The first of three postseason games on Thursday in the National Basketball Association will feature the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road at the Orlando Magic. The Cavaliers lead the best of seven series 2-0 after back to back home wins. Orlando will head home and try to grab their first win of the series.
Cleveland was strong most of the regular season, but faltered a bit late in the season. That sent them to the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers finished with a 48-34 regular season record.
For Orlando, they were pretty consistent most of the season. The Magic had the second seed in the East for a while, but slipped late to the fifth seed. Orlando went 47-35 during the regular season, and 5-5 in their final 10 games.
The Orlando Magic are -1.5 on Thursday over Cleveland. The total for this affair is 199.5.
Defensive Minded Cavaliers
The story so far for the Cavaliers has been their team defense. They have held the Magic to under 100 in both games so far. On the offensive end, the Cavaliers are led by Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell scored 23 points in the Game 2 win. Jarrett Allen had a big game as well with 16 points and 20 rebounds.
In Game 1, Cleveland saw four guys get to double figures. Mitchell led the way with 30, while Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen added 16. The Cavaliers during the regular season scored 112.6 points per game, which was 20th in the league. Cleveland makes 13.5 three point shots per game, 7th in the league.
The Cavaliers will look to hurry this series along. The winner of this series will take on the top seeded Boston Celtics of the 8th seeded Miami Heat. The Celtics are massive favorites to win that series.
Desperation Time in Orlando
The Orlando Magic have reached desperation time for their 2023-2024 season. The Magic have been a fun story, and it’s great for the team to be back in the postseason. But, it has not gone well for them so far. The Magic have scored just 84.5 points per game so far. This was after scoring 110.5 per game in the regular season.
Orlando in Game two saw Paolo Banchero once again lead the way. The former Duke star scored 21 points in the game. Franz Wagner scored 18 and Garry Harris added 14. Orlando will need more from Jonathan Isaac, who had 3, and Jalen Suggs, with 9. In the game one loss, Banchero had a team high 24.
The Magic went 4-4 down the stretch of April. Orlando lost at the Rockets, Bucks and 76ers, but avoided falling even further with a regular season finale win on the road at the 76ers.
Cavaliers Go Up 3-0
This game is going to be another thriller. The Orlando Magic are back home, and basically have to win to have any chance here. But, we like Cleveland. The Cavaliers are playing strong basketball right now, and the Magic are just not quite ready for the big stage.
When push comes to shove, we are taking the Cleveland Cavaliers +105 over the Orlando Magic on Thursday to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.
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