Orlando Magic's Paint Presence Not Enough to Outscore Cleveland Cavaliers in Opening Quarter

6-9 was the score at the end of the first quarter as Orlando Magic faced off against Cleveland Cavaliers. The Magic, with a record of 0-1, were looking to even out their early season performance, while the Cavaliers stood at 1-0, aiming to build on their positive start.

The Orlando Magic started strong in the paint with a solid 60 percent shooting from two-point range. Despite this effort, they struggled beyond the arc and failed to convert any of their five three-point attempts. The team's overall field goal percentage was a low 27 percent compared to their opponents' more efficient 50 percent.

On defense, Orlando managed one block and one steal but found themselves trailing by three points due to Cleveland's effective scoring drives. The Cavaliers capitalized on fast-break opportunities with a perfect conversion rate leading them to seven fast-break points.

The home team also excelled at free throw shooting, making both attempts and achieving a flawless free throw percentage. This contributed significantly to their lead over Orlando Magic who did not make it to the free-throw line during this period.

Orlando's bench remained quiet without contributing any points whereas all six points scored by them came from inside the paint. They also recorded two assists but were hindered by an assist-turnover ratio of zero after committing one turnover during play.

Cleveland showed defensive strength as well with an equal number of blocks and fewer personal fouls than Orlando. Their efficiency game score stood higher at 6.8 against Orlando’s lower score of 3.5 reflecting better overall performance on both ends of the court for Cleveland.

As for rebounds, both teams were relatively close with Orlando grabbing five rebounds (two offensive) while Cleveland secured six (all defensive). However, neither team could capitalize much on second-chance opportunities as they both failed to score any second-chance points.

Looking ahead for fans of The Magic: The next game is set against these same Cleveland Cavaliers at Kia Center in Orlando on April 25th at 7:00 PM Eastern Time Zone. Fans can catch all the action live on NBA TV as these teams face off once again in what promises another exciting matchup.