Cavaliers go cold in Game Four defeat

    The Cleveland Cavaliers had to feel good about their nine-point halftime lead in game four of their Eastern Conference Quarter-Final series against the Orlando Magic.

That was as good as they would feel as the Cavaliers were outscored in the third quarter by Orlando's Franz Wagner alone (12-10) and by his team (37-10) as Orlando easily defeated Cleveland 112-89 to tie the series at two games per team.

Jarrett Allen led Cleveland with twenty-one points.

Game five will be in Cleveland on Tuesday night.

Swashbucklings

1) I'm not a member of the fire J.B. Bickerstaff club as so many have been in the last three seasons but I have to say this, if the Cavaliers lose this series, it's time for Bickerstaff to go.

Cleveland had legitimate excuses for last year's loss to the Knicks.

Those reasons do not exist for this series.

2) Donovan Mitchell scored eighteen points in the first half and zero in the second half.

ZERO.

I don't care about the circumstances (Mitchell only received four shots), your best player cannot. I repeat- cannot play an entire quarter and finish scoreless.

3) The Cavaliers scored with 5:26 remaining in the third quarter and would not score again until the 10:40 mark in the fourth.

Seven minutes without a point in a playoff game.

4) Only fifteen points from the Cavaliers non-starters and none higher than Caris LeVert's five.

One would think in a blowout, someone would have accumulated some points in garbage time.

5) Cleveland's forty-seven percent shooting is respectable but they were only four of seventeen from three-point range.

The upgrades that were supposed to bring improved outside shooting for this time of the season have not come through thus far.

6) Orlando outrebounded Cleveland 43-29 but the crazy number for the Cavaliers?
TWO offensive rebounds.

I'd think more than two would fall into your hands without moving!

7) Finally, I'm not ready to panic.

Yet.

The home team has won each game by big margins and now that this is a best-of-three series, Cleveland still hosts two of those three.

I would be mildly disappointed to win the series in seven games but not nearly as disappointed as the organization would be by losing the series because if that happens, there will be many changes on the horizon- for personnel on and off the court.