Magic Coach Jamahl Mosley Credits Cavaliers Defense After Game 1 Loss

The Cleveland Cavaliers defense was too much for the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

CLEVELAND — The Orlando Magic picked a bad time to put up their season-worst shooting performance in the team's 97-83 loss in Game 1 of their first round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday afternoon at RocketMortgage FieldHouse.

As a team, the Magic shot 32.6 percent from the field while making just 21.6 percent of their 3-point attempts. The Cavs defense earned praise from Magic coach Jamahl Mosley.

"Cleveland does a great job of packing the paint and they do a great job of flying at shots, but a big portion of this is us continuing to be willing to step into those shots with competence, which our team will continue to do," Mosley said postgame. "Again, it's the little things in this game, because if you look at the statute, there's a lot of similar things going through it. But now it's got to be the little things that take over, it's making your free throws, it's coming up with the 50/50 balls in these situations."

Despite the Magic's struggles shooting the ball, the team was still in the game throughout the entire afternoon. It only became out of reach towards the final few minutes in the fourth quarter. That enough should give the Magic hope that they can crawl back into the series, especially if they are able to make some of those misses they chalked up.

The Magic return to action for Game 2 on Monday against the Cavaliers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

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