The Cleveland Cavaliers will face the Orlando Magic on Tuesday, the first of two consecutive road games.
With a victory, Cleveland (49-30) can make this the franchise’s first 50-win regular season since 2017-18. The Cavaliers would have their best record heading into the playoffs since the team that won the championship in 2016 when they won 57 games during the regular season if they won their final three games.
With a 115-105 home victory over Indiana on Sunday, Cleveland ended a two-game losing streak and improved to 49 wins. Donovan Mitchell scored 40 points for his 12th and third consecutive game with at least 40 points this season.
Mitchell is averaging 28 points per game this season, 1.6 more than when he had his best season in 2020-21. Additionally, he is shooting a career-high 48.2% from the floor.
The young Magic (34-44) want to slow Mitchell down and get around Cleveland’s defense, which only manages to score 107 points per game, which is the lowest in the NBA.
In its previous two encounters with the Cavaliers, Orlando fell by scores of 103-92 and 107-96, failing to score 100 points. However, both games were played early in the season, with the most recent occurring on December 2.
The Enchanted come into the current week’s gatherings with the Cavaliers on something of a hot streak, winning five of six since Walk 21, and six of eight since Walk 18.
On Sunday, Orlando defeated Detroit by a score of 128-102 to record its second consecutive victory. Jalen Suggs scored 18 points off the bench to lead eight players who scored in the double digits.
In the victory, the Magic reserves scored 65 points together; Mortiz Wagner added 11, Cole Anthony added 17, and Goga Bitadze added 13.
Orlando is averaging 118.2 focuses per game over its last six successes, in excess of six focuses per game over its season normal.
Orlando has had five different leading scorers in those six victories, including Suggs’ performance on Sunday.
The run has seen the presumed Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero score 30 points against Washington on March 31 and 21 points against New York on March 23; 21 points from Anthony against Brooklyn on March 26; Gary Harris with 22 versus Washington (Walk 21); and Markelle Fultz, who scored 28 points in a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on March 18.
Orlando is the only team in the Eastern Conference other than the top 10 that hasn’t been eliminated from the play-in race yet. However, with four games remaining on the Magic’s schedule and four games behind Chicago, which is in 10th place, the Magic are eliminated by either an Orlando loss or a Bulls victory.
Cleveland, on the other hand, has secured the No. 4 seed if the Knicks win or lose in the closing stages. The Cavaliers are 2 1/2 games back of Philadelphia for the East’s No. 3 seed with three remaining games, with the 76ers playing four more times.
