The Close Up – Games 1 and 2 vs Cavaliers

The Orlando Magic are down 2-0 in the first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Magic’s defense has been solid, holding the Cavs to under 100 points in both games. However, the Magic are struggling offensively, scoring only 83 and 86 points in the two games.

The Cavs’ defense is preventing the Magic from playing their usual style, particularly in the paint. The Magic are also struggling with rebounding, allowing the Cavs to get numerous offensive rebounds. Turnovers and slow starts have further hindered the Magic’s performance. Despite the challenges, the Magic still have a chance to turn the series around in the upcoming home games.

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[Music]
all right all right all right welcome
back to another episode of the closeup
magic I’m your host Stephen Cameron and
today we’re going to get into games one
and two the first round series verse
Cleveland Cavaliers which magic are down
two games to zero um before we get into
that though I just want to let you all
know that I’m recording this Tuesday
morning at 6: am uh actually just before
6: am. uh drinking coffee and I’m
recording directly into my computer mic
um it’s early and I’m trying to make as
little noise as possible so setting up
my microphones while my daughter was
asleep was definitely not going to
happen um so I apologize if the audio
quality is a little bit different than
normal um yeah it’s the magic are in a
tough spot right now they’re down two
and0 they’re on the road um they’re
heading down 0 and two sorry on the road
they’re heading back home to play games
three and four um and yeah it’s just
been tough but before we get into it
let’s just go ahead and get out of the
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also shout out to Brandon Kravitz um
with 969 the game he is doing a great
job with his new podcast uh zon heads
where he drops four episodes a week
they’re short bite sides episodes and
they’re all about Orlando Sports all
right not just the magic Orlando um MLS
uh
UCF just about everything that happens
in Orlando Magic Sports he’s covering
and he’s dropping them in these awesome
bite sides podcast so make sure you head
over and check out zon heads podcast
with Brandon Kravitz um anywhere where
you listen to your podcast platforms
whether that’s Spotify or apple podcast
whever that may be so check him out good
shout out to to our dude there so all
right this podcast probably is not going
to be very long today 10 15 minutes um
just kind of going to talk through some
thoughts that I’ve been seeing through
these last two games and they’re
probably thoughts you already heard from
other people who have gotten podcasts
out um in the last couple of days as
well you know pretty sure the six-man
show and obviously locked on Magic with
Philip have have put out episodes um but
yeah so here’s here’s my thoughts all
right the
magic defensively have been playing
pretty well um you know both games
they’ve held the Cavs to under 100
points um they’re they’re doing a great
job fighting through screens they’re
doing a great job um you know limiting
the limiting the offense within certain
areas within the the the court um
causing turnovers causing
um sorry guys my brain is still waking
up but they’re like they’re forcing them
into shots that the Cavs don’t
necessarily want to be taking right um
they’re forcing them into uncomfortable
shots at The Rim they’re forcing into
them into not the best looks from three
granted Donovan Mitchell is always going
to make good shots because he’s just a
playoff monster um he’s gonna find a way
he’s a really amazing player so they’re
they’re doing the best they can with him
um and obviously the Cavs are scoring
but they’re just not scoring the best
that they’d like to be they have some
things to figure out if they really want
to you know be competitive in the next
round if they get out from underneath
the magic
um so the magic are doing their job
defensively uh stopping them from
scoring um if you hold a team under a
100 that should give you a really good
shot at winning a basketball game
however the magic just are not able to
score right now and we’ll get into that
more a little bit later um but you know
both games the magic scored 83 points 86
points um it’s just when that’s just not
enough right and and why is that why are
the magic not getting what they why are
they scoring so low right so there’s a
couple of things
right defensively the Cavs are just not
allowing the magic to play the way they
want to do and we we knew this was going
to be a problem we knew um the playoffs
were going to expose the magic’s biggest
weaknesses is obviously that’s offense
the magic I think we’re like 22nd ending
the season and offensive rating um and
the Cavs are just really letting them
kind
of like they’re just stopping what they
were good at like how magic scored
before points in the paint driving into
the paint um and the way the the Cavs
are defending they’re just not allowing
that they’re basically like so you know
you got the painted section underneath
the basket and they’re basically camping
four guys around that paint you know one
on each side two kind of on the top
corners and you know they they shift
around depending on where the ball
handler for the magic have it where the
magic ball handler is on the court but
then they have the fifth guy and
sometimes it’s a second guy and there’s
three in the paint but they have those
guys you know just kind of doubling and
and you
know protecting the ball handler you
know defending the ball handler um which
is really just you know okay so let’s
say the ball handler does get past that
first guy so the way the Cs are
defending when when the magic have their
ball handle on the perimeter and let’s
just say he even gets past the first
Defender he’s going into a wall of
Defenders he’s got three to four guys
immediately shifting to that ball
handler to whether it’s Paulo or fron
and basically just saying no you’re not
going to do what you normally do you’re
not going to drive into the paint you’re
not going to create contact we’re not
going to let you you know score how you
normally score so they kick out to a
shooter right um the magic are shooting
a bit more from volume from three but
that’s just because the C that’s kind of
what the Cavs are giving them they’re
allowing them to shoot from three these
you know these opportunities and they’re
just not converting them right now the
magic
are they’re not a great three-pointer
shooting team I think they’re around
like 26 or 27th in the league in
three-point shooting um um they actually
Shot 25 or 35% from three as a
team um in the regular season well in
these last two games on the road where
the magic they’re a better home team
than a road team this past year the
first game they shot 21% the second game
they shot 25% from three right you have
you know in this game two you have guys
like Jonathan Isaac um Wendell Carter uh
Jaylen Suggs Cole Anthony they shot two
from seven from three right they don’t
normally do that granted they’re not
normally shooting an insane amount but
those are guys that typically are making
shots right um Jonathan Isaac I think
he’s shooting around 35% for the season
maybe close to 36 I don’t have the stat
in front of my head but you know he’s
he’s typically gonna shoot halfway
decent from three um Jaylen Suggs 40%
three-point shooter we know Cole Anthony
I don’t know his stats off the top of my
head but we know he can make shots um
wend Carter I think he ended around 38
39% from three as well they’re shooting
more volume from three this during this
during the series but like they’re just
they’re just not even getting close to
making them at what they were making 10
to 12 points lower than what they make
regularly in the season so that’s one
thing that I am hopeful for is like you
know we said this after game one I’m
saying it again after game two like I
would expect those players to make those
shots more as they get as they come to
their home you know when they have the
magic fans behind them they’re playing
on a court they’re comfortable and
sleeping in their own beds imagine those
shots for some of those guys that I just
called out will start to fall a little
bit more a little bit better um and and
hopefully that will draw some of the
Defenders from the paint out to respect
them now another thing that can help is
the magic are starting these games off
slow we saw this being a trend at the
end of the regular season they’re just
not they’re not getting shots to fall
early um there’s not anyone kind of
getting hot pretty quick to kind
of gut check the defense at all so it’s
like if you could get you
know Gary Harris Jaylen Suggs any of
these players to just kind of make a
couple of shots quickly off the start
that might actually encourage Cleveland
to kind of break away their their
defense a little bit that might create a
little bit more open space but right now
with these slow starts they’re not allow
they’re they’re just not doing that the
Cleveland has no reason not to just
stick to their defensive plan where
they’re just keeping basically four guys
down in the paint and and guarding the
perimeter with one um they’re just
they’re just not doing that so it’s
definitely frustrating um but I do think
that is an area that should improve now
granted we’re not going to become some
amazing three-point shooting team but
can they get back to at least shooting
above 30% from three a little bit I
would think so and that would help a lot
right if the magic just made you know
three or four more three-pointers per
game that would that would change things
drastically for this for this franchise
in this series um as well as actually
you know not always playing from behind
if they could actually like score a
little bit early and and get a couple of
stops early so they have the lead um I
don’t think the magic have really had
the lead once at all in this series um
so it’s that that’s concerning I’d like
to see them get a little bit of a
earlier a faster start offensively um I
if they can and I just think that would
change a little bit of how the Cavs
defend this franchise so we’ll
see um one
second needed my coffee I’m sorry about
that again it’s early it’s 611 a.m. as
I’m recording
this so the next thing that is causing
the magic to struggle is
rebounding the magic are allowing a team
that was 22nd in the league at offensive
rebounding um get lots of out rebounds
shout out to Jared Allen he is just he’s
just owning the glass right um they the
coach Mosley is starting Jonathan Isaac
next to Paulo B Caro at the five and
Jonathan Isaac isn’t a bad rebounder but
when you pair him up next to someone
like Jared Allen he’s just going to get
pushed around a lot and that’s really
what’s happening and and Paulo he’s a
decent rebounder but he’s not a strong
rebounder either I think he averaged
seven rebounds per game this season um
which unfortunately actually led the
team in rebounding um
but we they the magic they’re they’re
not controlling the glass so the the the
the Cavs are getting a lot of Second
Chance Point options here right so like
you know in the game last night in game
two they the Cavs had 15 offensive
rebounds all right and I’m looking up
the the stat for the for the second one
um you know in the first game the Cavs
had 10 offensive rebounds that that
one’s not so bad but last night on game
two was horrible I mean they literally
allowed Jarrett Allen to have nine
offensive rebounds he just owned the
glass in every way possible um I think
there’s some adjustments that can be
made there um you know from a coaching
standpoint I’d like to
see um coach pair Jonathan Isaac next to
a bigger body um you know Wendel Carter
Jr maybe like we don’t really see Wendel
Carter and J Jonathan Isaac share the
court at the same time together and I
know there’s a lot of mixed feelings
about wend Carter Jr but he is a bit
bigger he’s a bit stronger than Jonathan
Isaac you put him next to uh you put
those two next to each other you might
have a better chance of controlling the
second chance points that the Cavs got
in game two from offensive rebounds you
might be able to just control that glass
a little bit better um and that’s that’s
what you want them that’s just that’s an
area that can’t improve right this team
isn’t going to go from an awful
three-point shooting team to an amazing
three-point shooting team you can’t
really make that adjustment you just
hope they make a few more but you can go
from a bad rebounding team which they
weren’t during the regular season the
magic were actually um seventh in the
league at rebounding so like we can go
they can go from being a bad rebounding
team to a good rebounding team they just
have to make the adjustments um with
body positionings with with even the
lineups that are out there to to kind of
take advantage and try and outsize a
team that is currently outsize the magic
that that’s really what’s happening
right they’re they’re playing Evan Moy
and Jared Allen together um and and
we’re having Jonathan Isaac uh out out
there next to Paulo which I mean they’re
both six foot SE 610 and S foot
respectively but they’re just just
getting outsized Evan Mobley and Jared
Allen are both good rebounders um it’s
just a challenge that needs to be
addressed I I honestly I can see why
coach decided to start Jonathan Isaac at
the five um but I really ultimately
think you need to do a bigger lineup and
bring you know I wouldn’t say Gary
Harris has played bad defense
defensively but if you go bigger or even
just you can leave the starting lineup
as it is but just do more um
combinations where you have Wendell
Carter Jr and Jonathan Isaac on the
floor at the same time right um I think
that would improve things a lot I know
some magic fans are asking for go go to
come out um I just don’t see that
happening I
don’t you know maybe that could maybe
I’m maybe I’m overthinking this I just
don’t see coach Mosley breaking
his rotation to the extent of bringing
in someone who hasn’t been in the
rotation in weeks onto the floor to play
you know playoff minutes I just don’t
think that’s the solution that’s going
to happen I think the solution is better
utilizing the players that are currently
on the floor to you know try and stop
some of the bleeding on on on the glass
right there
um yeah I mean like there’s really not a
whole lot more to say uh it from from my
perspective the the magic are turning
the ball over a bit you know I think
Paul the first game had nine I think in
the second game he had like six
turnovers he’s doing a lot of the ball
handling which is expected um you know
particularly because you know Jaylen
Suggs went out for almost the fir I
think he had his injury uh around the
seven minute Mark uh in the first
quarter and then didn’t come back into
the game until the second half of game
two um also like shout out to Jaylen
Suggs for for for coming back from what
looked like a really scary injury that
was um not fun looking his knee looked
like it bent the wrong way when he ran
into Donovan Mitchell um when while he
was trying to create contact so it’s
like which was not a dirty play people
we just played in an NBA that that
encourages creating contact when you
have the ball in your hand so I don’t
want people thinking Donovan Mitchell is
a dirty player he’s not just unlucky
timing with how those two hit each other
um our players do that too by the way
like they they do that move all the time
um so just just want to give that out
shout out to Jonathan or Jaylen Suggs
for for being good and coming back I you
know hopefully we we just see him back
for regular playing the rest of the
playoff series but you know we’re seeing
a lot of these turnovers again because
of how the Cavs are defending they’re
they’re forcing they’re causing the
magic to force you know awkward passes
after these guys are driving into the
pain and having for guys collapse on
them it’s like which is you know
allowing them to get you know their
hands on the ball through passes which
is not creating the pass to be clean
just just forcing really awkward um you
know ball movement to to one another and
that’s what’s helping that’s what’s
helping cause all these turnovers the
magic are having um let’s look I’ll look
it up you know last last night the magic
had 12 turnovers not nearly as bad as I
or that was game one
um game
two let’s see they had thank you for
bearing with me as I pull these up um
they had 17 turnovers last night um
that’s just not not ideal I believe that
was last night’s score um yeah that was
last night’s score in game two so yeah
just not not fun those are all things
that can get better they can make
smarter choices with with the ball and
when they pass they can make um smarter
choices with with lineups and and how
they’re positioning to stop Second
Chance points um and controlling the
glass a bit more and even the magic
getting better at offensive rebounding
they they can do better there as well
um and yeah I mean like other than that
I’m really not upset with the Magic’s
defense like you didn’t hear me complain
too much about the Magic’s defense you
know we kind of know certain things are
happening like the Mad Cole Anthony’s
getting picked on a bit defensively we
that’s understandable he’s an okay
Defender but he’s obviously one of the
weaker links um you know wendo Carter is
having a little bit of a hard time
defensively too um when he gets dragged
out outside of the paint um he’s just
there’s a lot of back door cuts that are
that are not getting caught with with
our guys that you know could be
prevented so I guess I’m being nitpicky
those are some areas I’d like to see
improved
um but you know we’re were doing okay
you know
they you know they they held the Cavs to
30% three-point shooting uh in game two
um game one they held them to 26%
three-point shooting like it’s not like
the Cavs are shooting lights out either
they’re just scoring a few more points
than the magic um earlier and just
holding the lead the entire time like
the games aren’t blowouts it’s not like
they’re winning by 30 points it’s 10 and
12 points
um there’s just the magic haven’t even
been able to get close I think the
closest I saw it in game two was like
maybe a five point and GAP and that was
I think in the second or third quarter
sorry if I don’t have that exactly
correct um but it was somewhere around
there where they had it as close to
about five points with the second unit
um but yeah they’re just not able to
really close the gap all that much
so frustrating game two let’s see game
Sorry game three um the Orlando Magic
play at the Kia Center on Thursday the
25th um at 7 pm so Kia Center get
excited be loud we want the magic to win
both home games and then go steal game
five um that’s what needs to happen we’d
love to go back to Cleveland with this
series two and two that that’s the ideal
situation um that would
force the series to go six games um if
it gets to game six if you know if they
can steal game five and they come home
they have a chance to win out the series
in game
six this magic team certainly is not out
of this series being down two games to
zero is is not ideal but they’re not out
of it they haven’t played a home game
yet um they certainly could be finishing
going back to Cleveland for game five
two and two that’s a very real Poss
ability so um looking forward to see how
they respond looking forward to see how
coach responds you know they have a g
day off um I imagine between today’s
Tuesday between Tuesday and Thursday
that the team will get a little bit more
of a practice and rest strategize um run
through some drills and stuff like that
to to adjust for how Cleveland is
playing I bet we see that so looking
forward to that um make sure you guys
tune in to the Friday episode with Alan
Anthony they’re going to be be recording
pretty much directly after uh game uh
three so looking forward to that with
you all um and check out the Orlando
Magic HQ spaces that happen after every
single game with Stanley Bryce uh and
skinny um it’s been a lot of fun we’re
in this we’re here magic fist seed it’s
a lot of fun as frustrating as it is I’m
psych that the magic are in this
position um let’s go magic see you next
time peace
[Music]