Cavs Stood Their Ground As Game 1 With Magic Got Physical

Preparing for physicality helped the Cleveland Cavaliers take a 1-0 series lead over the Orlando Magic.

Physicality was something the Cleveland Cavaliers were preparing for leading up to their Round 1 series with the Orlando Magic. Darius Garland mentioned that the team was intentionally more aggressive with one another in practice and Jarrett Allen said that J.B. Bickerstaff routinely challenged the bigs too.

“The whole week we were being physical in practice,” said JA. 

“We made sure we were trying to replicate it as best as we could in practice so that we weren’t surprised on how it was tonight. You could tell in the first quarter things were super physical. Everybody was trying to show that they’re here to stay and they’re ‘not going to go through me.’”

All of this paid off for the wine and gold as they took a 1-0 series lead after a 97-83 victory in Game 1.

The Cavs gained the reputation as potentially being a “soft” team after they let the New York Knicks run circles around them in Round 1 last year. However, the tables have turned and now it’s the Cavs who are making things tough for their playoff opponent.

“I thought we did what we needed to do,” said J.B. Bickerstaff after the game. “ We stood our ground first and foremost, but we didn’t allow ourselves to get caught up in the s—. I thought that was their intent, to try and disrupt the game, and our guys didn’t take the bait.”

Apr 20, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (31) dunks beside Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac (1) in the second quarter during game one of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Obviously, there were some moments where things got chippy which included a back-and-forth between Moe Wagner and Isaac Okoro after the Magic forward jumped and landed on his head while diving for a loose ball.

The box score also backs up the physicality the team played in the paint. Cleveland outrebounded the Magic 54-40 as Evan Mobley finished with 11, Jarrett Allen grabbed 18, and even Max Strus played his part grabbing nine rebounds. 

The Magic aren’t the type of team to back down, so this physicality is likely to pick up as the series moves on. Cleveland should be focused on what Bickerstaff said after the game, hold your ground. They’ll be in a good spot as they hold their ground and don’t let the physicality get in their head.