Recap: Magic 116, Cavs 98 (or, Not The Magic Bullet They Were Looking For…)

The hope this week for the Cleveland Cavaliers was that they might somehow discover a “magic bullet” trade to shake things up and possibly right their quickly sinking ship. Instead, they received another shot to the back of the dome from one of the worst caliber teams in the Eastern Conference… who were on the second night of a back-to-back… and who were missing two starters and a key reserve. Yep, Cavs fans, just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse… the dudes in wine and gold (actually grey, yellow and black) got gunned down from behind, bleeding away a 21 point lead to lose by nearly that much. Though I jokingly mused at the outset that the Cavs will probably be forced to wear these alternate “The Land” unis until they actually find a way to defend said Land (or at least it’s reputation on the road)… if that was the case, we’ve probably got a lot of grey in our future.

I was honestly tempted to just post a gif of a dumpster aflame as the entirely of this recap, given the gory details the numbers display… but I figured you all deserved more of an effort than what the Cavs themselves put forth tonight. That said, there weren’t many highlights to speak of beyond the first quarter of this one, as the Cavs seemed intent on shooting themselves in the foot… the heart… and ultimately the head.

The sad thing is that this game started out with a lot of things going right. The Cavs actually equalled their best scoring quarter of the season by dropping 43 points on the Magic in the opening frame. The ball was moving (they had eight of their 19 assists in the quarter) on offense and bodies were moving on defense (at least initially). Guys were hitting shots (they were firing at a 68% clip in the quarter), and a lot of that came from the beleaguered starting back court. JR Smith was 4-4 from downtown for 12 points to lead the team, and Isaiah Thomas (in one of his most productive quarters as a Cav) was right behind him with 11 points on 3-5 shooting and a couple trips to the line. LeBron made it three of the five starters in double digits by scoring 10 points in seven minutes before being subbed out early for Dwayne Wade. The lead was 10 at that point, and the bench managed to push it out to as much as 15, despite giving up some easy layups and uncontested threes (more of that to come).

Swish dials long distance for the third time already! @cavs off to a good start.#CavsMagic is underway on FSO & FSGO: https://t.co/nUET8noG46 pic.twitter.com/BxNjN9mqC3

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) February 7, 2018

Quarter two began as promising as the first, with a pair of Kyle Korver treys and some Jeff Green aggression driving to the hoop. LeBron also continued to take advantage of some poor Mario Hezonja defense on him to drain another couple of jumpers to push the lead out to (what seemed like) a fairly cushy 21 points. Then, two things happened that signaled the beginning of the end for the Cavs. Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Tristan Thompson and JR Smith all checked in… and the defense checked out. Then, Tyronn Lue bolted for the locker room with some undisclosed illness. Had he stayed on the sidelines, he might have been even more nauseated by the porous attempts his team made as the Magic fired up the layup line to the basket. Meanwhile, this gang that couldn’t shoot straight misfired on seven straight shots (including one possession where Crowder was blocked two different times by two different dudes). As good as IT and JR had been at scoring in the first quarter… they were the opposite in this stretch. Even a quick re-insertion of LeBron couldn’t stop the 9-0 Magic run, as the Cavs went four minutes without a bucket (more of that to come). They did manage to stop the bleeding for the moment though… finishing the half on a 6-2 mini run in the final minute to push the lead back to 16.

If you’re wondering why I spent so much time on the first two quarters… it’s because I’m pretty close to quitting the rest of the recap in much the same way the Cavs quit giving an expletive for the remainder of the game. It actually took a few minutes for the wheels to come completely off, however, as LeBron found his three point stroke twice to match the long bombs of Fournier and Hezonja. Around the 9:30 mark is when Johnathan Simmons became a Magic bullet in human form. The one time Spur looked like he was shot out of a gun as he attacked the Cavs and the rack for 22 of his game (and career) high 34 points in the quarter. Cleveland had no answer as Simmons helped turn a 16 point deficit into a one point lead in four minutes. Only a Crowder tip interrupted the 18 point Magic barrage. The Cavs managed to match Orlando shot for shot for the rest of the period, knotting things at 89 with three seconds left… but that was all the time Simmons needed to rebound a miss, drive half the court and drain a three at the buzzer.

The fourth? Man, you don’t want to even know about the fourth. If you watched it, I feel bad for you. I know I felt bad for myself at the time. Here’s all you need to know… the Cavs’ scoring (until garbage time prevailed with just over two minutes left) was limited to a LeBron James free throw and a banked in prayer of a three point shot by Wade as the shot clock expired. Four points. That’s it. Four points in almost 10 minutes… by a team that scored 43 in 12 minutes just a few quarters earlier.

Y’know… I think I will use that graphic now…

Meanwhile… guess what the Magic were doing?

a) Dunking with abandon

b) Layup line

c) Getting to the free throw line

d) All of the above

If you guessed d… you win the Anderson’s tickets to the next home game at the Q (which might be a blowout of epic proportions to the TWolves).

Yep, Simmons and some dudes called Wesley Iwundu and Khem Birch (if those names don’t scream G-League, I don’t know what does) put on a dunk contest for most of the quarter. When the clips were emptied and the smoke finally cleared… the riddled Cavs found they had been outgunned to the tune of 73-34 after building their once promising 21 point lead.

There Is No Genius… Only Evil

Hard to get excited about a 43 point first quarter, or a 67 point half when you chase it with a 31 point second half and a nine point fourth (thanks garbage time Channing Frye for more than doubling the paltry output of the starters).

Sure, IT and JR were hot in the first, combining for 23 points. And yet, they never scored again… for the rest of the game. Thomas missed his final eight shots, and JR only attempted two (both misses).

LeBron had 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists at halftime. He scored nine more points in the second half (just one in the fourth) but did not add to his rebound or assist total. Granted, he sat for more than seven minutes while Simmons did much of his damage due to foul trouble, but he really seemed to stop trying in the fourth, and turned the ball over six times.

Jae Crowder was abjectly horrible with two points on 1-6 shooting, 0-3 from deep and just two boards. As mentioned, he was stuffed twice by two different players on the same possession.

Tristan Thompson had a decent game with 12 points and nine rebounds… until you look closer at his complete lack of defensive rotation. TT offers about as much rim protection these days as a subway turnstile.

The bench did what they could, with solid if not spectacular games from Green (12 points, four boards), Wade (11 points, four boards and an awesome block) and Korver (eight points, two steals). Frye didn’t really play when it mattered, but salvaged further embarrassment in garbage time with five points.

Okay… one genius thing… that block from Wade, which was probably the highlight of the game…

We see you, @dwyanewade!#CavsMagic || #AllForOne https://t.co/Mu1nA0Thaf

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) February 7, 2018

Derrick Rose was 0-7 and got stuffed a few times on drives… yet somehow wound up the only Cav in the positives with a +1 for the game. Rose is even ruining math for me…

The Cavs gave up 116 points to a 17-36 team that was playing on the second night of a back-to-back, and missing Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross. They allowed 65 points to a team that should have had weary legs in the second half because they didn’t force them into taking jump shots, and instead allowed an open path to the basket.

They once again made an average player look like a superstar, letting Johnathan Simmons do his best Paul George or Kevin Durant impression with 22 points in the third and a career high 34 for the game on 12-17 shooting.

All five starters for the Magic were in double figures, and they shot 53% from the field… most of which were within two feet of the hoop. At one point I tried to look up just how many points in the paint the Magic had, but the box score was down. I assumed the number was somewhere in the billions. While it wasn’t as hyperbolically bad as that… it was an almost equally ridiculous 70-38 margin for Orlando.

More ugly number bullets:

The Cavs got dominated on the glass 50-35.

They lost for the 14th time in their last 22 games.

They’ve given up an average of 122.4 points per game in their last five losses.

They allowed the Magic to win their first consecutive games since November 8-10.

Oh yeah… and what Dave points out below…

Isaiah Thomas is 5-for-33 from 3 his last 7 games (15.5 percent); LeBron James has 33 turnovers his last 6 games (5.5 per); Jae Crowder has 3 rebounds his last 2 games starting in place of Kevin Love; Derrick Rose is 3-for-22 his last 5 games (13.6 percent). A lot of bad.

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 7, 2018

Parting Shots

There were several shots fired in the post game after yet another brutal loss. The first came in the form of LeBron once again shooting down the notion of whether he might be willing to waive his No Trade Clause if the Cavs decide to blow things up…

"I would never waive my no-trade clause."

Rough stretch or not, LeBron is all in with his @cavs teammates. pic.twitter.com/H4xxBcxYZs

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) February 7, 2018

Honestly… though I respect the man’s code of honor, he might want to reconsider this stance. After all, he’s only got a couple of years left of ring chasing realistically, so why not agree to join a contender like Houston, San Antonio or OKC if there’s an opportunity available? I know, I know… heresy, pipe dreams, fake news and all that. Besides, LeBron seems determined to let Dan Gilbert be left holding the bag as the bad man who essentially blew the whole thing up and is determined to drive him out of town a second time… why infringe on that narrative now? And, as miserable as the next couple of months could be if the Cavs continue their downward spiral towards possibly not even making the playoffs (they’re only four games out of ninth place now), at least he stands to get a few extra months off this summer as he decides his future. Just sayin’…

Another shot came from the diminutive fly in the Cavs’ collective ointment…

“When adversity hits, we go our separate ways” – Isaiah Thomas

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 7, 2018

Yeah, that should endear IT to his teammates… and probably won’t get him killed on Twitter at all…

I've covered the Cavs since 2011.

Ive covered complete dysfunction and buffoonery.

Players hung out to dry by other players and coaches, and coaches the same.

I can't recall a dude as intent on throwing everyone else under the bus like this.

— Mourt (@aka_mourt) February 7, 2018

Him being a malcontent at his first two stops ceased being a story when he drank the Celtic waters, but he is who he is. A tiny man hell bent on destruction.

— Kirk Henderson, Questioning Authority (@KirkSeriousFace) February 7, 2018

There are 230 NBA players getting 20+ minutes a night.

Isaiah Thomas' net rating (-14.8) ranks 230th.

— Greg Swartz (@GregSwartzBR) February 7, 2018

And, to cap the night off… as poorly as things are going for LeBron’s actual team, they might actually be worse for his All Star team…

Team LeBron is faring about as well as LeBron's team

— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) February 7, 2018

That was in reference to the unfortunate news that Kristaps Porzingis blew out his ACL tonight… putting him on the shelf with DeMarcus Cousins (torn achilles) and Kevin Love (broken hand). Too soon to declare the curse of Team LeBron?

So, here we are… with less than two days now until the trade deadline. Will the Cavs somehow still be able to find their magic bullet of a scenario to once again remake this team to rescue it from it’s midseason woes? I recommend not holding your breath for too long. In the meantime… the outcome of this game was not the “magic bullet” the Cavs were looking for… but it’s the Magic bullet they deserved.

Wolves tomorrow night… bring your triage kits and trade machines.