Cleveland Cavaliers vs Orlando Magic prediction: Who will win Game 5 in NBA playoffs?
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic are back to even in their first-round NBA playoff series. By getting routed 112-89 in Game 4 and 121-83 in Game 3 at Orlando, the Cavs lost their 2-0 lead in the series, which has become essentially a best-of-three series with two of the games in the Cleveland.
That's good news for the Cavs, who never trailed at home in the first two games in winning 97-83 in Game 1 and 96-86 in Game 2. The Cavs need to rediscover the strong defensive effort they showed at home in those wins or face the possibility of losing in the first round for the second straight year as a No. 4 seed.
Here's how our two writers who've followed the Cavs all season, Ryan Lewis and Nate Ulrich, view Game 4. So far, they are each 4-0 in picking the winner in this series.
Cavs vs. Magic prediction: Who wins Game 5 Tuesday night?
LEWIS: The Cavaliers just struggled through two disasters in Orlando and will have to fight a tidal wave of momentum as the series returns to Cleveland for Game 5. I don't think the Cavs offense, with Donovan Mitchell, can be any more out of sync. But it does remain true the Magic have been an entirely different team at home than when they're on the road, as the Cavs have seen this series.
We haven't gotten to see a real, 48-minute playoff game yet. The Cavs led wire to wire at home and then were destroyed on the road. Perhaps this will be it, though. I almost can't believe this, but I'll take the Cavs to rebound — barely — in Game 5. Cavaliers 102, Magic 100
ULRICH: We’ve seen the Jekyll-and-Hyde act of both teams, so why not predict more insanity, like an overtime thriller in Game 5?
The Magic have the momentum after winning Games 3 and 4 in blowouts, but the Cavs will be back in Cleveland. So far, the home team has dominated. Eking out an OT win wouldn’t be dominant, but the Cavs have lost the luxury of being picky. Cavaliers 111, Magic 108 (OT)
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Cavs vs Magic prediction for Game 5 of NBA playoff series
