Magic most to blame for Game 2 loss vs. Cavs

Jonathan Isaac had the worst plus-minus among Magic’s starters at -10, and it speaks volumes of how much he has struggled matching up with Jarrett Allen–who has been undeniably the best player for Cleveland in the first two games of the series.

The 26-year-old Isaac just couldn’t slow down Allen, and that was evident again on Monday evening. The Cavs big man put up 16 points and had 20 rebounds in Cleveland’s 96-86 victory. Allen also tallied three assists, two steals and three blocks.

While it’s not all on Isaac, the truth is Allen is simply a bad matchup for him. Not to mention that his offensive struggles didn’t help at all, as he recorded just three points on 1-of-7 shooting (all 3-point attempts) during their latest contest.

Having said that, Mosley might have to change his starting lineup and put in Wendell Carter Jr. or Mo Wagner in an attempt to make the Cavs All-Star less effective in the series.

Cole Anthony, Markelle Fultz MIA

Cole Anthony just couldn’t find his shot. In Game 1, he went 0-of-7 from the field in the Magic’s 97-83 loss. In Game 2, he was 0-of-4 despite playing 16 minutes. That’s definitely not a good sign for a player expected to anchor the bench scoring.

Anthony averaged 11.6 points on 43.5 percent shooting during the regular season. Things would have been different for Magic had the fiery guard been playing to his usual standards. But he isn’t.

It certainly doesn’t help the Magic that Markelle Fultz has largely been ineffective. He didn’t play in the second half of Game 2 after just six minutes of action, which indicates that Mosley just doesn’t see him being impactful in this series. Fultz didn’t attempt a shot in his brief time on the floor. This followed his Game 1 performance when, like Anthony, he went scoreless and was 0-of-4 from the field.

For the Magic to have a fighting chance and make this a series, Anthony or Fultz will really have to step up.

Magic’s 3-point problem

The Magic are one of the worst 3-point shooting team in the NBA, and it shows. Orlando shot 8-of-37 from deep in Game 1 and went 9-of-35 in Game 2. So for two outings now, the team has been averaging less than 26 percent from long distance.

They can’t win like that, especially not against a Cavs team with plenty of capable all-around scorers in Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.

But for a Magic squad that ranked 24th in 3-point shooting percentage throughout the 2023-24 season (35.2 percent), one has to wonder why Orlando keeps chugging triples even though they are so bad at it. Hopefully, they’ll change things up come Game 3.

As the series shifts to Orlando, Mosley and Co. will have to find a way to win and stop the bleeding. If not, they are facing a real possibility of getting swept.