Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Orlando Magic Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 4/5/2022

by Chuck Sommers

Tuesday, Apr 05, 2022
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Venue: Amway Center, Orlando, FL
Where to watch: Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports Ohio

Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks


DraftKings: Cavs -8.5
BetMGM: Cavs -8.5
Caesars: Cavs -8.5

Season record
Cavs: 43-36
Magic: 20-59

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Cavs - Magic preview and analysis


Cavs analysis


The Cleveland Cavaliers are going up against the Orlando Magic in Orlando this Tuesday April 5th. Will Cleveland continue their roller coaster of wins and losses with a win? Or will Orlando defend their home turf with a win after a six-game losing streak?

Cleveland has had a bit of an inconsistent few games with their past 10 games almost evenly matched with four wins and six losses. One of those 10 games was against Orlando in which they beat them 107-101. 

During their last game Sunday, April 3rd, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Philadelphia 76ers 112-108. 

Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff was highly critical of certain decisions surrounding 76ers player Joel Embiid, who scored 44 points throughout the game. Partially due to 20 trips made to the free-throw line. 

“That game was taken from us,” Bickerstaff said. “We deserved to win it.”

“The one thing you can't defend is the free-throw line and that's absurd,” Bickerstaff said, referring to the Sixers' 42 attempted foul shots. “Our guys deserved way better than they got tonight.”

Though he was disappointed in many calls made that night, Bickerstaff did note that he does not take away from the skills of the 76ers' star players.

“They're great players and they understand how to play through the rules,” he said of Philly's All-Stars. “They know how to manipulate the rules. This is no knock or disrespect to those guys. But the game has to be consistent on both ends of the floor. We were searching for that consistency and we never found it.”

Cleveland, who is currently hanging on to the No. 7 play-in spot, was down by one when Bickerstaff felt Darius Garland made contact with Embiid while missing an off-balance layup with 15.2 seconds left.

“Darius was fouled,” Bickerstaff said. “He did his job and got to a spot and got fouled. No whistle.”

Bickerstaff was later fined by the NBA Monday, April 5, for criticizing officiating from the previous night. The question, in the end, stands as such. Did Cleveland truly lose due to “foul” play or was it merely that Philadelphia was more prepared? 

Magic analysis


Though the Cleveland Cavaliers have been very flirtatious with their wins and losses, the Orlando Magic on the other hand has made their intentions much clearer with eight of their past ten games ending in losses. Will Orlando add lucky number seven to their six-game losing streak, or will they pull the rabbit out of their hat ending in a win?

Unfortunately, their previous game shows no proof of the latter as they lost by 30 against the New York Knicks. Home-court advantage did not seem to work in Orlando’s favor. Moritz Wagner led Orlando with 18 points and nine rebounds, but it was not enough to keep the team from yet another loss. The Orlando Magic started the game off short-handed and later on lost guard Cole Anthony early in the first quarter due to a reinjury of his big toe.

''We've just got to play through these things. That's why you get paid a lot of money,'' Wagner said. ''I do feel bad for the guys that are hurt, though, just to put it in perspective.''

Ignas Brazdeikis managed to hit a 3-pointer to put Orlando up 45-44 with 3:51 left in the first half. However, that was short-lived as the New York Knicks’ Evan Fournier made a 10-foot pullup jump shot reclaiming the lead for the remainder of the game. 

The 30-point loss was one of the worst in a long season for Orlando.
''We always think about next man up. Obviously not having basically three or four starters is tough in these situations,'' coach Jamahl Mosley said, ''but we'll look at it and try to get these guys to understand what it takes to continue to grow.”

Prediction


If we were to completely disregard this past Sunday’s game and focus solely on the last time the Orlando Magic came head to head with the Cleveland Cavaliers, what seems to be a bias based on the prior information given would not change too much. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers beat out the Orlando Magic 107-101 the previous month. This outcome came even after Cleveland lost Evan Mobley after he landed on the foot of Orlando’s Franz Wagner while defending under the basket. Mobley limped off to the locker room and was out the remainder of the game.

"It gutted us to lose Evan, whether it's for a game, two games, three games or whatever it may be," Kevin Love said. "We need to keep fighting and hope that he recovers quickly and can be out there with us because he means so much to the team."

Unfortunately, due to this ankle injury, it does rule Mobely out for Tuesday’s game as well. Though not having the No. 3 pick player in this game can make an impact, it has clearly been shown that Cleveland can still pull out a win against Orlando in spite of any obstacles. Cavs by 14

Betting trends


The Cavs are 18-18 ATS on the road this season.

The under is 67-39 when the Cavs play their fifth game in seven days since 1996.

The Cavs are 10-1 ATS this season after losing five or six of their last seven.

The Magic are 9-22 ATS this season as a home underdog.

The Magic are 39-64 ATS at home in the last three seasons.

Projected starting lineup


Cavs:
PG: Darius Garland
SG: Caris LeVert
SF: Isaac Okoro
PF: Lauri Markkanen
C: Moses Brown

Magic:
PG: Cole Anthony
SG: R.J. Hampton
SF: Terrence Ross
PF: Chuma Okeke
C: Mo Bamba

Key injuries


Cavs: Evan Mobley (ankle, out), Jarrett Allen (finger, out), Dean Wade (knee, out), Collin Sexton (knee, out)

Magic: Jalen Suggs (ankle, questionable), Cole Anthony (toe, questionable), Wendell Carter Jr. (wrist, out), Franz Wagner (ankle, questionable), Jonathan Isaac (hamstring, out)

Statistical leaders


Cavs:
Points: Darius Garland -- 21.6
Rebounds: Jarrett Allen -- 10.8
Assists: Darius Garland -- 8.6

Magic:
Points: Cole Anthony -- 16.3
Rebounds: Wendell Carter Jr. -- 10.5
Assists: Cole Anthony -- 5.7

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Chuck Sommers

About the Author:

Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.

All photographic images used for editorial content have been licensed from the Associated Press.

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