At times it seemed like neither the Cleveland Cavaliers nor the Orlando Magic wanted to win their first-round playoff series. Somehow, the home team escaped with a victory in each of the first five games of the clash.
Game 6
Cleveland Cavaliers (+142) vs. Orlando Magic (-170)
Propagation: Magic -4 | S/U: 200
The boys at Bet the EDGE took a look at the series and specifically Friday night’s Game 6 in today’s episode. Both Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) and Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper) like the Total Under 200 Game, but neither is rushing to take sides.
“I’m supporting the Cavs and I know it’s hard to point to anything they’ve done up to this point in the series and say yes, that was it,” Dinsick said. “This series has mostly been Magic’s kind of fail or Magic’s shot. The Magic had a very, very realistic chance to steal Game 5 and win the series in six and Evan Mobley finally showed up. He is playing. He’s alive and made a magnificent block to seal Cleveland’s victory. I think at the end of the day, what you’ve gotten from some of the players so far for the Orlando Magic – the Mo Wagners of the world, the Jonathan Isaacs – offensively, I don’t think is very realistic. Paolo Banchero scoring almost 40 points in Game 5 was a bit serendipitous.”
Bet the Edge is your daily sports betting source. Get all of Jay Croucher and Drew Dinsick’s insights weekdays at 6am ET right here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Vaughn agrees with Drew. It’s difficult to take sides with any confidence.
“Cleveland didn’t impress me like I mentioned in Games 3 and 4 in Orlando. They shot 23% from three and turned the ball over 29 times. I don’t think we’ll see so much ineffectiveness in the attack, but young Orlando. They are desperate after a one-point loss where they shot 29% from three with 14 turnovers. They will want to try to control that pace and rhythm in this game and play defense. That’s why I like Under… but I’m too scared to play on one side.”
When pressed to take sides, the boys agree that the Cavaliers have more talent.
“Donovan Mitchell is still, in my opinion, the best player (in this series) despite being in and out with injury,” Dinsick said. “Getting to the free throw line 10 times was extremely important, although he couldn’t make three and Darius Garland, signs of life! He made some good plays down the stretch… Jarrett Allen, I hope you’re back. I hope he comes back because he was the Cavs’ second best player in these playoffs. I think a whole-hearted performance for the Cavs, at least a whole-hearted performance for the Cavs, would be good on the road in this series. If this leads to a victory, we can all take a deep, deep breath.”
For the full episode and breakdown of this game, as well as a dive into Philadelphia/New York Game 6 and Denver/Minnesota Game 1, click here.
Enjoy the NBA playoffs as Round 1 comes to an end and Round 2 begins… and enjoy a sweat or two.
