LeBron, Cavs Dominate Magic at Home

LeBron James goes over Magic guard Mario Hezonja. James had 25 points, 4 steals and 8 assists. (photo Kim Klement / USA TODAY Sports)

ORLANDO, Fla – LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers (15-7) handed the Orlando Magic (12-11) an ugly loss on Friday, beating the home team by a score of 111 to 76. The Cavs led for the entire game, but it became a blowout when James caught fire in the second quarter. The four-time MVP scored 16 points in the period, and had 20 by halftime.

“That’s a great team, and they were ready, and they basically just toyed with us,” said Magic coach Scott Skiles on the Cav’s dominant performance.

The Magic entered Friday’s game after a five game road trip, and fatigue seemed to set in early – particularly on defense. Cleveland started the game on a 10-2 run, making seven of their first eight shots.

The Cavs’ inside combination of Timofey Mozgov and Kevin Love was particularly deadly, with Mozgov recording 17 points and Love grabbing 13 rebounds on the night.

Though the Magic struggled on both sides of the floor, they were down only two at the end of the first quarter thanks to a cold stretch by the Cavs. Following the hot start, Cleveland hit just two of their final 11 shots to end the period.

With the lead in sight it looked like the Magic were poised to make a run, but LeBron James had other plans.

During his dominant second quarter, LeBron hit all six of his shots and made all four of his free throws. He also had two steals, while both creating and finishing fast break opportunities. James nearly outscored the Magic by himself in the second quarter, netting 16 points while Orlando combined for 17.

The Magic trailed 37-53 at the half, shooting under 40% from the floor and 22% from deep. The team had two three pointers: one from rookie guard Mario Hezonja and one from center Nikola Vucevic who heaved it as the game clock expired.

Orlando followed that performance by being outscored 30-15 in the third, ending any hopes of a comeback. The starters were pulled en mass after just under four minutes, and never returned to the game.

“Things were out of hand about one minute into the game…” said Skiles on the adjustments he tried to make throughout the night, “this would’ve been a good night to petition the league for 20 timeouts.”

The fourth quarter was essentially academic, as the Magic came in down 29. The goal quickly became avoiding a historic defeat, as the Magic’s largest home loss was by 40.

The Cavs would equal that margin at times in the fourth, but eventually the Magic fought back for a 35-point defeat.

Orlando’s forwards Tobias Harris and Channing Frye failed to score on the night, combining for 0-of-8 from the floor.

The rare positive from a night like this was extended playing time for Hezonja. The 19 year old from Croatia was second on the team in points with 12, and 2-of-3 from downtown.

The rookie’s minutes have been tailing off as the team has been more competitive of late, but he says that he takes solace in his experiences from overseas. “I don’t think nobody in this league faced what I faced in Barcelona,” said Hezonja “I’ve learned a lot from Europe.”

The Magic will go back on the road for a quick trip to Brooklyn on Monday, before returning how for a Christmas-time homestand. The Magic will take on the Hornets on Wednesday, Trailblazers on Friday, and Hawks on Sunday of next week.

 Flagrant Fouls: None
 Technical Fouls: PLAYERS: 1 CLEVELAND ( Varejao 1 ) – TEAMS: None – COACHES: None
 Officials: Matt Boland, Tom Washington, Tyler Ford
 Attendance: 17,239
 Time of Game: 2:08