It’s a 2024 Eastern Conference playoff rematch on Friday night when the Orlando Magic visit the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are the only unbeaten left in the East early this season.
The Cavs are solid favorites on the NBA odds for the nationally televised game.
| Opening NBA Lines Subject to Change: Cavs -8.5 (total 216.5) Expert Prediction: Cavs 112, Magic 107 |
Orlando Magic +268
Orlando fell to 1-2 on the road this season with a 102-99 upset loss in Chicago on Wednesday. The Magic led by as many as 20 points in the first half, but Chicago came back with a 12-3 run late in the second quarter. Paolo Banchero had 20 in the first half to help the Magic take a 62-52 lead to intermission. The Bulls took control by outscoring Orlando 34-25 in the third.
The Magic scored just 12 points during the final period, shooting 4-of-22 from the floor and 0-of-12 from three-point range. Despite those numbers, Orlando still had a chance to tie or take the lead, but a short jumper by Jalen Suggs with 0.3 seconds left was off the mark.
Franz Wagner
Excellent young Orlando forward Wagner left the game early in the fourth quarter due to illness and never returned. It seemed to hamper Orlando near the basket at both ends of the floor. Wagner logged 23 minutes and had seven points while registering three rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block. The German star was limited to 11 minutes on Monday versus Indiana also due to illness.
Paolo Banchero
Banchero continued his strong start to the season with 37 points, seven boards and four assists – he was the first player in the NBA to score at least 50 points this season on Monday. The third-year forward could be ready to rise to superstardom after being the first overall pick in the 2022 Draft, topping 30 points in three of five contests to begin the campaign while averaging 29.0 points, 8.8 boards and 5.6 assists.
Paolo Banchero has been diagnosed with a torn right oblique.
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) November 1, 2024
Banchero will be out indefinitely and his return to play will depend on how he responds to treatment.
He will be re-evaluated in four-to-six weeks. pic.twitter.com/ws0EDiYPpy
Jalen Suggs
Suggs totaled 17 points along with six rebounds, five assists, two blocks and four steals. He is averaging 16.8 points, 5.0 boards, 3.8 assists, 3.4 threes, 2.2 steals and 1.0 blocks, which would represent career highs nearly across the board.
Orlando is 1-2 on the road this season. The Magic finished 18-23 last season away from home and those 18 wins were the most for the team since 2010-11 when it went 23-18. Orlando is 1-1 in games decided by five points-or-less. Last season, the Magic were 10-11 in those situations.
The Magic AVG
The Magic are averaging 112.2 ppg this year and have scored 100+ points four times (3-1 record) and 110+ points four times (3-1 record), including a season-high 119 points on Oct. 28 vs. Indiana. Last season, the Magic averaged 110.5 ppg. The team is shooting .447 from the floor and shot 50 percent-or-better once (1-0 record). Last season, the Magic shot .476 and shot 50 percent-or-better 26 times (25-1 record).
The Statistics
Orlando is shooting .346 from three-point range and made 10+ three-pointers five times (3-2 record). Last season, the Magic shot .352 from three-point range and made 10+ three-pointers 55 times (34-21 record). The Magic are averaging 14.8 three-pointers per game, which is tied for seventh in the NBA. They are also averaging 42.8 three-point field goals per game, sixth in the league. Orlando has had five-or-more players score in double figures three times (2-1 record) and six-or-more players once (1-0 record.
Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley spent four seasons (2010-14) as an assistant with Cleveland.
^Cleveland Cavaliers -333
The Cavs ruined LeBron James’ return to Cleveland on Wednesday night with an easy 134-110 victory. It marks the first time the Cavs have started 5-0 since the 2016-17 season, led by LeBron, and the third time in franchise history. Kenny Atkinson is the first head coach in Cleveland history with an undefeated record through 5 games with the team. The last NBA coach to start 5-0 in his first five games with a team was Nate McMillan for Atlanta in 2020-21.
Donovan Mitchell
Mitchell hit back-to-back 3-pointers as the Cavaliers made four treys in a span of 1:45 in the first quarter to open a 19-point lead after one and really the game was over. Mitchell finished with 24 points, seven assists, four made 3-pointers and three steals. He turned the ball over only twice and did most of his damage in the first three quarters as he only played two minutes of the fourth quarter in the blowout win. The Cavaliers are 29-7 in Mitchell’s last 36 regular season games. It was his 30th game with at least three steals with the team, and he finished last season averaging a career-high 1.84 SPG.
The Record
The Cavs finished with 14 steals and have recorded at least 10 steals in all five games. It is just the 2nd time in Cavs history they have double-digit steals in the first 5 games of a season (1988-89). It is also tied for the 4th-longest streak in team history. The record is seven straight games. Cleveland is the first team to have at least 10 steals in the first 5 games of a season since the Hawks from 10/27-11/5, 2016. Cleveland has forced its opponents to turn the ball over 93 times in the first 5 games.
Evan Mobley
Mobley had 25 points and five rebounds in just 19 minutes. He was just the 4th Cavalier in team history to record 25+ PTS in 19 or fewer minutes of play (Terry Furlow, J.R. Smith and Kevin Love). Mobley became the youngest player in Cavs history to have at least 17 points in a 4th quarter at just 23 years old. He has been productive on both ends of the court, averaging 19.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.2 steals per contest in his first five games.
EVAN DUNKING MOBLEY. 😵 #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/THlQqnNO3A
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) October 31, 2024
Jarrett Allen
Allen added a double-double of 20 points and 17 rebounds. He is the first NBA player in the Shot Clock Era (since 1954) to make at least 34 field goals in their first five games while going 79% or better from the field. (Elias Sports). Allen has recorded 28 games in his Cavaliers career with at least 15 points and 15 rebounds, helping Cleveland to a 24-4 record in those games.
Darius Garland
Guard Garland had his first double-double of the year with 12 points and a season-high 10 assists. Garland is shooting (.455) from the 3-point line this season and (.507) from the field. With his 2nd 3-pointer of the game on Wednesday, Garland made his 700th career 3-pointer and sits at 5th on the Cavaliers all-time list.
Cleveland is outscoring its opponents 125.6-107.4 (+18.2), allowing the 4th-fewest points per game in the NBA this season. The Cavaliers are also shooting 74-180 (.411 3FG%) from the 3-point line, which is the best 3FG% in the NBA. Cleveland has scored 130+ PTS in 3 of its 5 games; it had four games of 130+ points all of last season and the team record for 130+ point games in a single season is five (done twice, 2016-17 & 2017-18).
^Orlando at Cleveland Odds & How to Watch
When: Friday, 7 PM ET
Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+
Magic vs Cavaliers Series History
These teams split four games last regular season and then met in the first round of the playoffs. Cleveland won Game 7 at home, 106-94 in early May behind 39 points from Donovan Mitchell. The Cavs trailed by as many as 18 in the first half. Paolo Banchero scored 38 — just 14 after halftime — and added 16 rebounds to lead the Magic. The home team won all seven games in that playoff series.
^NBA STANDINGS UPDATE:
— NBA (@NBA) November 1, 2024
▪️PHX moves to 4-1
▪️HOU, MEM pick up 3rd wins
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2024 Cavaliers vs Magic, Game 5, Round 1 Playoffs
The home team has won every game in the Magic-Cavaliers Eastern Conference first-round series by double digits as it returns to Cleveland for Game 5 on Tuesday night and the Cavs as solid favorites on the NBA odds for a 3-2 lead.
Which team will get the edge tonight? Let’s see the following betting analysis on this great NBA playoff series.
| Expert Pick Cavs -1.5 (total 51.5) What´s the Score? Cavs 102, Magic 96 |
Orlando Magic Odds +121
The Magic never led in the first two games in Cleveland and didn’t top 86 points in either but then blew out the Cavs twice in Orlando. The Magic pulled even in the series with a 112-89 victory on Saturday despite just nine points from star and former No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero as he was 4-for-14 from the field. Banchero added four rebounds, five assists and two blocks in only 29 minutes. He didn’t play longer because the game was a blowout. Banchero continued to draw an inordinate amount of the Cleveland defense’s attention, creating opportunities for others.
Franz Wagner led the Magic with 34 points on 13-for-17 shooting on Saturday along with 13 boards and four assists. Wagner took over in the third quarter, scoring 12 points in the period as Orlando outscored the Cavs 37-10. In that quarter, the Cavs’ 10 points on 4-of-18 shooting tied for the lowest point total in a quarter by an opponent in Magic playoff history. It helped, of course, that Orlando limited itself to just one live-ball turnover in the quarter, preventing Cleveland from getting out on the fast break.
The Magic trailed by nine points at halftime, but they won by 23 because of elite defense and Wagner’s offense. After averaging 84.5 points in the first two games of this series, the Magic averaged 116.5 over the last two.
Jonathan Isaac finished with 14 points, seven boards and two blocks in 20 minutes off the bench. Isaac delivered his best outing of the postseason, and Wendell Carter played well as a starter, so it’s safe to assume both players will stick in their current roles after swapping places to start the postseason. Across four postseason games against Cleveland, Isaac has averaged 8.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. Carter had 11 points and five rebounds in Game 4.
Orlando became the first team in NBA history to trail a series 0-2 and then win Games 3-4 by a combined 60+ points. The Magic also won consecutive playoff games by 20+ points for the first time in franchise history.
Tuesday marks the sixth time in franchise history that the Magic have found themselves tied at 2-2 heading into Game 5. Orlando is 3-2 all-time in Game 5’s in those situations (3-0 at home, 0-2 on the road). The Magic are 7-9 all-time in Game 5’s during their playoff history overall (7-1 at home, 0-7 on the road, 0-1 at Disney).
The Magic have dropped the first two games of a series nine times in their playoff history and have never won any of those series.
Cleveland Cavaliers Odds -149
Cavs All-Star Donovan Mitchell was held to just 18 points in the Game 4 loss on Saturday. Mitchell scored all 18 points in the first half and went 0-for-4 from the field with four turnovers in the second half as Orlando cruised. After totaling 53 points (20-43 FG) through the first two games in Cleveland, Mitchell scored only 31 points during the two losses in Orlando. Through four matchups, Mitchell has shot only 42.5 percent from the field.
Darius Garland had 14 points, six assists and three boards. Garland has yet to score more than 15 points through four postseason games and has shot only 41.9 percent from the field during that stretch. Cleveland needs more offensive production out of its point guard if the team is going to advance to the next round. During the regular season, Garland averaged 18.0 points on 44.6 percent shooting, including 37.1 percent from deep.
Jarrett Allen had 21 points and nine rebounds. Allen has arguably been the MVP for Cleveland to start the postseason, averaging 17.0 points, 13.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks in 31.8 minutes per game through the first four matchups against Orlando. The big man’s 21 points were his most during the first-round series thus far, but after grabbing 38 rebounds through the first two games in Cleveland, Allen accumulated just 17 boards across two losses in Orlando.
Through four games, the Magic have outscored Cleveland by 30 points at the 3-point line, which is a huge surprise with Orlando’s shooting reputation and how poorly it shot during the first two games of this series. Orlando made just 17 of 72 3-pointers combined in Cleveland, but the Magic have shot 35% or better in both games since.
The Cavs entered Game 4 shooting 27.2% from 3-point range, and they didn’t help their cause by shooting 4 of 17 from 3 on Saturday. Max Strus and Georges Niang, both of whom Cleveland signed for their shooting prowess, have combined to make four 3-pointers in four games. Niang had just two points on Saturday.
Cleveland won the first two games of the series at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, winning Game 1 by a score of 97-83 (+14) and winning Game 2 by a score of 96-86 (+10). Both were wire-to-wire wins. The Cavs have won 7 of their last 8 games at home over the Magic since Nov. 27, 2021 (including the regular season) and have held them under 100 points in 5 of those 8 matchups over that span.
The Cavaliers are 26-8 at home in the playoffs since April 17, 2016, marking the 2nd-best home winning percentage in the postseason in the NBA (1st in the Eastern Conference) over that span (min. 15 home games played). The Cavs are looking to win three straight home games in a playoff series for the first time since doing so in the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals vs. Boston.
When tied 2-2, the Cavs have a 9-9 all-time series record. They are 16-0 all-time when jumping out to a 2-0 series lead.
Magic at Cavaliers Info
When: Tuesday, 8 PM ET
Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
TV: NBA TV
Stream: NBA.com, NBA TV app
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