3 Key Matchups to Game 5
Jonathan Isaac vs Evan Mobley
The Orlando Magic are undersized in this series. But they have done a good job of making up for that with heart and hustle.
The Cleveland Cavaliers start the twin towers of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. That can be a lot to handle with Wendell Carter being an undersized center and only being able to guard one of the two forwards at a time.
The move to bring Carter into the lineup has helped boost the starting group and controlled the glass a bit more in Games 3 and 4. Still, the Cavs' starting lineup has a -10.8 net rating for the series and +10.8 in the first half. The Magic still have to get off to a better start.
Orlando should continue experimenting with some lineups, including using Jonathan Isaac more to matchup with Evan Mobley earlier in the game, where Mobley is doing a lot of his scoring.
This would allow them to get some more size and length, and let Carter focus on Allen and Isaac to focus on Mobley. Mobley is a lot bigger and longer than Allen so it makes sense to have Isaac guarding him.
Isaac has also done a phenomenal job on him so far this series.
Mobley is shooting 1 for 5 from the field and has been blocked by Isaac twice in the four games so far. If Mobley is struggling like this against Isaac then I do not see why they would not match him up against him all game.
Isaac has only guarded Mobley for three minutes this series, and Mobley has already struggled tremendously during those three minutes. Although it has been a small sample size good things have already come and he has dominated this side of the matchup.
On the other side of the ball, Isaac is only shooting 2 for 6 against Mobley, but that is not where the value of this matchup comes from. Isaac, who is shooting 42.9 percent from three in this series, will force Mobley to come out to the perimeter and not allow him to be near the paint.
This will take Mobley out of the help defense role which he excels in and force him to be away from the ball. This will open up driving lanes for the Magic's stars and playmakers and make it a lot easier to get those easy shots. But if he does try to help he will be leaving Isaac open for three, or cause the Cavs to have to scramble and rotate.
Not only will this lead to more great shots, but it will force Allen to play help on every possession where he will either have to stay back or help and give Carter some easy lobs.
Isaac does not have to dominate the matchup against Mobley on the offensive end. He just needs to pull Mobley away from the rest of the team.
If they try to put a smaller defender on Isaac to let Mobley roam then Isaac can take advantage of the smaller defender and get easy baskets or force the bigs into rotation once again. They could try to put Allen on him but he can not move laterally with Isaac. Having the Isaac vs Mobley matchup is one the Cavs can not really game plan for.
Isaac has been guarded by Mobley for 5:19 of this series where Isaac has been decent individually, but his impact away from the ball in that time has been outstanding. The Cavs have thrown a lot of bodies at Isaac. He has primarily been guarded by Allen thanks to his start at center in Games 1 and 2.
Isaac could be the X factor in Game 5 if they use him right. Hopefully, they put Isaac out there and if he has another offensive game like he did last game then he will dominate game 5 all around.