In the regular season finale, the Magic put Isaac in the starting lineup, which was Isaac's second start this season. Wendell Carter, the original starting center, did not take a break and came off the bench. This personnel adjustment had a limited impact on the outcome of the game, and both Isaac and Carter were well present. Isaac started against Portis instead of Beverley or Big Lo, and it seems that he was motivated by size rather than range, which is not conducive to maximizing Isaac's defensive value. However, this is not important, what matters is whether the Magic's personnel adjustment in the season whistle stage will be substituted for the playoffs?
Isaac's arrival as a starter didn't have a special significance for Carter. Moreover, Isaac has been rotating forwards for most of his career, and in the long run, it may not be a good thing for him to be placed in the No. 5 position (in fact, he may still be counted as the No. 4 position in this lineup, and the center will make the other two forwards match) for a crispy man like him.
But a crucial closing game – a play-off or not – you have to give it your all. The upcoming playoffs weren't all about to start in one game, but it made more sense for the young Magic to go with one round rather than three.
So, there is a real possibility that Isaac will be put in a more important position. Time will increase, and it is not impossible to continue to start.
It's an interesting change. The Magic ranked second in the league in defensive efficiency this season, and this was done when Isaac played 58 games and averaged just 15.8 minutes per game, and Isaac is undoubtedly the Magic's most brutal and fearsome defender. If Wembanyama hadn't been in the league — and he didn't have one before last October, but Isaac wasn't fit enough until this year — Isaac would have taken the most of the fogweed when it came to completing incredible interference shots and interceptions.
This man will be the key to magic against the knights.
Of course, I don't think Isaac alone is enough to neutralize the knight's theoretical advantage. If the Magic want to win against the Cavaliers, it's probably the kind of game where everyone doesn't score more than 100 points. In this league of this day and age, it's hard to expect these kinds of games to come out on a back until you watched last year's Cavaliers-Knicks series.
The Cavaliers have a history of constipation in the playoffs, and the Magic are trying to replicate the Knicks' accomplishments.
It's not easy.
In terms of configuration, the Magic's overall defensive resources are better than last year's Knicks, they are full of athleticism in the frontcourt, and they have Sachs and Harris in the backcourt, which is very balanced, while last year's Knicks' main defensive advantage is on the inside.
However, it's the interior defense that has an advantage, and it's easier to maximize it against the Cavaliers Twin Towers. Mitchell Robinson averaged 28.3 minutes per game in this round, averaging 2.2 blocks and 1.2 steals per game, and 5.8 frontboards per game on the other end was even more ferocious. In terms of talent, Aaron and Mobley are not unblew, but Miro said that no one is missing in this regard. In this round, the twin towers are humiliated, and fighting talent in front of more powerful talents seems to be a dead end.
Isaac is a monster even more legendary than Miro in the rivers and lakes. But let's face it – Isaac is the best defensive talent monster, and he's first and foremost a striker. The Twin Towers can't win against Miro, and if Isaac is played to death by the smaller Isaac, don't mess up. Magic has a few other inside lines, Carter is short, and he is not taking the air defense route. The big tile is very supportive, but the basket is mediocre. Bitadze defensively was impressive at the start of the season and is now in a state of abandonment.
The other thing is that compared to the version of the last season's extreme constipation, the Knight's space has also been upgraded a bit. Strus and Niang are certainly a little more iron than expected, but the production is there, and the strategic value is still there in terms of space, and the former is still a mobile shooter who can catch the ball in circles. Okorobi improved his three-point output last season, but there is still a question mark over how well he will perform in the playoffs. Merrill, who shot the most ferociously from the Cavaliers' three-point shots, probably didn't have playing time, and Wade, who had a good combination of projection and size this year, has been reimbursed for the season, which is a pity. Wade is better defensively than Niang, bigger than Okoro and shoots better than Mobley, and he may be a compromise on some occasions.
The Cavaliers' two main attackers, Mitchell and Garland, are space points in their own right, and they are both players with three-point shooting range with the ball. This is an important point, and we'll get to that later.
In any case, the Cavaliers still have more players with the tag of shooters, and except for the starting No. 4 position, there are no baskets, and the Cavaliers are generally normal in other aspects.
In contrast, the magic space is clearly much more against the sky.
Who is the first shooter in the Magic core rotation?
Judging from the resume, it should be Ingles on the bench.
And statistically, it is Suggs, who shoots 6.8 three-pointers every 36 minutes and shoots 39.7% from the field.
This incident is both a reflection of Suggs' projection progress, and also shows that the Magic really don't have a trick in space. The two main attackers on the front line couldn't shoot on their own, and Carter was taken out to continue to develop the potential of the space, and the effect was just like that, and so was Isaac. The Magic's three-point production and shooting percentage are at the bottom of the league, and even the mid-range production is at the bottom, and this projection ability will be very urgent in the playoffs. And the Cavaliers, as a team with twin towers, excellent basket protection and defensive discipline, can't help but focus on this.
Both teams with strong defenses and space flaws will still have completely different styles of attacking and defending games:
Although the Magic ranks first in the league in basket production and the front board is also fierce, there is no means that can expand the Cavaliers' defense locally, which leads to the fact that the Cavaliers can have 5 people inside the three-point line, always more defense, or even more defense - the Cavaliers' weak side can support the strong side, and the Magic may not be able to transfer the ball in place at the first time;
In turn, Mitchell has the ability to attract pinch shots near the three-point line, and Garland's three-point shooting with the ball is also an effective offensive method, so the Magic as a whole will have to defend more outside, and it will be more difficult to rotate.
In addition to pinching and delaying the ball carrier, another way for the Magic is to switch defenses and use the mobility of potential small-ball interior combinations (Isaac, Banchero) and the team's super interception ability to test Mitchell and Garland's burst points and their ability to eat small lobs for the inside.
The Magic defense Cavaliers definitely have a way, but they are more demanding of defensive execution and have a lower margin for error.
All in all, I would consider the Cavaliers to be the clear upside in this round.
This round is also about Mitchell's future choices, as well as further thinking about the compatibility of the twin towers. Magic is to train the team, win blood to earn, lose not lose, but if the knight loses, then it's all a problem.
In the past two years, Mitchell's playoff reviews have been killed, not to mention Doncic, who has not appeared much, and he has not taken advantage of Bronson's game at all. This group of main attackers is on the line, and Mitchell is after all in the case of his own space configuration is slightly inferior (perverted quasi-heroes> Gobert Lords, Knicks > Cavaliers), and met a master whose strength is far underestimated. And this time, he is the main attacker with better space and good defense on both sides, and the line grade is much lower than him.
If you lose again, you can't say anything.