Cleveland Cavaliers' offense comes to life in 136-131 win over Orlando Magic, but the defense leaves much to be desired.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have one of the easiest schedules for the rest of the season, so a Tuesday night showdown with a potential playoff opponent in the Orlando Magic brought a little extra juice to Rocket Arena.
In that vein, the Magic threw the first punch with a high-scoring first quarter that sparked some major confidence in them early. But the Cavs offense ruled the day, shooting 60% from the floor to hold off Orlando as the game progressed.
10 games to go. Here are some observations from Cleveland's 136-131 win over the Magic:
1) First Quarter Problems
Orlando dropped a ridiculous 39 points on the Cavs in the first quarter, which seems like it's becoming quite the trend of late. That's because the Magic did something similar back on March 11, when they scored 38 points in the first quarter.
Back to Tuesday, though, those 39 points was the third most scored against the Cavs in a first quarter all season (Boston on 10/29 and OKC on 2/22 each scored 40. The Magic did it, by the way, with three of their top six rotational players not playing.
To take it one step further, 5 of the 11 highest-scoring first quarters by a Cavaliers opponent have come since that aforementioned 121-113 loss to the Thunder in late February.
2) Dynamic Duo
The Donovan Mitchell and James Harden tandem showcased its full potential on Tuesday night. Mitchell put on a show, on his way to 42 points, including 26 in the second half.
Harden did most of his scoring early, with 22 points at the half, to ultimately finish with 26. His facilitation, though, was something to behold. Look no further than the ridiculous behind-the-back kickoff pass he made to Max Strus for a three-pointer about midway through the fourth quarter.
66 points are the most points Mitchell and Harden have combined for since coming together at the trade deadline. Performances like that are why the Cavs have a chance against any team they play in the postseason.
3) Mobley's Gone Mad
Evan Mobley continues to look more and more comfortable every single night since returning from a calf injury after the All-Star break. That continued against Orlando where Mobley racked up 19 points, 9 boards, 6 assists and 1 block.
At the beginning of the season, when everything seemingly ran through him, he looked overwhelmed. But with Mitchell and Harden carrying the ball handling burden, Mobley is able to just play off of them, and he looks as confident as he ever has on the offensive end.
The two-man game with Max Strus worked a few times against Orlando. He continued to build chemistry with Harden as well. His decisiveness in choosing between attacking himself or making the right pass is also better than ever.
In March, Mobley is averaging over 20 points and 10 boards a game.
4) Defense Optional
There are plays where it looks like the Cavaliers are working to defend extremely hard, but without Jarrett Allen, they are really struggling to defend opposing shooters. Defending the three-point line in has been particularly challenging.
Orlando entered Tuesday night as the 4th worst three-point shooting team in the league (34%). It shot 36% in the loss, down from the 42% it shot in the first half. It's a similar trend that occurred against the Mavs in their last home game, where Dallas shot a blistering 47% from three in a 138-105 win over Cleveland, as one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the league.
It's a concerning trend with the playoffs looming in just a few weeks and Kenny Atkinson knows it. The Cavs head man called out the defensive effort after the game noting: "if we're gonna defend like this, we're gonna have a very short playoff run."
Atkinson made it very clear that the playoff rotation will be built around guys who are willing to compete on the defensive end.
5) Finally, A Bucket
Dennis Schroeder entered Tuesday shooting 32% from the floor over the last eight games. So going 3-for-5 with six points, 2 assists, and a rebound felt like a pretty big sigh of relief for him. Sometimes it's just good to see the ball go in the hoop.
As Atkinson has talked about cutting the lineup down to about 9 players come playoff time, it was starting to feel like Schroeder was on the outside looking in of that group lately. Cleveland could certainly use his tenacity and effort on the floor but he also needs to contribute on the offensive end.
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