The Cavs have had enough of Franz Wagner

There’s still time for Cleveland to turn it around, but not much.

2-0 feels a long way away. 

Last week the confident Cavaliers boarded their plane to sunny Orlando with a commanding series lead over a team that had failed to crack the 90-point mark in two consecutive contests. That the Cavs hadn’t eclipsed 100 in either game didn’t seem like that big of a deal. They’d been flying around the defensive end of the floor as connected as one big marionette doll, and they’d firmly reclaimed their standing as a defensive juggernaut. So what if Cleveland still couldn’t hit shots or generate good looks? Neither could the Magic. 

But then in game three Orlando handed the Wine and Gold their worst playoff loss in franchise history: a 121-83 dismantling in which Jalen Suggs, who looked in game one like he might be down for the series with a knee injury, threw a windmill dunk in front of an electrified central Florida crowd. As Suggs rose, so did the Magic’s spirits. He had 24 points on 11 shots. 

Still, the Cavs had the opportunity on Saturday, in game four, to prove to the world, to their opponent, and most importantly to themselves, that Thursday’s 38-point bludgeoning was an aberration. That the Cavs were still the more experienced and better team. That they could impose themselves and put the clamps on the Magic’s epinephrine-ed attack. 

And for a half they did. They moved the ball and played with consistent pace and energy, and they scored 60 points, and led by nine going into the third quarter. They were 24 minutes from a commanding 3-1 series lead. 

Until Orlando outscored Cleveland 37-10 (let me say that again, 37-10. Okay one more time. 37-10!) in the third quarter, and they evened the series at two with a 112-89 win. 

What’s most concerning about that Orlando run is not that the Cavs mustered only 10 points. It’s that in doing so they lost their spirit and their pride and let Orlando pour in 37. When the Cavs have been singularly committed to their defense this year, they’ve been at the very worst a tough out. But that identity has hardened and dissolved on a nearly quarter-to-quarter basis, and in this series, when the going has gotten tough, the Cavs have been far too quick to abandon it. 

So here we are, muddled in a best of three series with a Magic team that’s never been more confident.  

Lots of things need to turn around for the Cavaliers to win this thing. 

The bench has been consistently outplayed. The Cavs need to shoot more. Cleveland generated only 17 three pointers on Saturday; they made only four. They have been crushed on the glass in their last two losses, out-rebounded 51-32 and 43-29 respectively. There are, I’m sure, a litany of coaching chess moves J.B. Bickerstaff has been too slow or has failed entirely to make. 

But really, whether or not the Cavs can steal back the momentum and win the series comes down to two simple things. Can the Cavs recommit to being defenders above all else? And can Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell play like the stars they are? 

Garland was a far-too efficient 5-11 from the field on Saturday. When his offense is stagnating and Donovan Mitchell doesn’t have it in him to take over a game–and he didn’t in game four, when he took four shots in the second half–Garland needs to. 11 attempts ain’t enough for that. 

Mitchell has been outplayed by Franz Wagner, a playoff rookie coming off a disappointing season. He’s outscored Cleveland’s star 86-84, including a game-high 34 (and +32) in game four. Jalen Suggs, a defensive specialist on a bum knee, has poured in ten more points than Darius Garland over the course of the series.

The Cavs won’t win unless those things change. Here’s hoping they do in game five tonight. It’s just about do-or-die time, and Jarrett Allen, the only Cavalier who’s played well all series, is questionable with a hip contusion. Oh gosh. 

Cheers, and go Cavs.