Live Thread: Magic @ Cavs
2022-03-28Good evening CtB!
Tonight the Orlando Magic travel north to the shores of Lake Erie to take on the reeling Cavs, who are desperate to snap their three game losing streak and remain relevant in the playoff lock picture. The Magic are caught between two worlds. On the one hand, they’re 4-6 in their last 10 games, they’re trending in the right direction and probably want to build some good vibes heading into the offseason. On the other hand, they’re locked in a three way tie for the best lottery odds, this draft is their chance to secure an alpha dog to complete their rebuild. Players and coaches always want to win, but it’d be in their long term interest to secure prime lottery odds.
Another fun subplot to this game is the Rookie of the Year race. Evan Mobley is locked in a heated battle with Scottie Barnes and Cade Cunningham, but Franz Wagner certainly should be in the conversation as well in spite of an arguably weaker resume and a lack of team success. The Michigan product is demonstrating some scoring and playmaking savvy that suggests a near future as a 20/5/5 guy, and that’s a conservative assessment. The Magic have some young, fun pieces but are missing their gamechanger.
As for the game itself, how do the Cavs eek out a win tonight? It has to start on the defensive end. The Magic are one of the worst offensive teams in the NBA. They’re turnover prone despite being a good passing team, they brick a lot of shots, and don’t crash the offensive boards. The Cavs will need to create easy offense from their defense, since the Magic do actually have a solid defense in spite of being a lottery lock. If the Cavs buckle down on defense, they won’t have to be perfect on offense to win.
Tip off is scheduled for 7:00PM ET and will be broadcasted live on Bally Sports Ohio/Great Lakes, Go Cavs!
AGREE DANK—–WHERE IN THE HELL DID I GET SMITH —-“OL MAN SYNDROME —BIDEN-QUESQUE ” :-)
SO WHO STARTS FOR MOBES TONIGHT —-I WOULD PICK MOSES OVER SMITH OR POSSIBLY MOVE LAURI TO THE 5 SPOT —-WE SHALL SEE
I think it’ll be:
DG/Ice/LeVert/Markkanen/Moses
Goodwin/Windler/Steves/Love with a possibility of Ed Davis for 10-15 mins
Lakers give up 82 points in the first half. Without LBJ they’re easily the worst team in the NBA and heading towards the worst team LBJ has ever played on.
The only guy who I have confidence can turn around the Lakers over the summer is Kurt Rambis. Hope the Laker brass is smart enough to make him head coach.
100%. Haha
Why do you have confidence in Rambis? What has he ever done?
Pure sarcasm
I actually feel sorry for Vogel, being the scapegoat for this terrible Laker team. Smartest thing Lue ever did was to tell Jeannie and the Rambii to get lost when he was told he couldn’t pick his assistants.
Unfortunately Dallas will likely be rested and warmed up for the Cavs tomorrow after their game tonight with the LA high school’s JV squad. God the Lakers are pathetic.
Yeah….have that feeling of impending brutality. I enjoy watching Luka, but not against the Cavs.
2 THINGS —–WATCHING WINDLER HE HAS SOME ‘SPRING ” IN HIS LEGS AND A NOSE FOR THE BALL AND MOVE WITHOUT THE BALL// GOOD BASKETBALL ‘SENSES ‘// JUST NEEDS SOME CONFIDENCE IN HIS SHOT ————-HATE TO KEEP ON ” BEATING THE LEVERT DRUM ” —TRYING TO CONVINCE MYSELF HE WILL TURN IT AROUND——–HOW MANY GAMES HAS HE PLAYED FOR THE CAVS AND IT MATTERS THAT HE PLAYED SOME BEFORE THE INJURY AND WAS OUT FOR WHAT 3 WEEKS // HOW MANY HAS HE PLAYED SINCE RETURNING—–MY POINT IS THINKING BACK EARLY IN THE SEASON LAURI STRUGGLED INITIALLY FOR HOW MANY… Read more »
Great point NOMAD! Lauri struggled and now looks to be the second option on offense after DG. I still believe LeVert can give the Cavs what they need. The guy has barely played.
me too, here’s to hoping — but i think we may just be doing some wishful thinking
I would not hope for a tired Mavs team on a b2b. That Lakers game is gonna be non-competitive from mid-2nd quarter on.
I AM GOING TO BET MOBES DOES NOT PLAY ON WEDNESDAY—-PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE–AND I SUPPORT THAT
LeBron in danger of his worst record EVER
Seems more likely than not that they’ll miss the play-in. Depends on if Lebron plays on that ankle, and how much.
couldn’t happen to a nicer franchise.
With ya on that. I dislike big city teams in any sport, and the Lakers in particular. On the other hand, I have been a LeBron fan since he was in about grade 7 or 8, and will always be. He is a lot less of a jerk than most ultra super stars. The major blot on his legacy is going to be that he demanded a lot of power, and he is a crappy GM. He appears to be calling all the roster shots in LA, and it is a disaster. He would have been much better off keeping… Read more »
Mavs game is a B2B for them, we have another game with Orlando and a game against the knicks. We should be able to win two of those and maybe the Sixers or Nets do some load management. We’ve been grinding all year, just got keep on. GO CAVS.
Mavs have recently been vulnerable. It’s a possible win. something happened tonight when JB was forced to install some bench guys into the lineup due to injury…and that something was actual energy. How he doesn’t see Moses and Goodwin and Windler and company changing the energy of games is beyond me. Must be a missing the forest kinda thing. His benching of Cedi makes sense numbers’ wise…but he also could have been staggering Cedi and Windler at 10-12 mins a piece the whole damn season anyway. Neither currently flourishes in a big role but can be devastating in a limited… Read more »
At least the Bulls lost.
I don’t get how the Celtics we’re winning the whole game…smart white and Williams were beyond terrible
This would’ve been a blowout in favor of the Celtics if they played their starters
Timelord is out injured. .
celtics getting hosed. normally i love that lol
So.. 4 of last 7 games on the road, with teams fighting for a better playoff spot or a play-in berth except for Orlando. Are we cooked??
have been. but we have enough of a lead to get a play in game.
oh cmon Boston! What a crock. Take a lesson from the cavs and finish ONE game for once lol
Super annoying the Celtics are sitting brown and Tatum…
Game headed to OT…
Fwiw…
Whew, hoping he doesn’t miss many games! Not every game will be versus Tankando
That really was an egregious tank in the 4th, and the NBA should drop the hammer on them for it…but it won’t…
Looks like they played 3 minutes of defense at end and were great from the line. And that was enough. Lamar w Ice and Wind pretty tough on D. Pesky.
The end will end even better if Bulls and Raptors loose.
Dylan with a lot of clutch plays.
Two flat out critical steals…
Another nice thing about Windler is he’s a damn good FT shooter…