Teamwork. Ball movement. Rebounding. These three keys will decide whether the young Orlando Magic can manage to move on to the Eastern Conference Semifinals today in Cleveland, Ohio. NBA Game 7 history is rich with career defining performances, and this series will be no different; if Orlando wants to move on, they will need their stars to have monster displays of their abilities.
MAGIC FORCE A GAME 7 VS. CAVS.
THIS TEAM. ???????????? pic.twitter.com/wjuWJflcqK
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) May 4, 2024
The saving grace here may be the evidence the Magic have to date on what works for them versus this Cleveland team. Aggression is mandatory and one of the things that got the Magic to the free throw line nearly three times more than the Cavs in Game 6. Additionally, it’s become clear the Magic look much better when attacking the paint consistently throughout a ball game. During the last game, Orlando scored at almost a factor of 2 to 1 in the painted area, so Coach Jamahl Mosley must direct his squad to be in attack mode all day on Sunday.
The Magic cannot fall victim to their own egos behind the three point line; something alot of modern NBA teams sometimes do in the era of Steph Curry and Dame Lillard firing up logo threes as if they’re layups. Cleveland showed an example of this error in Game 6, missing 13 of 14 from long range in one stretch. A misstep like that from either team during today’s series deciding game could seal their team’s fate, as this is truly a “Win or Go Home” situation.
Paolo Banchero, who is coming off of a career high back in a losing effort in Game 5, needs to show up in a big way and simultaneously manage a way to get Franz Wagner involved early and often. Also key for the Magic, maybe even moreso than any of their own players’ performances, is controlling Donovan Mitchell. The Magic somehow escaped Game 6 with a win despite Mitchell hanging 50 points on them. Some might see the win despite Mitchell’s Herculean effort a good sign, but it would NOT be ideal to allow Mitchell to explode for those numbers again.
Mitchell will certainly get his buckets, but Orlando has to establish physical defense early and keep it until the final buzzer. During the fourth quarter of Game 6, Donovan Mitchell was the ONLY Cavalier to score, notching all 18 of Clevelands points in the final frame and their last 22 overall. On one hand, this points to the team playing great defense on the other four players but on another, more realistic note, it means that Cleveland’s best player was scoring at will. That trend has to change and they only have one chance to change it.
the cavs vs magic has been the most underrated series pic.twitter.com/vhibvpOOWC
— doug ???? (@osbornbeliever) May 4, 2024
Something has to to give and we will find out who and what that is Sunday afternoon at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. The winner will move on to face the #1 Seed juggernaut Boston Celtics.
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