Cavs vs. Magic: What Sunday’s game tells us about possible first-round playoff matchup

If the playoffs started today, and the play-in tournament didn’t exist, guess who the Cavaliers would face?

That’s right — the Orlando Magic. That just happened to be the opponent that ended Cleveland’s 16-game winning streak on Sunday.

Of course, some might tell you that the Cavs themselves ended the streak by not being able to make a perimeter shot. Or at least the two or three more makes they needed.

Orlando (32-38) was the Cavs’ first-round opponent last season. The Magic stretched the series to seven games despite being considerable underdogs. But it’s a different story so far this year.

The Cavaliers (56-11) are remarkably deep and talented. They were also missing injured All-Star power forward Evan Mobley in this one. Still, had Donovan Mitchell or De’Andre Hunter or Ty Jerome or Sam Merrill brought anything close to their “A” games … well, the Cavs’ streak would probably still be going.

Actually, the Cavs wouldn’t even need that much. All that had to happen was for someone to make another open shot or two. Instead, they went 10-of-40 on 3-pointers.

Those aren’t the Cavaliers you know and love. It was an exception to this remarkable season. But they didn’t make any excuses.

“I think the biggest thing, we just didn’t execute late the right way like we have been,” Mitchell said. “Some of the looks were open and we just missed, but also some of them were self-inflicted.”

There are still 15 games to go and a lot can and will happen for the Cavs and the Magic before the playoffs. But should they meet, Orlando could potentially create some issues. 

The Magic have size and strength and Paolo Banchero, and they have proven to be able to apply pressure defensively and push the Cavs off their spots.

Granted, with key players like Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner injured and out for the year, the Magic’s chances of pulling off an upset in a potential first-round matchup wouldn’t be great. Still, Sunday’s game highlighted the Magic’s physical style of play.

Nonetheless, even in defeat, it’s pretty clear the Cavs remain the more complete squad when healthy, and hold a fairly significant edge in depth.

So playoffs? Playoffs? Those are still a month away, yes. But if everything stays close to the same, these teams shall likely meet again.

These Cavs will be ready, as usual, despite what happened Sunday.