Without Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland lost to Orlando.
With Donovan Mitchell out with an illness, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Orlando Magic 116-109 on Thursday night in Cleveland.
Nightly Notables
Five Cavaliers — Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Max Strus, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen — finished in double figures. Strus, Grland and Allen each had 18 points, while Okoro finished with 17 points in getting to start in Mitchell’s place.
Well…that happened
The biggest change for the Cavaliers vs. their pre-All-Star break form was their three-point volume. Cleveland was efficient from three in this game, but only took 22 three-pointers compared to 25 three-pointers from the Magic. The last time the Cavs took 22 or fewer threes in a game was way back on Jan. 18 in a win against the Detroit Pistons. It’s also the second-lowest number of three-pointers the Cavs have taken in a game all season.
The Cavs will take more threes when Mitchell is back. He takes a lot of three-pointers on his own and generates good looks for others that just weren’t generated in this game against an admittedly solid Orlando defense. But the Cavs swerved far away from the identity that helped then surge up the Eastern Conference standings before the All-Star break. They fixed something that wasn’t broken.
Big Picture
This is one loss for the Cavaliers. And it was a loss without Mitchell. It doesn’t really mean that much on its own.
But, as the season winds down and the Cavs attempt to hold onto the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, every game could end up mattering. That paired with a lackluster performance makes this a suboptimal way for the Cavaliers to start their post All-Star break schedule.
Up next: Cleveland plays the Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow in Philadelphia. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.