The Magic can't possibly score less/shoot worse at home than they did the first two games in Cleveland, and they were a tremendous 29-12 in Orlando during the regular season. Might be a bit easy for the Cavs to be a bit asleep at the wheel with two such easy wins so far -- they haven't even TRAILED. Cleveland did lose four of its final five regular-season away games.

The Cavaliers took care of business at home, winning the first two games of this series. The Magic were only 18-23 on the road during the regular season. Things now shift to Orlando, where the Magic had a stellar 29-12 home record. These two teams are too evenly matched for the Cavaliers to put the Magic on the brink of being swept. Play the home team to win.

We've seen the venerable NBA Playoffs zig-zag work this week, though we suspect this particular East matchup is wired a bit differently. Our suspicion is that Cavs-Magic will proceed more upon home-road lines; the Cavs held serve as host in the first two games, and now it's Orlando's turn. Certainly, Amway Center helped Magic fortunes this season, as they were 29-12 at home (only Boston and Milwaukee better in the East). The key for Orlando getting back into this series is to shoot better after being rather icy in Games 1 (barely 32% from floor) and 2 (only 36% FGs), and for someone (Jalen Suggs? Cole Anthony?) to provide a bit more help for Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. Play Magic

Cole Anthony is 0 for 5 from beyond the arc in this series, but I like him to make at least 3-pointer in Orlando on Thursday. Anthony shot 37.5 percent from deep at home this season, compared to 30.2 percent on the road. He's nailed at least one trey in eight of his last nine home games. The Magic are desperate for offense, having scored 83 and 86 points in the first two games, so look for Anthony to get nearly 20 minutes.

This is a tiny line for Max Strus who is essentially the forgotten man on the Cleveland Cavs. Strus plays big minutes and this number is simply much closer to his floor than his ceiling, even in a paced down low scoring environment. Strus averages approximately 17.0 P+R and has eclipsed this line in both playoffs games against Orlando, despite shooting just 33% from the field and 20% from the perimeter. Strus is playing 35 minutes per game in the playoffs which is higher than his season average of 32 mpg as well.

This will be the Cavs' first road game in just over two weeks, and they have lost 8 of their past ten games away from home. We all know that role players perform better at home, and the Magic went 29-12 at Kia Center. Their road/home splits are very telling, as they rank fifth in point differential at home (+7.8) compared to -3.8 in away games. The sold-out crowd of 18,846 will be fired up for Orlando's first home playoff game since 2019. Play the Magic in this must win game!

I'm not sure a change of venue to Orlando is going to alter the landscape of what's going on on the boards in this series. Allen is grabbing 20 a game and making it look easy. Carter Jr is no threat to him. They don't have athletic bigs who can challenge him enough. Mobley may cut into the pie a little bit more than he did in the first two games, but I project Allen still going over 15 again. Game will be close with Cavs on the road, extra day off will help Allen after all the work he did rebounding in the first two games. We are seeing dudes grabbing 20 a game every night. Love this match-up for him.