On April 26, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs ushered in the first round of G3 between the Cavaliers and the Magic! The Cavaliers won two consecutive home games, thus taking a 2-0 lead in the series. At the beginning of the game, the Magic's change of formation did not achieve the desired effect, but the Cavaliers dominated the anti-attack, and made a good start with a 10-3 offense. Subsequently, Wagner Jr., Suggs, Banchero and others fired a series of outside shots to stop the bleeding for the magic. In the final three minutes of the game, the Cavaliers suddenly fell into a scoring drought, and the Magic extended the margin to double digits with a 13-0 offensive wave.
Entering the second quarter, Mobley Jr. continued to score points for the Cavaliers on the inside, and LeVert also contributed, but overall, the Cavaliers' offense was still average. At this time, Anthony and Isaac hit three-pointers one after another, and the Magic once again launched a wave of 10-0 offensive to extend the lead to more than 20 points. At the critical moment, Mitchell finally stepped up to stop the bleeding for the Cavaliers, but at halftime, the Magic still led by 16 points. In the second half of the game, the Magic suddenly made a move, Suggs and Bancheroli burst out to score consecutive points, and both of them quickly scored double-doubles. The Magic took advantage of the situation to stretch the margin to more than 30 points, while the Cavaliers completely collapsed in the third quarter, losing by 19 points in a single quarter. In the final quarter, the two sides directly replaced the substitute players for training. The Magic's bench players continued to push and at one point extended their lead to more than 40 points. In the end, the Magic defeated the Cavaliers with a score of 121-83 to tie the overall score at 1-2.
Cavaliers and Magic this round of the series to be honest, the concentration is not high, the first two games, the Cavaliers' performance on the offensive end is slightly mediocre, but the Magic's average points per game in the first two games are limited to less than 90 points, this is not how good the Cavaliers' defense is, it is completely a mess of the Magic's offense, in these two games, Mitchell's average performance contributed 26.5 points and 5 rebounds per game, which is the only one in the two teams. The Magic were completely overwhelmed by the Cavaliers' momentum in their two road games, but on the offensive end they looked disorganized and lacked a clear tactical arrangement. Banchero and Wagner Jr. are relatively consistent scorers in the team, but they are not very efficient. Disappointingly, Banchero made as many as 15 mistakes in two games, a performance that was clearly unsatisfactory as the leader of the team.
Unexpectedly, in the G3 battle, the Cavaliers' first scorer Mitchell shot 6 of 16, 3 points and 6 of them, and only got 13 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, and the Cavaliers lost 25 points on the court, and Garland's performance was even worse, 2 of 10 shots, 4 of 3 points, 5 points and 6 rebounds, as the team's point guard, Garland sent 0 assists, which was extremely embarrassing, and the two guns in the backcourt were collectively abnormal, which was incomprehensible. Mobley and Allen on the front line are efficient, Allen was 5 of 6 and got 15 points and 8 rebounds, and Mobley was 4 of 9 with 10 points and 3 rebounds, but they didn't have many opportunities on the offensive end, and in addition, Mobley was not as active in rebounding protection as in the first two games. The Magic returned to the home court and was unusual, Suggs scored 24 points, Banchero scored 31 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists, Wagner Jr. scored 16 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds, and the bench also ushered in a blowout!
The Cavaliers' fiasco in the G3 game made the Warriors' fans completely break the defense, and many fans think: The matchup between the Cavaliers and the Magic in this round of the series is too chicken, they are not a playoff-level team at all, and the league should cancel the East and West divisions and let the 30 teams compete fairly, which is more conducive to the commercial interests of the league and allows some teams with real strength and attention to play in the playoffs. Like the Warriors, who played a win rate close to 70% in March and April, and once they enter the playoffs, they can definitely play a very attractive game, and the Kings in the West are also a very competitive team, and their exit is an absolute loss for the league. In fact, the attention of the entire eastern part is not high, and the strength is not satisfactory. Just like the Celtics, who got the first record in the league, were defeated by the Heat without Butler in the G2 battle against the Heat, the Celtics did not show the ability to be in a unique gear. It's time for the league to consider eliminating the East and West Divisions, after all, the NBA is getting less and less influential!