Cleveland Cavaliers look to keep rolling on Monday when they visit the Orlando Magic for the second matchup
The Cleveland Cavaliers, who have won five of their last six games, including the last three in a row, will look to keep going when they visit the Orlando Magic on Monday for the second game between the two teams in five days.
Orlando’s nine-game winning streak ended on December 1st. 2 dropped a 129-101 decision when visiting Brooklyn. The Magic lost 121-111 in Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points and Darius Garland had 26 points and nine assists for the Cavaliers. Orlando bounced back from a 123-91 loss to Detroit on Friday. Franz Wagner led the way with 27 points and Paolo Banchero, who had 42 points for Cleveland, had 24 points. piston.
With the Magic building to a win on Friday, Orlando coach Jamal Mosley listed three areas of focus for their rematch with Cleveland in his postgame press conference. “He’s not shooting 2-for-23 (on 3-point attempts) and he’s not making 10 free throws or defensive shots,” he said.
In their last game against the Cavaliers, the Magic’s 3-point shooting was complemented by 27-of-37 shooting from the free-throw line, while Cleveland shot 14-of-34 from long range. Cleveland turned their second-chance points into 19 points while giving up just seven offensive rebounds to Orlando.
The Cavaliers defeated the Magic on Friday with a 111-99 victory in Miami. Cleveland rallied from a 16-point deficit in the first half thanks to an efficient passing attack.
The Cavaliers outscored the Heat 23-11, benefiting in part from 18 Miami turnovers. Mitchell led the way with 27 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists. Meanwhile, Cleveland coach Jay Bickerstaff praised Dean Wade in his postgame press conference. Wade had six rebounds and five points on 2-of-5 shooting from the floor, but finished the game a team-plus-23.
“Dean was great. “We talk about players doing their job and sacrificing themselves to help the team and Dean was great defensively tonight,” Bickerstaff said. “What he did tonight was a clinic on a one-on-one play. – As a team quarterback and as a defense, how to execute our system defensively.\”
Friday’s win held Cleveland under 100 points for the third time this season and first since a 109-95 win over Portland on Nov. 1. 15.
The Cavaliers’ points per game are higher than they have been in a single season, averaging an NBA-leading 106.9 points per game. The points allowed per game this season is 110.6, ranking 7th in the league.
Orlando was without two of its best defensive players in the last game. Jalen Suggs, who leads the team in steals with 1.9 blocks per game, and Jonathan Isaac, who averages 1.3 blocks per game, are both day-to-day with ankle injuries.
Among the league’s best defenses, the Magic are allowing 109.6 points per game, sixth in games played through Friday and 13th in the NBA at 114.5 points per game.
