we surely need).

 

[kookoo]

I wonder if Windler gets a start...

 

[Benway]

I wonder if Windler gets a start...

The stuff of dreams!

 

[Otsego Mar]

I'd feel better if Anthony Cole came down with the flu or something........sorta joking but not really.

 

[bleedwineandgold03]

I hope we smacked the magics how will smacked Chris rock last night….too soon?

 

[ice cream man]

No excuse to play anyone above 36 min. It’s a team game. Use your team.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

I think if Bickerstaff sticks with the players and style that got them back into the game in the 2nd half then they'll win this going away. If he doesn't, then they won't. But I think they may have found something last defensively.

Osman I believe is finally done in the rotation and he's earned it. He's played about as bad as a player can for two straight months while keeping his spot. By the numbers he's been the teams 2nd worst player ahead of only Rondo. And by a significant amount.

So I expect to see Windler tonight and all I ask for is patience from the fans but mainly JBB. He's gonna mess up but remember why he's playing in the first place and think about the future a little.

By all means, the Cavs outscored the Bulls 59-45 in the second half and if they continue to play like that they will be just fine.

LeVert started and only scored 5 points in the first half and 12 in the second. He got more aggressive in the second half and he needs to start the game with that kind of aggressiveness.

In his last eight games Cedi is 6-for-31 on 3's. When he is not making 3's he doesn't have much value. He's so inconsistent. In November he shot 43.2% from deep. December 33.3%. January 25.5%. Then in February it was back up to 42.9%. So far in 11 games in March it's 26.4%. The guy is a yo-yo. He'll whipsaw between hot and cold. Right now he's cold.

He came in for six minutes against the Bulls, missed an uncontested corner 3, commited a foul and a turnover, and JBB sat him down the rest of the game. After six minutes he'd seen enough.

Lamar Stevens had taken Cedi's spot for the moment and maybe for the season. In his last four games Lamar is 24-for-40 from the field (60%) and 4-for-5 on 3's. He's averaging 15.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in 25 minutes. He's earned the right to keep getting 25 minutes if you ask me.

I don't know what to make of Okoro. For the month of March he's shooting 51.2% overall and a staggering 48.3% on 3's. But he's only averaging 10.0 points because he shoots so seldom. In the 98-94 loss to the Bulls he attempted 2 shots in 35 minutes. This month alone he's had games of 17, 20, and 22 points and games of 2, 4, 4, 6, 6, and 6 points. Against Denver he had 4 points in 37 minutes. He never shoots unless he has an angle on the layup or an uncontested 3 from the right corner. I'm thinking Stevens might be outplaying him right now.

 

[Jake]

I noticed last game when they were announcing our guys pre game that Darius didn't look like his normal happy self. It was telling I thought. Maybe he's tired of 40 min a game, it's wearing him down. Very little enthusiasm or so it looked to me. I doubt the loss helped.
Hope he has 30+ tonight.