4 biggest takeaways from Orlando Magic's first four games in Playoffs
The Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers are now tied up at two games apiece as the series moves back to Cleveland for Game 5 on Tuesday.
On one hand, both teams have held serve at home and so the series has not seemingly truly begun. There is still a lot for the teams to sort out in the final three games and it does not seem like there is a clear indicator of who will win.
On the other hand, the Magic's defense has stood tall throughout the series, even in the team's two losses. And Orlando's rollicking wins at the Kia Center in Games 3 and 4 point to a young team finding its stride in the postseason.
Nobody really knows how Game 5 will turn, but it sure feels like momentum is on the Magic's side.
The series has gone under the radar to many for several reasons. But it might just be the only series to go the distance in the first round. There is a lot still to decide between these two teams.
So, with the Magic and Cavaliers now engaged in a best-of-three series, here are the four biggest takeaways moving forward.
The 3-point line is very important (to the surprise of nobody)
Through the first four games, the Orlando Magic have — almost miraculously — outscored the Cleveland Cavaliers by 30 points from the three-point line. That is quite an alarming stat for the Cavs considering how poorly the Magic shot in the first two games of the series.
The Magic went just 17 for 72 on long-range shots in the first couple of games, but since then Orlando has shot 35 percent or better in both games. The Cavs on the other hand, have experienced almost the exact opposite trend.
Cleveland entered Game 4 shooting 27.2 percent from three, and did not exactly turn things around as the team shot 4 for 17 in the 112-89 loss on Saturday.
In the coming games, they will look to some of the role players to give them extra production from long-range to match the play of Orlando's shooters.
Max Strus and Georges Niang were brought in this offseason to shoot threes but it has not come to fruition this postseason as they have combined for only four 3-pointers in the first four games of the series.
Donovan Mitchell has not shot the ball well either going 7 for 28 (25.0 percent) from three-point land in the series.
For Orlando, it has been a different story.
The three-point line is what sunk the Magic in the first two games but it has become the main reason that they are two wins away from going to the second round.
In Game 3, Paolo Banchero shot 4 for 9 from three, Jalen Suggs shot 3 for 5 and Jonathan Isaac added two triples of his own. Between them, they combined for nine 3-pointers which was one more than the Cavaliers had as a team (they shot 8 for 34).
In Game 4, Isaac had four threes off the bench which matched the four threes the Cavs put up for the entire game. Not to mention the starters for the Magic shot 7 for 15 from long range, including 4 for 6 as a team in the 37-10 third quarter.
Those shooting numbers for the Magic have put their offense at 116.5 points per game in the last two games and the Cavaliers have not broken 100 points yet in this series. The three-point shooting is the No.1 reason why.