featured-image

Magic Looking for Signature Win Against Cavs

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By John DentonDec. 26, 2014

ORLANDO – Regardless of what happens tonight when Orlando hosts Cleveland, the Magic will be credited with only one win or one loss in the standings. But if they can find a way to beat a team as star-studded as the Cavaliers, it could certainly do wonders for the collective psyche of the Magic.

Thus far this season, Orlando (11-20) has five victories against teams that either had winning records or .500 marks at the time that it played them. Of those victories, Orlando’s last-second defeat of Atlanta and winning in Phoenix were two of the biggest highlights of the season.

But beating Cleveland – a team loaded with superstar forward LeBron James and all-stars Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving – that could give the Magic the signature victory that it has been seeking all season.

``It definitely could do something for us as a team, but just winning this game and getting a two-game winning streak would be important,’’ Magic forward Tobias Harris said. ``For us to keep it rolling is important. I’ve said it before that confidence is one of the biggest things in this league. Once you get it going, you can be a pretty tough team. So tonight is a big game for us to get this win and try to keep it rolling.’’

Orlando ran into an angry and determined Cleveland team when the two met in Northeast Ohio on Nov. 24. The Cavs were 5-7 at that time and strangely struggling, but a 106-74 beating of the Magic ignited them. That was the start of an eight-game winning streak for Cleveland, who has since cooled off with four losses in the past eight games.

James made his return to Miami on Christmas Day after leaving the Heat last summer to return to the Cavaliers, the team that he started his career with and played for eight seasons. The Cavaliers were outplayed from start to finish in that game despite James scoring 30 points and handing out eight assists. Strangely, the Cavs were a minus-nine during James’ time on the floor.

It will be interesting to see just how much James (40 minutes), Irving (42 minutes) and Love (39 minutes) play tonight against a Magic team that had Christmas Day off to rest and watch the Cavs play down in Miami. Irving also suffered a knee injury late in Thursday’s game and his status for tonight is unknown.

Several Magic players said that it’s an advantage when they can watch a team play the day before and the plan of attack is fresh in their minds.

``It’s definitely an advantage. It’s just like watching film,’’ said Magic starting point guard Elfrid Payton, who will be tasked with guarding Irving. ``They might play us a little different than they played Miami, but they will still some of the same offensive things. So it was good to get a good look at them.’’

Harris, Orlando’s leading scorer at 18.6 points per game, did not face the Cavaliers when the two teams met in Cleveland in November because of a mild calf strain. He will be the player primarily responsible for guarding James, who ranks second in the NBA in scoring at 25.4 points per game. James had 29 points and 11 assists in the November meeting and Harris knows that he will have to play one of his better games of the season – on both ends of the court – for the Magic to have the chance to win.

``Personally for me, I think it’s a good matchup. Any time you play against arguably one of the best players in the NBA it’s a game that you get up for,’’ Harris said. ``It’s going to be a good game tonight. Just be physical with him all night and make him take some tough shots. He’s a distributor also, so it will be a team effort for us closing out to the shooters and scorers that they have. We’ll need everybody tonight – all five guys that are out there on the court giving full effort and pull each other along.’’

During his four seasons in Miami, James was 12-4 against the Magic. He won all eight games against Orlando the past two seasons, including one that he won with a game-winning layup at the buzzer on March 6, 2013. Orlando’s Jacque Vaughn has never beaten James as a head coach, and he knows that winning a game like tonight’s could be a great boost for his Magic.

``I think for our group, (winning) would be great,’’ Vaughn said. ``For us to be home, (potentially) getting a quality win like this, I think that it would help us.’’

Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors.