Orlando Magic vs Cleveland Cavaliers Prediction, 4/20/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Orlando Magic vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Date: Saturday, April 20, 2024

Location: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, OH

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: Orlando (+5)

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is where the Cleveland Cavaliers (48-34) will meet the Orlando Magic (47-35) on Saturday in Game 1 of their series. Orlando is 5-point underdogs from Vegas oddsmakers. The total comes in at 206.5.

The Magic faced off with the Bucks and took home the win by a score of 113-88 in their last contest. In relation to fouls, the Magic ended up finishing with 18 and the Bucks accounted for 18 fouls. They also converted 7 out of their 27 attempts from distance. Milwaukee finished 91.3% at the free throw line by converting 21 of their 23 tries. On top of that, Milwaukee snagged 34 boards (7 offensive, 27 defensive) and earned 5 rejections. Milwaukee earned 16 dimes and had 10 steals in this matchup. In regard to defense, Orlando allowed the other team to go 40.0% from the field on 30 of 75 shooting. They also recorded 27 assists in the matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 17 turnovers and earning 11 steals. When it comes to rebounding, they earned 43 with 7 of them being offensive. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Magic made 18 of their 19 shots for a percentage of 94.7%. Orlando wrapped up the contest with a 49.4% FG percentage (42 out of 85) and made 11 of their 35 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Paolo Banchero is one guy who was important in this contest. He ended up finishing with 26 points on 8 out of 19 shooting. He played 35 mins and totaled 11 boards. Banchero finished the contest at 42.1% from the floor and also dished out 7 assists.

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Orlando comes into this matchup with a win-loss mark of 47-35 for the season. They are giving up possession 14.7 times per game and as a basketball team are committing 19.7 personal fouls per game. As a team, Orlando is pulling in 42.3 boards per game and has 2,023 assists on the year, which has them ranked 28th in the NBA in terms of passing the rock. The Magic are connecting on 35.2% from downtown (903 of 2,568) and 75.9% from the charity stripe. They average 110.5 pts per contest (24th in basketball) while going 47.6% from the floor.

Defensively, the Magic are forcing 15.0 turnovers per game while drawing 20.9 fouls. They give up 35.8% on shots from beyond the perimeter while they are 4th in basketball in opponents PPG (108.4). The Magic defense is giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 47.4% (3,264 of 6,884) and they relinquish 39.9 boards per game as a basketball team. They rank 1st in the league in allowing assists with 1,958 relinquished for the season.

When they last played, the Cavaliers went home defeated by a final of 120-110 when they played the Hornets. The Cavaliers pulled down 31 defensive boards and 12 offensive rebounds totaling 43 in the game. They also coughed up the ball 14 times, while getting 4 steals for this game. The Hornets committed 11 fouls for this game which got the Cavaliers to the charity stripe for 9 tries. They were able to knock down 6 of them for a rate of 66.7%. Pertaining to shooting from beyond the arc, Cleveland buried 16 of 33 attempts (48.5%). When all was said and done, the Cavaliers finished shooting 44 out of 93 from the field which had them at 47.3%. The Cavaliers allowed the Hornets to convert 46 out of their 91 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 50.5% in the game. They went 47.5% from three-point range by shooting 19 out of 40 and ended up shooting 9 out of 11 at the free throw line (81.8%). Concerning rebounds, Cleveland allowed Charlotte to collect 47 overall (10 offensive).

Georges Niang was important for the Cavaliers in this game. Niang accumulated 16 points in his 23 minutes on the hardwood and totaled 1 assist in the game. He knocked down 6 out of 9 for the game for a field goal percentage of 66.7%, and had 1 rebound.

Cleveland has a win-loss mark of 48-34 this season. The Cavaliers are responsible for committing 17.5 fouls every game and they connect on 76.5% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 28.0 times per contest (8th in the NBA) and they lose possession via turnover 13.6 times per contest. Cleveland has totaled 9,236 points this season (112.6 per game) and they pull down 43.3 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Cavaliers are hitting on 47.9% from the field, which ranks them 12th in the league.

The Cleveland defense gives up 37.1% on shots from beyond the perimeter (1,029 of 2,773) and their opponents are knocking down 79.1% of their foul shots. They have given up 25.3 dimes and 42.7 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks them 6th and 10th in the league. The Cavaliers on the defensive end are ranked 7th in basketball in points per game surrendered with 110.2. They are able to force 13.6 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 46.3% from the floor (6th in the league).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Orlando (+5)

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