Watching the Market: Cavaliers at Magic Game 3

The Cavs put together a lifeless performance en route to a massive blowout.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were blown out in Game 3 against the Orlando Magic, a startling development after winning the first two games of the series. It was a complete failure from top to bottom, with both the players and coaching staff bearing plenty of blame. Here is how the market looks following the laughable loss.

Stock Down: Darius Garland is not dependable

The Magic did something that inexplicably hadn't done all series yet: put Jalen Suggs on Donovan Mitchell and trap him when possible.

Orlando did that throughout the first 2.5 quarters before Cleveland waved the white flag and the results were, predictably, not great for the Cavs. Suggs is a tough defender, but the traps forced Mitchell to give up the ball and allow somebody else to make a play. Nobody did.

There is plenty of fault to go around, but Darius Garland needs to be the point of the spear when Mitchell is getting swarmed. But he just... wasn't. Garland played 30 minutes, finished 2-10 from the floor, and was largely ineffective the entire game. The Cavs were kept afloat in the first two games of the series because their defense was so good and, even when it wasn't, Orlando could get very little going on offense. With the Magic clicking and Mitchell getting doubled, Garland was somehow even less effective.

Cleveland’s ceiling, even if they get past Orlando, is quite short if Garland plays like this. But the Magic have clearly figured something out here. The Cavs, and Garland, will have to counter in Game 4.

Stock Down: J.B. Bickerstaff’s Rotations

Garland has, and should, get criticized for the play. But his head coach did the team no favors either. J.B. Bickerstaff, as has been the case on and off this season, made some poor rotation decisions. He probably should have gone to Sam Merrill earlier, especially with the Magic daring somebody other than Mitchell to beat them. Why not get a sharpshooter like Merrill, who torched the Magic for 26 points back in January, more court time? Sure, he is a defensive liability, but you need a spark. a glimmer of daylight is all Merrill needs to get going.

This may be a little unpopular, but here it goes: Bickerstaff could have gone to Marcus Morris and Tristan Thompson for a few minutes to give the Cavs some physicality. Other than Jarrett Allen, the Cavs were pretty lifeless out there. Morris and Thompson are not good players at this stage of their career (or playoff-caliber), but the Cavs were getting mauled on the glass and in the paint. Why not get some physical, veteran players out there to play some rough ball?

Another thing, as noted by my Fear the Sword colleague Tony Pesta:

The Magic found something in the fourth quarter of Game 2. Now they weren't down as much as the Cavs were in Game 3, but head coach Jahmal Mosley kept the starters in and let them figure out the Cavs' defense and offense. That resulted in some meaningful changes for the Magic as implemented in the Game 3 romp.

Stock Up: Jarrett Allen was good

The only guy who brought it tonight was Allen, who had 15 points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes. He had energy, was out there fighting for rebounds, and was the whole offense in the first quarter essentially. Having a good Allen certainly helps the Cavs greatly, but he isn't enough to will the team to a win. But great to see that the “lights too bright” comment from last summer hasn't made its way to this playoff run...at least for Allen himself.

Stock Up: Evan Mobley is also good

He might be more center than power forward (and not a great center, at that), but Mobley still has his moments of wow.