{"id":205766,"date":"2026-03-25T17:50:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/205766\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T17:50:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:50:06","slug":"defense-falters-again-for-orlando-magic-at-cleveland-cavaliers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/205766\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense falters again for Orlando Magic at Cleveland Cavaliers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Listening to the respective post-game comments of Magic<\/a> coach Jamahl Mosley<\/a> and Cavaliers<\/a> coach Kenny Atkinson<\/a>, it would be challenging at first to decipher which side\u2019s team actually lost Tuesday\u2019s game at Rocket Arena without knowing the final score.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how Atkinson answered a question about how Cleveland<\/a> stars Donovan Mitchell and James Harden worked in unison against Orlando<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re two talented players that understand the game,\u201d he said. \u201cHigh-level scorers, high-level playmakers. But I just told the team in the locker room, if we\u2019re going to play defense like this, we\u2019re going to have a short playoff stint. Right now we have a mentality that we are just going to outscore people, and we all know, when it comes playoff time, it\u2019s not going to be that easy offensively. You\u2019re not always going to shoot like we\u2019re scoring now. So, if we\u2019re giving up 132 points, 128, I don\u2019t know, seems like every game, we\u2019re not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s how Mosley replied when he was asked if there was anything else the Magic could have done defensively when facing elite scorers such as Harden and Mitchell:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough,\u201d he said. \u201cThere were times where we got it out of their hands and then they swing it to Sam Merrill, and he did an unbelievable job of reading the closeout and attacking it, getting downhill. We got him off the line and took his 3 away in that moment, but they understand rotations. They\u2019ve seen it all, the guys that have been playing with them. And so, those guys also stepped up big. For us, we\u2019ve just got to continue to make sure we\u2019re communicating at the highest level, making sure we\u2019re physical without fouling in those situations. But if we continue to play with a level of urgency and intent this way, we\u2019re giving ourselves a chance every single night, and then we\u2019ll come out on the other side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be sure, Cleveland not only came out on top, 136-131, but also captured its fourth consecutive win. Mitchell (42 points) and Harden (26) combined for 68 in the five-point victory on NBC.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Orlando lost its sixth in a row on a night that saw Paolo Banchero<\/a> score 30-plus points (36) for the second consecutive game and 12th time this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are two of the best one-on-one scorers in the league,\u201d Banchero said about the Cleveland duo. \u201cHarden kind of started it off and then Mitchell just got going as the game went on. He\u2019s always a tough cover for us. I mean, it seemed like every time we got within one possession, they made a shot or got a 3 for somebody else.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, you\u2019ve got to just tip your cap to players like that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

With Tuesday\u2019s loss, Orlando fell to 1-6 when allowing 130-plus points this season. The outcome also marked the first time this season the team lost when scoring 130-plus points themselves (previously 8-0 in those instances).<\/p>\n

During their six-game losing streak, the Magic have given up an average of 122.7 points per night (the eighth-most in the league during that stretch<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s worth noting that Orlando has been without \u00a0Anthony Black<\/a> (left lateral abdominal strain), Franz Wagner<\/a> (left high ankle sprain injury management) and Jonathan Isaac<\/a> (left knee sprain) for all six games and Jalen Suggs<\/a> (illness) the past two.<\/p>\n

Those four not only represent three of the top six scorers on the Magic, but also the team\u2019s top defenders.<\/p>\n

Still, Orlando isn\u2019t making any excuses for itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur standard is always going to be our standard no matter who\u2019s on the floor,\u201d Mosley said. \u201cThis is the second night of giving up 130, and our ability to sit down and guard has got to be the first thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it got away from us in that second quarter and then they had 33 and 31 on the back end, so we\u2019ve got to just sustain our defensive effort,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd then we\u2019ve got to know that that\u2019s what\u2019s going to carry us all the way through \u2014 our ability to get stop to get out and run, and not just trying to score the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite dropping its sixth straight after previously winning seven in a row, the Magic believe they\u2019re close to flipping results back the other direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing everything right,\u201d said Jamal Cain, who made his first start in a Magic uniform on Tuesday. \u201cWe have the right mentality. We have the right energy. We\u2019re trying to make the right plays. But credit to Cleveland, they played well. Donovan Mitchell had a crazy night.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut all in all, we\u2019re playing the right way,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re doing all the right things. The ball just hasn\u2019t (gone) our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

And help could be on the way.<\/p>\n

Although time is running short on a potential return for Wagner, he continues to progress in his extended rehab. On Monday, Orlando briefly assigned Wagner to Osceola for him to join the team\u2019s G League practice, something that the Magic didn\u2019t address until it was discovered on the G League\u2019s online transactions log<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Given the limited practice time for Orlando at this point in the season, the move allowed Wagner to get in a session as another step in his recovery process. He was recalled to Orlando later in the day and Mosley spoke about it prior to Tuesday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very great that he\u2019s taking these next steps and just seeing how his body responds to different levels of the treatment and what we\u2019re putting him through,\u201d Mosley said. \u201cHe seemed to pull up a little bit better (Monday) just as I saw him.\u201d<\/p>\n

But just as time is running out for Wagner to return, so is time for the Magic to rise in the Eastern Conference standings.<\/p>\n

No. 8 Orlando (38-34) is just two games back of No. 6 Atlanta (40-32) and one game behind No. 7 Philadelphia (39-33), but in a virtual tie with No. 9 Charlotte (38-34) and No. 10 Miami (38-34). The Magic own the three-way tiebreaker with the Hornets and Heat because they hold the best head-to-head record between the three teams (Orlando is 6-3, Charlotte 4-4 and Miami 3-6).<\/p>\n

In need of a win, the Magic host the Kings on Thursday when Sacramento (19-54) travels to Kia Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil we get some of those guys back, we\u2019ve just got to lock in on defense,\u201d Banchero said.<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Up next \u2026<\/p>\n

Magic vs. Kings<\/p>\n

When: 7 p.m., Thursday, Kia Center<\/p>\n

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listening to the respective post-game comments of Magic coach Jamahl Mosley and Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson, it would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,2295,139,141,1239,140,109,76046,110],"class_list":["post-205766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nba","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-magic","tag-orlando-news","tag-social","tag-social-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}