Orlando Magic flat-footed as Cleveland Cavaliers pounce hard

With the Orlando Magic playing again less than 24 hours after falling to the Washington Wizards, the stage was set for the 104-79 disaster against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Orlando Magic have now lost 13 straight to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and perhaps most disconcertingly, the team has not been close in all three tries this season.

Saturday’s 104-79 Cleveland win at Quicken Loans Arena was not close from start to finish.

Aaron Gordon (ORL) — 11 pts., 7 rebs.; Mario Hezonja (ORL) — 10 pts.
LeBron James (CLE) — 29 pts.; Kevin Love (CLE) — 10 pts., 13 rebs.

The only juncture at which things looked promising was when the Magic forced a shot clock violation on Cleveland’s second possession with the score tied 2-2. The optimism surrounding that standout defensive possession was fleeting and short lived.

The Cavs would proceed to go on a 17-2 run to take a 19-4 lead before Evan Fournier stopped the bleeding with a corner three. But the Cavaliers’ defense was tough and the Magic were flat-footed and lethargic, as the Cavs’ starters proceeded to outscore the Magic’s starters 42-9 just in the first half.

At the intermission the Magic trailed by 23 points and they had connected on just 35 percent from the floor (including 2 of 11 from 3-point range). LeBron LeBron James had 20 points at the half, and the Cavs were doing all the little things in conjunction with hitting shots.

The Cavs committed just two turnovers in the first half, and the Magic did not even score on those miscues. The Cavs also held an eight rebound advantage at the half.

That is the recipe for a blowout, and the game scarcely resembled an actual contest.

The Magic cut it to an 18-point lead on a Nikola Vucevic hook shot at around the eight-minute mark of the third quarter, but they would draw no closer.

Orlando had outscored Cleveland 13-9 in the third period before the TV timeout mid-quarter, but Cleveland came out to outpace Orlando 17-8 in the final five minutes.

The Magic did not do anything particularly well in the game, and it was evidenced by the mental lapses that led to Cleveland drawing fouls on 3-point attempts four times in the game. The Magic also were in the penalty within the first four minutes of the game, unable to do much more than foul to slow the barrage of Cavs trips to the basket.

With just less than five minutes to go in the game, not a single Magic player had reached double-figure scoring.

Scott Skiles gave his bench heavy minutes in the blowout — and both Aaron Gordon and Dewayne Dedmon had mini stretches of flourishing in an otherwise forgettable game. Gordon, Mario Hezonja and Shabazz Napier were the only players to reach double figures.

Hezonja had a nice showing and a few impressive passes. He finished with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists. But he hit just 3 of 11 from the field. Even if his shot was off, there were enough glimmers of hope from his play to find at least one pale silver lining in this one.

Even with a few reserves turning in good games, it was just far too little to compensate for just how poorly the starters played. Orlando’s starting lineup amassed just 20 points while the Cavs starters put up 65.

Next: Evan Fournier: Contract is in the back of my mind

No bench can deliver its starters from that type of showing.