Recap: Cavs 115, Magic 120 (or, Oh Land, Oh Magic)

The vibes were off from the beginning: The day-glo Halloween theme of the Magic’s special edition court and uniforms, the higher than usual camera angle of Amway Center, the streaking reflections of light from the dome above running across the court like three long suns all creating an unpleasant bleakness as my monitor struggled with the latency of this ill-fated game. As whatever was left of the Cavalier’s ship, like that of Theseus mid voyage with enough replacement parts to fairly wonder if it could keep its name, crashed against the smallest of rocks and finally failed. The war is far from over but the battle is lost. 

1st Quarter

One is want to speculate as to what went right for the Cavaliers in the opening possessions of the game as they took a commanding lead over the Magic out of the gates. The ball flowed easily on offense, the Cavs matched the intensity of the plucky Magic squad, the Magic after all should be strategically happy with a loss, and Cleveland needs the win. And win they did for the first quarter (and indeed the second, and the fourth!) surging ahead to a six point lead with seven minutes remaining in the quarter. Yet there was water in the gas tank, and you didn’t need to squint to see it. Mo Bamba (21 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks) hit five threes in the quarter, and after realizing Lauri Markannen and Moses Brown (10 points, 12 rebounds in 28 minutes) wouldn’t keep an eye on the rangy big man, JB’s substitution of Kevin Love in the front court didn’t help matters.

The Cavs shot well enough from distance to keep the game close as further deficiencies in their defensive effort revealed themselves. The Magic would score from the post prompting the Cavs to over-help the next possession and allow an open three attempt. Tight perimeter defense often lead to the Magic guards taking Garland straight to the hoop knowing help wouldn’t come. The defense was fundamentally broken, and the Cavs couldn’t fix it and looked unimpressive and uninterested in trying. Orlando is not a good basketball team so in spite of their easy luck from distance the  Cavaliers lead 36-35 after one.

2nd Quarter

The Cavs also appeared unprepared. Several times in the first half simple things that assuredly showed up in the scouting report went awry. Ignas Brazdeikis (20 points and 6 rebounds in 36 minutes,) a lefty, was defended as a righty. Caris LeVert and help defenders seemed eager to give Markelle Fultz (16 points, six assists) room from mid-range, his famously favored level. Devin Cannady, in only his 6th NBA appearance, appeared to completely flummox his defenders. Yet the threes kept falling for both teams and score remained close throughout the quarter. Surely, one thought, the Cavs will turn in on in the second half, draw up a few diagrams, change the defense, make some personnel changes (after all, Moses Brown and Rajon Rondo are playing a ton of minutes this half). But one would be wrong.

3rd Quarter

Remember the Theseus story from earlier? It was fair to ask at nearly all points in this game — how was this team ever any good? If the guards can’t defend and the front court won’t help… but this simply isn’t the same team, even with some really impressive parts. Bringing in Brown and giving him a few games with low minutes to prepare to replace Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley defensively, even against poor competition, is wish casting at best and desperation at worst.

The Cleveland squad somehow came out of half time with even less energy and focus, particularly on the defensive end. They continued to play the Magic’s game and somehow acting surprised that Orlando had the gall to execute a game plan the Cavs were lazily mirroring.

There were some positives. After scoring only six points in the first half Garland became interested in scoring. Lauri Markannen (25 points off 50% three point shooting) was steady on the offensive end and Cedi’s minutes weren’t woefully negative. You can check out the box score and see a pretty close game; watching the game live you could see the team reeling.

4th Quarter

Yet the Cavs were only down five points after three quarters and hope did not seem lost. Dear reader, if you did not watch this game (and I hold you particularly dear for that reason, as I try to write with you in mind) you missed less than nothing, a negative something, among the worst games of the entire season at perhaps the worst possible time. Robin Lopez was good for nearly a box-stat-per-minute, a statistic I just invented in an attempt to explain just how poor this performance was.

There was a little narrative drama to the very ending of the quarter as the Cavaliers, in fairness, played about 16 seconds of excellent basketball. After struggling to close the meager five point gap in scoring across the majority of the fourth quarter, a clever LeVert shot brought the score up to 112-115 with about 80 seconds left in the game. On the next Magic possession Markannen managed to block Chuma Okeke’s floater, allowing Stevens to rebound. The momentum briefly shifted, but Markannen couldn’t sink the three to bring the Cavs into the lead. Brazdeikis answered LeVert’s score to push the lead back to five. A timeout led to a good look for Markannen who missed a three but Okoro’s steal off a lazy up-court pass after the rebound led to a quick Garland three and a two point game with 16 seconds left. The Cavs fouled R. J. Hampton who made his free throws, Garland missed another three, and that was that. They could have easily won if one of those shots landed, or Hampton missed. But they could have far more easily won by playing better at any other points throughout the game. Cavaliers lose, 120-115.