After the Orlando Magic got another convincing win at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday in Game 4, they are on their way back to Cleveland for Game 5.
The Magic have struggled in Cleveland thus far in the playoffs and they have to win one game in Cleveland to win the series. Winning Game 5 would be pivotal in this series, and set them up perfectly to sneak into the second round with Game 6 back at the Kia Center on Friday.
The Magic have struggled shooting the ball this series, specifically in the two games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. When the team's offense is not clicking, Orlando tends to try to overcomplicate things and attempt to out smart the other team. That is not what the Magic need to do to revamp their offense for Game 5. In fact overcomplicating the offense in a young team's first playoff series is the last thing the Magic should do.
What the Magic need to do is the opposite. Simplifying the offense and the process is exactly what the Magic need to do to get the offense going in game 5.
The easiest way for them to get a spark in the offense is to exploit mismatches and work those until the Cavs stop it.
Taking advantage of mismatches will allow them to exploit the weaknesses in the Cavs' defense and force them to send double teams or rotate their defense which will throw off their whole entire defensive scheme. This will allow the Magic to get good shots, move the ball around, and most importantly let the offense flow naturally for them.
This is now a three-game series and the Magic know where the weak spots are they should attack. That is where the team will be headed to try to come home with a 3-2 lead.
There are three main matchups that the Magic can exploit in Game 5 to give them the edge and hopefully get them their first road win of this series.
3 Key Matchups to Game 5
Literally anyone vs Caris LeVert.
Caris LeVert has not played much defense this series and the Orlando Magic need to take advantage of this.
LeVert is playing 25 minutes per game this series and all 25 of those minutes the Magic need to attack LeVert in Game 5. I know this is not a specific matchup but any Magic player that LeVert guards scores efficiently.
When LeVert is the primary defender in this series the Magic are 14 for 31, which is 45 percent from the field. But they are 1 for 11 from three on him, which means they are 13 for 20 from two against LeVert.
This means that every time they attack LeVert they score and whenever they settle for threes he gets bailed out.
The Magic need to find LeVert on the floor every possesion when he is in the game and run their offense at him. Franz Wagner is 5 for 8 on LeVert, Markelle Fultz is 3 for 4 and Moe Wagner is 2 for 3 on LeVert.
They need to continue taking advantage of this matchup when they get it and keep attacking. But some players need to do a better job when they get this matchup.
Jalen Suggs is 1 for 4 vs LeVert (1 for 2 on twos and 0 for 2 from three), Cole Anthony is 1 for 3, (1 for 1 from two and 0 for 2 from three) and Gary Harris and Joe Ingles are a combined 0 for 2 on LeVert with a combined 0 for 2 from three.
LeVert's size clearly bothers some of the smaller guards on the team.
Even Franz Wagner, who as mentioned is 5 for 8 on LeVert, is 4 for 4 from two and 1 for 4 from three.
These players are all pivotal to the Magic's offense and they need to stop settling for threes and letting LeVert get away with his lackluster defense.
The Magic are not a good three-point shooting team, and they have especially struggled in this series, so when they see LeVert on the floor that means it is time to attack the rim. When LeVert is on the court the only threes that should be attempted is if they bring a double to help LeVert and they pass to the open man. But no one should be shooting threes on LeVert.
Attacking LeVert can benefit the Magic in so many ways.
They will first get a lot of easy buckets either at the rim or in the mid-range game that will help them out in a series where they are struggling to score. This will also cause the defense to rotate and allow the Magic to get more open threes or open driving lanes for more easy buckets.
The importance of good shots and easy baskets cannot be understated in the playoffs and especially in this series.
Attacking LeVert will also affect him on the other side of the ball.
LeVert who is normally a 14-point-per-game scorer is only scoring 8.3 points per game this series and is already struggling due to the Magic's elite defense.
Making him work more on defense will tire him out and make it so his struggles continue and not allow him to be a factor for the late games of this series.
LeVert's laziness on defense cannot keep going unnoticed and the Magic have to stop settling when he is in front of them. They need to up the shot intake on LeVert for easy buckets and use LeVert to draw doubles and force the defense to scramble and rotate.
They have gotten 10 assists with LeVert as the primary defender and that number needs to jump too.
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.
3 Key Matchups to Game 5
Franz Wagner vs Max Strus
Franz Wagner who has been the epitome of inconsistency this season and series, just had a huge Game 4 and a really good Game 3 after being inefficient in Cleveland. Franz Wagner is the number two option on this team and his play and his ability to help Paolo Banchero very much dictate this series.
When Wagner is good, the Magic are good. When he is bad, they are bad.
It is just how this season and series has gone.
Max Strus, who was a below-average defender this year, has done a decent job on Franz Wagner in this series. But as of the last two games, Wagner has got the best of him and this needs to continue for the Magic's success.
Wagner is 10 for 24 from the field and 3 for 5 from three with Strus as the primary defender this series. He also has added six assists, and Strus has sent him to the line three times where he is 4 for 6 on free throws while only turning it over once. These are great numbers, but they have gotten boosted over the last two games.
To continue this, Wagner needs to continue to be aggressive on Strus and take advantage of that matchup.
During the regular season, Wagner was 6 for 11 on Strus, so he has dominated this matchup all year and he needs to hone in on that. Strus has guarded Wagner for the majority of this series so he will get the chance to attack Strus, he just needs to take advantage of those chances.
That does not just mean scoring.
Wagner had seven assists on him during the regular season and already has six this series. Wagner should be able to dominate Strus to the point where they send a double or have to help, and that is where Franz's underrated playmaking abilities can come in huge.
On the defene, Wagner has done a good job defending Strus.
Although Strus is 7 for 16, and shooting a slightly better percentage on Wagner than Wagner is on Strus, Wagner has held him to 2 for 10 from three. This has been huge for the Magic this series.
Struss is a dangerous three-point shooter. He has been seen multiple times during the season to catch fire from three and completely change a game.
Wagner not allowing this has really minimized Strus' role in the offense, even if running him off the three-point line has allowed him to get some layups.
As long as he is not getting in rhythm with his jumper then he is really not a threat in this series. He has recorded no other stats when being guarded by Wagner and has not gone to the line either.
Wagner has guarded Strus for the majority of this series. I imagine that will continue since Wagner has done such an amazing job.
Wagner has also used his size and length advantage on Strus too. Wagner is averaging 8.0 rebounds per game this series which has been huge for the Magic because they are so outsized by the Cavs' bigs. Since the Cavs have the size advantage with the bigs, the Magic have had to use their size advantage with the wings to counteract and he has done just that.
Wagner has done a phenomenal job on defense against Strus, he just needs to keep it up on offense. He needs to attack the rim and not shoot as many threes when he gets the Strus matchup. This will open up so much more for him and his teammates.
The Magic have done such an amazing job responding to being down 2-0 especially for such a young team.
They took care of business at home. And if they can just steal one game on the road, they have a chance to win a series in the playoffs. The maturity and growth of this team has really shown these past couple of games.
Most young teams would have given up or felt outmatched, but the Magic knew they could compete and they did. Taking advantage of these matchups on both sides of the ball can help them continue to play great defense and get things going on offense.