1 stud and 1 dud for Cavs in ugly loss to Magic on Tuesday

The Cleveland Cavaliers fell to a record of 43-37 on the season after an embarrassing loss to a much more motivated Orlando Magic team, in this game it seemed, that was tied for the worst record in the NBA. The Cavs are clinging to the 7th spot in the Eastern Conference standings. They now have to play in the “play-in tournament” next week to then get to the playoffs. A promising season for Cleveland has hit several speed bumps recently due to a variety of factors and now the team will look to regroup.

The team’s head coach J.B. Bickerstaff seemed much more subdued on the evening while coaching from the sidelines. That may be due to his last game coaching, such as from the past game, where his constant yelling at the referees and then his postgame comments and saying that his team lost that game against the Philadelphia 76ers because it was taken from them (by the refs) cost him $15000 in fines by the NBA.

Granted, the leagues’ Two Minute Report did state that Darius Garland should’ve had free throws after what should’ve been a Joel Embiid foul, and James Harden should’ve been called for a hook/offensive foul toward Lauri Markkanen. That’s both h/t Evan Dammarell of Fear The Sword and Right Down Euclid.

That said, I’ve never been fond of Bickerstaff’s approach toward officials, normally. At Orlando, though, his mellowness seemed to rub off on his team.

After the Cavs stormed out to a 14-3 lead, it looked like the team would be coasting to a win. However, the team decided not to play their style of basketball the rest of the game, where they are moving the ball and attacking the rim and settled for taking three-pointers and played into the run-and-gun style of the Magic team in that one.

Not communicating on defense for most of the night left the Magic players open for easy three-point shots. The Cavaliers tried to stay with the Magic all night, but not hustling back on defense or playing together hurt their chances at the win.

The Cavs led 61-59 at halftime but it was the third quarter that left the team playing catchup the rest of the way. They continued to allow the Magic to play their game and didn’t offer much resistance. The Magic got 66 points from their bench players.

For a Cleveland team that is supposed to be making that next big step forward, they keep stubbing their big toe. The injuries to big men Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley recently have affected the timing and communication of this team but the Cavs have many talented players that just haven’t been playing well.

Several players played well in the game, despite the loss. Cavs point guard Darius Garland again played well scoring most of his 27 points in the second half. He also dished out 10 assists.

But one player, especially, was the clear standout, regarding the Cavaliers stud from that one.

Cavs Stud: Lauri Markkanen

Lauri Markkanen helped keep the Cavs in the game most of the night. His timely three-point shots were one of the few bright spots on the night. He finished going for 25 points, and made six three-pointers. He had four rebounds and went a perfect five-for-five from the free throw line as well.

The Cavs missed seven free throws on the night and that could have been the difference in the tough loss, but Markkanen did everything he could to keep the game competitive.

On the flip side, we’ll next hit on the Cavaliers dud at Orlando.

Cavs Dud: Isaac Okoro

There were several awful performances on the night, unfortunately, including Caris LeVert‘s 11 points and three turnovers on the night performance. But Isaac Okoro‘s night was less than ideal, too.

We’re all waiting for that consistent 10-to-15 points a night production, but he only added five points on this night with one rebound. He also missed two free throws.

After a few games in mid-March where he was producing more points, he returned to being just out there on the court most nights. His defense can be very helpful to the team, but in a game like this one, his defense wasn’t enough. He’s scored in single digits in four of his last five games. The team needs his offensive production and that’s not happening at the moment.

The Cavaliers will now get a couple of days to reenergize and play their last two regular season games against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday and then the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.