Five reasons Cavs fans should feel good about a game one victory
But knock on wood, obviously.
The Cavs took care of business on Saturday, beating the Orlando Magic 97-83.
Any math experts out there? No, I’m not asking about “The Diff.” I’m referring to the point total. It’s 180, just under the 181 I’d predicted we’d see in a game this series. And based on how it looked, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an even lower total before the large lady sings.
Helped by Orlando’s putrid shooting, Cleveland’s barrel-chested and Doc-Oc-armed defense held the Magic to just 32% shooting from the field and 21% from deep. Orlando had merely 16 assists. They turned the ball over 12 times. All-star and playoff debutant Paolo Banchero had nine of those.
The Cavs spoke at length before the postseason about delivering a lesson in playoff physicality and intensity to young Orlando. They did just that in a game in which the Magic never led.
At the start of it, in a stroke of accidental genius, ESPN suffered some technical difficulties that gave us some two minutes of commentary-free hoops. No chit chat. No opining about Donovan Mitchell’s future. No easing into the game. Just the squeak of rapidly shuffling feet, the thump of the ball flying off the back iron and through the net, and the breathless roar of the crowd.
Listen to that crowd. It’s no wonder Orlando couldn’t settle in and hit a shot. Even when Cleveland’s attack sputtered and stalled and the Magic cut the lead to as little as four points, it never felt like they really had a chance.
And while I’ll certainly spend the next week or four constantly knocking on wood for projecting any confidence, Cleveland’s game one victory gave us lots of reasons to feel good about this series and this Cavaliers team.
Here are five of them:
Evan Mobley made back-to-back threes
A key tenet of Orlando’s game plan on Saturday was for Evan Mobley’s defender to leave him alone on the perimeter, joining the scrum in the paint to make life a mess for Jarrett Allen or anyone driving towards the rim. That strategy lasted all of four minutes and twenty one seconds.
Here’s the second of his two threes. Watch Banchero.
If Mobley keeps taking and making these kinds of shots (he was 2/4 on Saturday) the Magic can’t afford to leave him alone. That makes life easier for everyone else, no small thing against a team that will live and die almost exclusively by making everything a chore for the Cavs.
The Cavs won battle of the boards
Cleveland out rebounded Orlando, statistically the league’s best defensive rebounding team, 54-40. The Magic didn’t crash the offensive glass particularly hard, and Jarrett Allen (18) and Evan Mobley (11) silenced their critics by dominating the paint with authority.
But those weren’t really the concerns going into the game.
Orlando rebounds by committee, with their leading rebounder Paolo Banchero averaging just 6.9 a game. Against Orlando’s many-headed rebounding monster, everyone on the Cavs roster needed to step up and fight for boards. They did just that.
Caris LeVert had four rebounds. Georges Niang and Darius Garland had three. Spida and Isaac Okoro had two apiece. Max Strus pulled down nine.
Other than Strus’s, these numbers aren’t particularly impressive. But on a team where the rebounding responsibilities too often fall on the shoulders of just a few players, that every Cavalier pulled down multiple boards indicates that finishing possessions on the glass was at the top of the well-executed game plan.
Rebounds were the difference in last year’s playoff loss. Could rebounding be Cleveland’s advantage this time around?
Gravity is working for me?
Rebounds of course aren’t the only thing that’s dramatically different about this year’s squad. The Cavs have shooting now.
So how does a clip of a layup demonstrate this?
Last year, Caris LeVert would have been clobbered on this drive. But now, with Georges Niang instead of Evan Mobley, Lamar Stevens, or not-yet-a-shooter Isaac Okoro threatening at the top of the key, Paolo Banchero jumps to close out a step early and leaves LeVert with a gimme.
Evan Mobley was lights out on defense on Saturday. But when nobody could hit a shot–Cleveland opened the game with five straight threes and then missed 18 in a row–and Cleveland had scored just two points halfway through the third quarter, J.B. Bickerstaff turned to Niang. Not only did Niang do an admirable job defending Poalo Banchero, the threat of his shooting was enough to split the Magic defense like the Red Sea1.
Cleveland ended the third quarter on a 16-5 run and didn’t look back. Niang was tied with fellow shooter Max Strus with a team-high +13.
Cleveland has more enforcers than we thought
In last Friday’s series preview, I posed the questions, “How will the Cavs enforcers respond the first time Suggs decks Mitchell or Max Strus bodies Gary Harris?”
By “Cavs enforcers” I was of course referring to Georges Niang, Tristan Thompson, and Marcus Morris Senior. I was definitely not referencing goofy, 192-pound Darius Garland or steely-eyed-yet-nice-guy Isaac Okoro.
Niang was in everyone’s face on Saturday, and Morris and Thompson were a constantly vocal presence on Cleveland’s bench. But when push literally came to shove and Mo Wagner hurled Evan Mobley early in the second quarter, it was DG the PG who gave Wagner a cold shoulder as he walked by, and Isaac Okoro who earned a technical foul by shoving him in the back.
It’s pretty non confrontational as far as retaliations go, but from two non confrontational guys, it’s pretty damned significant. Top to bottom, the Cavs want the world to know they’re not to be messed with.
Donavan Mitchell might be back.
When’s the last time we saw this?
Mitchell, guarded primarily and well by Gary Harris, had thirty points in game one.
Mitchell is a fluid, beautiful athlete. And when he moves with confidence like he did on Saturday, when he’s leading Cleveland rather than working to hide his flaws, the Cavs are an entirely different team.
A few questions loom regarding Mitchell going into game two. Considering Donny’s dominance on Saturday, will Jalen Suggs get the assignment tonight? And, considering Mitchell had a week of recovery work ahead of game one, how will Mitchell’s knee look after a short rest?
Here’s hoping he’s just as spry tonight at 7 pm ET in game two, and that although there’s lots of work to be done, it’s not too foolish to be feeling pretty good about our chances.
Cheers, and go Cavs.
Happy Passover!