CTMagicUK

Nobody on this board is a former Magic player.

Yea that sucks. Least our guys got some rest in the 4th last night (but then so did Clevelands I suppose).

I'm out on Russell too. Not because he missed shots. If that were the case I'd be out on Cole Anthony, Joe Ingles, Gary Harris, Markelle Fultz etc after the first 2 playoff games. I'm out on him because of the not joining in the huddle stuff. That's just not the type of character this team needs or wants. This is a close group who pull for each other. Maybe, maybe, there's an argument that the culture here is so strong it'll pull guys along with it and get guys to buy in. But I'm not really willing to put that to the test with such a young group.

Except Wendell wasn't bad last night at all.

Also I'll just say Franz Wagner might go under the radar in this game because Paolo and Suggs were phenomenal. But Franz Wagner got those buckets for the Magic in the first when we started out struggling which gave us a boost and I thought he was excellent throughout. His defense was superb and he didn't force anything on offense, made some nice plays to get his teammates the ball. All 3 of our top 3 guys showed up and it was wonderful to see.

Paolo cooked last night. There was a lot of yapping from some corners when he had turnover issues and inefficiencies in the first two games but I'm hearing a whole load of silence after he dominates. Almost like the people with these takes are operating in bad faith. (Not people on this board or even Magic fans just dumb "media" people)

We just won by 40. Why would we make any changes? Wendell didn't show up in the box score but he was awesome I thought. Played really physical and didn't let the Cavs hit the offensive glass like they did in games 1 and 2.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40019212/paolo-banchero-orlando-magic-nba-playoffs-2024 This piece dropped today. Big feature on Paolo. It's good stuff. Definitely one for Magic fans to read. Given the closing lines though I feel like he absolutely needs to dominate tonight.

Cavs lead the series 2-0 but this is the first game at Kia Center. Magic are -1.5 point favorites. Game is on NBATV in the US. Projected starting lineups: Cavs: Darius Garland Donovan Mitchell Max Strus Evan Mobley Jarret Allen Injury Report: Dean Wade, Ty Jerome, Craig Porter all OUT Magic: Jalen Suggs Gary Harris Franz Wagner Paolo Banchero Jonathan Isaac Injury report: None (thankfully) Let's get it! (This thread isn't nearly as hype as a TMF made one so apologies for that but it's still somewhere to discuss the game)

You negate all of JIs help defensive impact by having him guard someone he can't help off of.

Very true. Though I think the Cavs would cross match and have Strus guard Isaac and keep Mobley on Paolo. Presents a decent opportunity for Isaac to get on the offensive glass but I think the Cavs would feel ok with that given they'd have Allen + Mobley down there to contest boards. Otherwise can't imagine the Cavs are concerned about Isaac post ups or anything.

I've thought a lot about that Suggs/Franz/Paolo/Isaac/WCJ lineup to be the starters but my main concerns are: Can Franz guard one of Garland or Mitchell? Will Strus just kill us because Paolo can't chase him around screens?

Jalen Suggs is currently on the injury report as day to day.

Seeing a lot of people (brain dead morons) with "Paolo exposed"/"just Julius Randle"/"fake all star" takes on social media and from some terrible talking heads in podcasts and stuff. Need a win and huge games from him in games 3 and 4 because I cant bare a whole summer of these takes.

I'd hope Paolo and Franz can be part of the solution too. Otherwise chances are they can't be successful together long term without a high level shooter at the 5 which is a difficult archetype to find given the defensive responsibility of the position.