Orlando Magic Grades: Cleveland Cavaliers 131, Orlando Magic 127

Despite a commendable fourth-quarter comeback effort, communication and execution errors once again doomed the Orlando Magic as they fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers 131-127.

The Orlando Magic have actually been pretty good in first quarters this season. They had a positive net rating in first periods heading into Saturday night’s game. After 12 minutes against LeBron James and company they only trailed by one, which is no small feat for this injury-ravaged, lottery-bound squad.

But the game eventually got away.

Even after a late rally that cut the lead to three points, the Magic’s mistakes came back to bite them again. Orlando Magic could not make that final stop in a 131-127 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers at Amway Center on Saturday.

In the third quarter, the Magic were outscored 40-23. The team’s assist-to-turnover ratio progressively soured as the defense hemorrhaged points and the offense failed to execute. Turnovers are particularly costly against a team with James on the court, which the Magic learned quickly as he overpowered smaller defenders in transition and pulled up from three when the defense sagged.

There is no clear solution to defending James. Mario Hezonja was tasked with the assignment, which went about as you would expect despite his best efforts. There is only so much you can do about that freight train coming down the lane, especially with this team’s limited personnel.

All you can really do is hope you make enough shots and avoid turnovers enough to prevent him from living in the open court. That requires airtight offensive execution. And that was sorely lacking for the Magic.

In theory, this team is supposed to play with pace, and it is evident in how frequently the team tries to engage in double drag, 21 or early ball screen action. Those are all plays first popularized by Mike D’Antoni’s Seven Seconds or Less Phoenix Suns commonly referred to as early offense or secondary breaks and used to generate more efficient shots in transition if an opportunity or advantage is not immediately available.

These types of actions are extremely effective for countless NBA teams, namely D’Antoni’s Houston Rockets, but the Orlando Magic’s half-hearted, almost listless execution turns them into jumbled messes in which two or three players will aimlessly coagulate until one shoots a pull-up jumper. That happened countless times during Saturday’s game.

The Magic run these sets, and all their sets, with purpose more frequently early in games. The communication breakdowns and poor execution gradually become more frequent, leading to bad shots, turnovers and transition opportunities for opponents. In the first quarter against the Cavaliers, bigs set better screens, players looked like they knew where they were supposed to be and shooters received and took better shots.

But as the game progressed, the offense devolved into more isolation, pull-up jumpers and well, worse shots and desperate, purposeless passes. That leads to turnovers, fastbreak opportunities and Lebron James in the open court.

This team often has similar issues with communication and execution on the defensive end, but those were less prevalent against the Cavaliers. Yes, they gave up 131 points, but it is hard to be mad at the likes of Wesley Iwundu, Arron Afflalo and Bismack Biyombo, all of whom continually hold up their end of the defensive bargain.

Saturday night and all season long, those three have generally executed the scheme well. Arron Afflalo’s footwork and diligence trailing Kyle Korver running around screens were admirable. Wesley Iwundu is still young and makes mistakes. But he is a bona fide pest getting his hands into the opposing offense and blowing up handoffs.

Bismack Biyombo is the only rotation big able to defend at the level of ball screens, which has intrinsic value against a team like the Cavaliers with a shooting center and point guard.

The defensive issues start at the point of attack, where Isaiah Thomas used Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson screens to make Elfrid Payton’s assignment impossibly difficult. Thomas finished with 19, shooting 7 of 13 from the field. But he could have easily had more as he missed several wide open attempts he normally would make.

In Elfrid Payton’s defense, the Love-Thomas pick-and-roll combination is a very difficult cover.

This exact sequence happened Saturday and will likely be a Cavaliers staple going forward: Thomas beats the opposing point guard with a screen, Love pops to the 3-point line, the defensive big man is forced out of traditional drop or ice coverage to guard Love and Thomas either gets a wide-open driving lane or forces help defense and hits a corner shooter.

The alternatives are switching, where the Cavaliers will be more than happy to exploit the resulting mismatches, or hedging, which demands a defensive big man with mobility well above the position’s average. Neither are particularly viable for the Magic.

The point is, the Cavaliers have personnel that is extremely difficult for most teams, especially the Magic, to deal with. That is why they are favorites to repeat as Eastern Conference Champions. But if the Magic wanted a chance to win, the offensive execution needed to be more purposeful and consistent. It has not been either of those things for much of this season, and Saturday was no different.

A-. I must admit, I did not expect <a href=. SF. Orlando Magic. MARIO HEZONJA

B. It is hard to give an <a rel=. PF. Orlando Magic. AARON GORDON

D. <a rel=. SF. Orlando Magic. EVAN FOURNIER

Orlando Magic. ELFRID PAYTON. C. When the Magic have a defensive miscue, Elfrid Payton is too often involved in some capacity, whether it is a blown switch, poor closeout or other communication error. His difficulty navigating screens also puts his teammates in suboptimal positions. That showed tonight especially with Isaiah Thomas in the game.But he did show off his finishing tonight, hitting a few clutch buckets on drives through traffic. He was a net positive too, partially because of the lineups with which he played. Alongside more off-ball players rather than ball handlers, he was far more effective.It is particularly remarkable he was a net positive considering how far off the Cavaliers played him. He had about 10 feet of space anytime he was near the 3-point arc. With Bismack Biyombo in the game too, the Cavaliers defenders could clog the paint with ease and make running a pick-and-roll nearly impossible.Payton has fundamental shortcomings that will always give him a low ceiling as a player, and those shortcomings were evident tonight. But on his good nights, he is a solid playmaker and excellent finisher below the rim. Magic fans saw the full Payton experience Saturday.. PG

3rd East. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS. B. Isaiah Thomas is slowly working his way back. He still does not look 100 percent. He missed a few gimme buckets and looked a step slow. But he is still a much-needed upgrade for this Cavaliers team at point guard.As is now expected with this team, the Cavaliers had a few lapses boxing out (the Magic grabbed 14 offensive rebounds) and in transition defense. That is nothing too far out of the ordinary for this team, which tends to ease off the gas pedal in many games. Their personnel is just so overwhelmingly good they can make up for it more often than not.When LeBron James is in scoring mode, there is nothing a defense can do, especially now that his 3-point shot is falling like almost never before. But he values getting his teammates involved. He finished with nine assists, 10 rebounds and 33 points on efficient shooting. He topped off that line with six steals.They are anything but a perfect regular season team, but James gives them an unbelievably wide margin for error in most of their games. But their tendencies to ease off the gas and commit unforced errors will have to abate when the playoffs come around.. 26-13

The Orlando Magic now hit the road for the next three games, starting in Dallas against the Dallas Mavericks.