The Cavs were fully outplayed on Thursday.
Final Score: Orlando Magic 121, Cleveland Cavaliers 83.
Not much notable from this one. When Tristan Thompson and Marcus Morris entered the game in the third quarter, the Cavs effectively punted on the game. Which already felt over.
The Cavs finished the game shooting 39% from the field and 23.5% from three.
Cavs’ last six quarter point totals: 22, 16, 21, 24, 16, 22. It’s hard to win playoff games when your offense isn’t functioning anymore. Donovan Mitchell finishing 6-16 is a big part of this, but no one else stepped up.
The Magic also hit a number of tough mid-range shots that helped them pull away from the Cavs. If you look at how their shot profile ultimately broke down, they still didn’t shoot well at the rim (just 57.7%) and were about average from three. But they were on fire in the mid-range whereas the the Cavs were cold from just about everywhere except the rim.
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Cleveland is still up in the series. A 2-1 lead — and home court still protected — is a good place to be. The Cavs are still the favorite to ultimately win this series. But how Game 3 played out might indicate that this series is going to go long and the Cavs have some work to do get back on track and turn things around in Game 4.
Up next: Game 4 of the series is on Saturday with a 1 p.m. tipoff in Orlando.
