Memo to Cavaliers: You wanted the Magic, you got the Magic! | Commentary

The Cleveland Cavaliers wanted the Orlando Magic.

Well, the Cleveland Cavaliers got the Orlando Magic.

In all of their relentless, resilient, persistent, perservering, gritty, gutty glory.

After the Magic’s thrilling 103-96 victory over the Cavaliers in Game 6 Friday night, the series is now tied 3-3 heading into Sunday’s do-or-die Game 7 in Cleveland. I don’t think this is quite what Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff had in mind when he made the fateful decision to pull his starters in the fourth quarter to tank the final game of the season against the hapless Charlotte Hornets. The loss assured that the Cavs would face the Magic in the playoffs and avoid a possible first-round matchup with the Miami Heat or the Philadelphia 76ers, both of whom have already been eliminated from the playoffs.

Be careful what you wish for, Coach Bickerstaff.

You are now facing a Magic team that is young, humble, hungry and downright fearless.

They have shown twice in this series that they can handle the sink-or-swim pressure of the playoffs. They suffered double-digit losses in Games 1 and 2 in Cleveland and essentially faced a must-win in Game 3 in order to avoid falling into an insurmountable 3-0 deficit that no NBA playoff team has ever recovered from. The Magic responded by annihilating Cleveland by 38 points in Game 3 — the most lopsided playoff loss in team history.

And then, of course, Friday night it was a true do-or-die elimination game, and the Magic again responded as you would expect — by contesting every shot, running through every screen, refusing to fold under the pressure of elimination.

This was the biggest home game since Dwight Howard played for the Magic more than a decade ago and — wouldn’t you know it? — Dwight himself was among the sellout crowd in the house on this frenetic Friday night. In fact, Dwight wasn’t just in Kia Center, he was cheerling from his courtside seat as loudly and proudly as all of the other rowdy, raucous fans in the arena.

And this current edition of Magic players competed as relentlessly as Dwight, the former three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, used to play when he wore the blue and white. The Magic weathered everything Cleveland threw at them, including a phenomenal 50-point performance from Cleveland star Donovan Mitchell.

And now we head into Game 7 and you’ve got to think the pressure is all on the Cavs, who are not only on the verge of getting upset in this series; they are on the precipice of a franchise-altering loss.

It’s no secret that Bickerstaff may lose his job if he loses this series. It’s no secret that the Cavaliers may lose Mitchell to free agency if they lose this series. You want pressure? I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say the Cavs, if they lose to the upstart Magic, will face the biggest organizational deflation since LeBron made “The Decision” and took his talents to South Beach.

In fact, a case could be made that the Magic are least partly responsible for LeBron leaving Cleveland (the first time), When Dwight’s Magic beat the Cavs in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals, it set the stage for LeBron to depart as a free agent a year later. If the Magic can take Game 7 Sunday, it may set the stage for Mitchell to leave as well.

Bickerstaff, in choosing to tank the final game of the regular season, no doubt thought the young Magic players would freeze up like a deer in the headlights in their first playoff series. Instead they have risen up like hungry lions on the hunt. Perhaps Bickerstaff, too, thought the Cavaliers would be able to intimidate the Magic. Instead, the Magic have the Cavaliers looking frazzled and frightened.

While it’s true that the home team has won every game in this series, the Cavaliers know deep down in their souls that they are lucky to still be playing after eking out a 104-103 victory in Game 5 in Cleveland. If not for a great block from Evan Mobley on what appeared to be an easy Franz Wagner layup that would have tied the score in the final seconds of Game 5, Orlando might have already won this series. At the very least, Game 5 proved to the Magic that they are capable of going on the road and making the Cavaliers sweat.

And now the Magic are confident and composed and full of swagger.

Like on Friday night when the Cavs went on a 17-4 run to begin the second half and led by 9 midway though the third quarter. The Magic didn’t flinch and came storming back behind the three-point shooting of Jalen Suggs (6-of-13 from distance) and the scoring of young stars Paolo Banchero (27 points) and Wagner (26 points).

Or like in Game 4 in Orlando when things got chippy and Suggs and Darius Garland stood toe to toe and nose to nose. Instead of losing his temper, Suggs just laughed and walked away.

Now the Magic are one Game 7 win away from laughing their way into the second round of the playoffs.

Laughing at the Cavaliers’ decision to tank the final game of the regular season.

The Cavs wanted the Magic.

Well, brother, now they got ‘em.

In Game 7.

Question for Coach Bickerstaff:

Do you believe in Magic now?

Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on X (formerly Twitter) @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen