Magic at Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers began pursuit of their NBA championship with
consecutive victories and look to add another win when they host the
Orlando Magic on Saturday. Cleveland opened with victories over the New
York Knicks and Toronto Raptors and is seeking its 15th consecutive
victory over Orlando.
Point guard Kyrie Irving was in stellar form during Friday's 94-91 win over the Raptors and his fifth 3-pointer provided the winning points with 44.3 seconds left. Irving led the Cavaliers with 26 points and also had six rebounds and six assists. Orlando has dropped each of its first two games and tallied just nine second-quarter points in Friday's 108-82 road loss to the Detroit Pistons. "Obviously, we didn't start the right way and that was our issue, so we couldn't get back in the game," Magic shooting guard Evan Fournier told reporters. "The bottom line is we've got to find a way to start the game the right way and we've got to set a tone for ourselves that's going to carry over into the last quarter of the game."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Florida (Orlando) FSN Ohio (Cleveland)
ABOUT THE MAGIC (0-2): New Orlando coach Frank Vogel is trying to revamp the franchise and one of the issues is changing the bad habits he witnessed in the disappointing showing against Detroit. "I thought that early on, too many guys were trying to get us in the game by themselves instead of trusting their teammates," Vogel told reporters afterward. "Once it got out of hand, I think our shoulders slumped, but that's going to happen to any team that gets outplayed that badly." The Magic shot just 34.7 percent from the field against the Pistons and were outscored 60-36 in the paint.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (2-0): Cleveland's star trio of Irving, small forward LeBron James (21 points) and power forward Kevin Love (18 points, 10 rebounds) combined for 65 points in the victory over Toronto and Irving said the three are meshing much better this season. "Experience is the best teacher. We just go on and just consistently continue to get better and trust the process," Irving told the media. "It's a long journey but when you go through something like we did last year, it builds a lot of character and, for us, it's just going forward with one another and trusting the past." Center Tristan Thompson was also on his game against the Raptors with 11 points (on 5-of-5 shooting) and 10 rebounds.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Cavaliers SF Channing Frye missed Friday's game and will sit out again Saturday after his mother died of cancer on Thursday night.
2. Orlando backup C Bismack Biyombo, who was signed to a four-year, $72 million deal in the offseason, had just two points and three rebounds in 23 minutes in his club debut.
3. Cleveland SG Iman Shumpert (concussion) was cleared to play and scored six points in 20 minutes against Toronto.