The Cavaliers-Magic series has been one of the stranger stories in the league since 2010. From February 10, 2010 to November 23, 2012, the Magic dropped the Wine and Gold in 10 straight games. From that game on, Cleveland has topped Orlando in 12 straight – including their most recent 35-point mauling in the Sunshine State back on December 11.
After dropping the first two games of their recent West Coast junket, the Cavs split the trip with a pair of wins in Phoenix and Denver. The Cavaliers have won both contests against the Magic this year by an average of 25 points per, shooting 55 percent from the floor, including 52 percent from beyond the arc.
Before Friday night’s loss in Washington, the young Magic had won four of their last five and have gone 13-6 since Thanksgiving and have gone 7-3 over their last 10 contests to sit just a half-game behind Miami in the Southeast Division.
The Cavaliers have been almost unbeatable on their home floor, however, going 13-1 this year and winning 33 of their last 35 contests at The Q. With a brutal six-game trip looming later this week, the Wine and Gold will look to keep that roll going against an opponent they’ve owned over the last three seasons.
After struggling from the floor over the first three games of Cleveland’s four-game roadie, LeBron James celebrated his 31st birthday (eve) in style, dropping 34 points – his ninth 30-point game of the season – on a slumping Nuggets squad on Tuesday night in Denver, going 13-for-24, adding six boards and a pair of assists.
LeBron hasn’t topped the 30-point plateau against Orlando since he returned to Cleveland last year, but he hasn’t had to – with the Wine and Gold topping the Magic by an average of exactly 20 points over that span.
On Saturday night, James will again make another leap in the record books, needing just two helpers to pass legendary guard Tiny Archibald with his 6,477th career assist. The four-time MVP will then set his sights on the Top 20 — chasing Derek Harper at 6,577.
The Magic will counter with Tobias Harris, who’s tangled with LeBron before. As the Magic look to be more physical after getting, in the words of Victor Oladipo, “punked” on Friday night in Washington, this could be a matchup to keep an eye on.
Since moving Oladipo to a sixth man role, the Magic have turned their season around, winning 13 of 19 with the former No. 2 overall pick in a reserve role. Oladipo led Orlando with 20 points in its Friday night loss in D.C., going 8-of-18 from the floor.
He’s had some productive games against Cleveland over his career before this season, but is averaging only 7.0 ppg in two contests against the Cavaliers this year – including a four-point outing – going 2-of-8 from the floor in Iman Shumpert’s debut on back on December 11. In that game, Shump looked to be in mid-season form – going 5-for-7 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from long-distance for 14 points in Cleveland’s lopsided victory. After having a so-so start to the Wine and Gold’s recent West Coast road trip, Shumpert scored a season-high 16 points in the four-game finale in Denver, going 7-for-13 from the floor and playing his usual brand of lockdown defense.
J.R. Smith, who netted 11 points in that victory, will match up with Orlando’s second-leading scorer, Evan Fournier, in the starting lineup. But the shooting guard battle could come down to a pair of defensive-minded reserves.
Midway through the Wine and Gold’s four-game trip, Head Coach David Blatt made the decision to move Tristan Thompson – who had established himself as the league’s top-rebounding reserve – into the starting lineup.
Timofey Mozgov, who had seemed to turn a corner as he recovered from offseason knee surgery, struggled mightily in losses to Golden State and Portland – going a combined 1-for-9 from the floor in those two contests.
Thompson didn’t set the world on fire from the offensive end in his two starts, but he still crashed the boards in typical fashion, leading all rebounders as the Cavaliers snapped their two-game skid on Monday night in Phoenix. The Wine and Gold’s iron man – who’ll play in his 318th straight game on Saturday night – will have his work cut out for him, taking on the Magic’s leading scorer and rebounder, Nikola Vucevic.
The former USC standout has dropped double-figures in all but three contests this season – and has posted some monster games against the Cavaliers in his career – including a 22-point, 15-reoubnd outing last March in the Magic Kingdom and a 21-point, 21-rebound game two years ago at The Q. Saturday’s affair promises to be another entertaining battle of the bigs on the corner of Huron and Ontario.
As Kyrie Irving continues to get himself back into game-shape, the three-time All-Star sat out the second-half of both back-to-backs on Cleveland’s West Coast trip. But before he took the night off in Denver, he showed why he’s arguably the top point guard in the Eastern Conference the previous evening in Phoenix – drilling the game-deciding three-pointer with 21.9 seconds to play in regulation. In easily his best outing since returning after missing the season’s first 24 games, the former Blue Devil led the Cavaliers with 22 points, going 7-for-16 from the floor and a perfect 6-of-6 from the stripe.
The Wine and Gold have beaten the Magic by an average of 24.5 points so far this season – and they’ve done so without Irving. On Saturday night, he’ll face off against Orlando for the first time this season, matching up against the Magic’s rapidly-improving point guard and the squad’s assist leader, Elfrid Payton.
The sophomore playmaker has had a solid season, but – like most of his teammates – has struggled against Cleveland. After a solid first half in their recent drubbing in Orlando, Payton finished with nine points. In his first meeting with the Cavaliers this year, he took the collar, going 0-for-7 from the floor and didn’t dent the scoring column. He’ll have to do better than that against Irving and Co. if the Magic hope to snap their 12-game losing streak against Cleveland on Saturday night at The Q.
