Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Fans of the Orlando Magic franchise voiced frustration on X (formerly known as Twitter) in response to the news that Scott Foster, Curtis Blair and Ashley Moyer-Gleich have been assigned as the referees for Game 3 of the first-round playoff series between the Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Interestingly, the Magic have taken more free throws than the Cavaliers have so far in this series. Orlando has attempted 56 shots from the charity stripe — with 30 of those coming in Game 1 — since the start of the series, while Cleveland has shot 47 over that same span.
But the Cavaliers took care of business in the first two games of the series at home. After beating the Magic by 14 points in Game 1, Cleveland followed up that performance with a 96-86 win over Orlando in Game 2 on Monday.
But the series is now set to shift to Orlando, as Games 3 and 4 will take place at Kia Center.
The Magic were a tough out at home during the 2023-24 regular season, as evidenced by their 29-12 home record. They won the third-most home games of any team in the Eastern Conference, behind only the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, both of whom ended up as top-three seeds in the conference.
Shifting gears to the Cavaliers, their road record during the regular season suggests that the next two games could be challenging for the team. The Cavaliers ended up with a road record of just 22-19 while registering a home record of 26-15.
Fortunately for the Cavaliers, however, they have arguably the best scorer on either team in this first-round matchup in Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell averaged 26.6 points per game in the regular season and is averaging 26.5 points per contest through the first two games of Cleveland’s series.
If Mitchell can replicate his scoring production from Games 1 and 2, Cavaliers fans should feel confident that the team can steal at least one of the next two games on the road.
After Thursday night’s Game 3, the Cavaliers will have one day off before Game 4 rolls around on Saturday.
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