Cleveland, Ohio - The Cavs cruise past the Orlando Magic 120-109 to start the season 6-0.
The Cavs hosted the Orlando Magic Friday night, and they were without Paolo Banchero after he suffered an oblique injury. Banchero is out indefinitely and will be re-evaluated in 4-6 weeks.
The game began with the Cavs' offense clicking on all cylinders, with Donovan Mitchell scoring 11 of the Cavaliers' first 17 points. The Cavs held a 17 -12 lead with 6:34 left in the period when Caris LeVert entered the game, and the Cavs offense exploded for 17 more points to end the quarter. LeVert scored 8 1st quarter points, including a layup after Darius Garland found him cutting down the baseline.
The Cavs' defense was on display again; they held the Magic to just 16 total points and only 6 points during the final 6 minutes of the 1st quarter.
Before the game, Coach Atkinson gave credit to the team for maintaining their defensive identity, which was on display in the opening quarter.
“It's what they want. These guys are hungry, hungry to hear what they can do better. Led by Donovan, he's like, ‘Don't gas me up.’ So we have to find some bad clips of him, not contesting or something like that. He wants that, which, I think it's a good thing. I do think you need a balance, though, right? It can't be all, you know, hey, do this, this and this better. But as far as the statistics, five games means absolutely nothing in this league. I've been on the teams that start out great, start out poor, so we'll check in after 10, 15, 20 games, and get a better grip of where we are.”
The 2nd quarter saw the Magic shoot 52% from the floor and 57% from behind the arc as they whittled the Cavs lead down to as low as 11. However, the Magic had turnover troubles in the 2nd quarter as they turned the ball over 5 times, which resulted in 11 Cavalier points.
The Cavs ended the 1st half on an 8-0 run propelled by defense from Ty Jerome and offense from Evan Mobley.
Ty Jerome, after almost losing a turnover, stole the ball on the next possession and converted a tough reverse layup. Then, while Franz Wagner was readying to post up Garland. Jerome then came and ripped the ball away from Wagner and kicked ahead to Evan Mobley, who found Garland in the corner for a wide-open transition 3-pointer.
Mobley was responsible for 5 of the Cavs 8 points to end the half. During his pregame availability Coach Atkinson explained why his confidence in Evan Mobley has grown and why it keeps him up at night.
"I'm getting more and more confidence (in Evan). We're doing this right now, but we can do more within the realm of teamwork. But he's convincing me faster than I thought. He's more skilled than I thought, a better decision-maker than I thought, and a better shooter than I thought. So that opens up a (whole) world. We can't rush it though. We can't just jam it. But it keeps me up at night in a good way. How else can we use him? Could we use them in low post pick and rolls? Can we use him in straight pick and rolls? I don't know; he's got that kind of ball handle ability, decision-making ability. So it's gonna be fun to see where that goes."
At halftime, the Cavs lead the Magic in fast break points (14-11), points off turnovers (17-9) and total rebounds (27-15).
The 2nd half didn’t start like the 1st for the home team, the Magic again cut the Cavs lead as low as 12 points. However, the Cavs ran into foul issues, and they allowed the Magic 14 trips to the charity stripe (Magic shot 11/14). The Magic also won the turnover battle, creating 6 Cavs turnovers to their 3.
Despite the Cavs' ineffectiveness for most of the quarter, the Cavs made timely shots to never let the lead go below 10. Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, and Sam Merrill all knocked down triples to keep the lead at double digits. The Cavs ended the quarter outscoring the Magic 11-7 to push the lead back up to 17, leading 95-78 entering the 4th quarter.
The Cavs opened the 4th quarter with a Donavan Mitchell bucket, followed up by baskets by Niang and Isaac Okoro, caused the Magic to call timeout with just over 10 minutes left in regulation. As the Cavs extended their lead to 102- 82.
The Magic didn’t get any closer than 16 in the final quarter, and at the 3:58 mark of the 4th quarter, coach Kenny Atkinson emptied his bench as the Cavs cruised to a 120-109 victory.
Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs in scoring with 47 points combined (Garland team high of 25).
During postgame Coach Atkinson spoke on how he loves Garland’s defense and competitive spirit.
“I said this from the beginning. I think he's an underrated defender because He's smart, he's fast, he's in the right places. He gets steals, [and] he gets deflections. The key for him is he's got to really be careful with the fouling. They know they're going to target him because he's a smaller player, but [he has to] be disciplined without fouling. But I love how competitive he is defensively. He's just got to keep getting stronger. I hope he's in the weight room right now, getting a few reps in.”
Garland finished the game with 25 points, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block, but after the game, he downplayed his efforts to affect shots in the paint.
“No, I'm not a shot blocker. I leave that to Evan (Mobley) and JA (Jarrett Allen), I like getting steals so I can get out in transition. So I'm gonna stick to that.”
In the 1st half, there were times when Garland and Jalen Suggs were very physical with each other. However, Garland downplayed the sense of any budding rivalry between the two.
“Yeah, I don’t think it's a rivalry. But he's a great player. Congratulations to him. He got paid this summer. He'll only get better. So, if y’all want to say it’s a rivalry, keep it going.”
The Cavs improve to 6 -0 and travel to Milwaukee to face the Bucks on Saturday night, November 2, 2024.