Jim Ingraham: Uh-oh, are the pushover Cavs back?

As we learned during last year's playoffs, sustained intensity is not exactly a strength of the Cavs. Especially when they are playing in an arena that is not filled to the rafters with their adoring fans. Thursday night, following two victories in front of their adoring fans, the Cavs hit the road for Game 3 of their playoff series with Orlando, in an arena filled with hostile fans. The result was predictable. There will be no four-game sweep by the Cavs. The young and feisty Orlando Magic made sure of that by turning Game 3 of their playoff series into an eerily familiar reprise of last year's playoff mugging the Cavs endured from the New York Knicks. Thursday's game was a game for about a quarter and a half. After that the Magic realized that their opponents resembled the puppy dog Cavs that the Knicks had their way with last year. The Cavs missed all but three of their first 20 3-point field goal attempts. In the first two games of the series at Rocket Mortgage Field House, the Cavs led from wire to wire. In the first two quarters of Thursday night's debacle, the Cavs were putty in the hands of the home team. Orlando dropped 31 and 30 points on the Cavs in the first two quarters. The Cavs trailed 61-45 at halftime, and the second half was basically recess on the playground. With the game spinning out of control, with the Magic having their way with the Cavs regulars in every way imaginable, coach J.B. Bickerstaff waited until halfway through the third quarter, when the game was completely out of control, before inserting Cavs enforcers Tristan Thompson and Marcus Morris into the fray. Neither one should have had to wait that long to get into a game which, by that point, was a lost cause to everyone but Cavs analyst Brad Daugherty, who with 10 minutes left in the game and the Cavs trailing 100-64, bellowed, "This game isn't over!" Actually, it was. It was way over long before that point. After invigorating wins in the first two games of the series at home, the Cavs went on the road and had their lunches handed to them by the young and hungry Magic. The Cavs still lead in the series 2-1, but it won't be for very long if Thursday night's effort was the best the Cavs can muster. A Cavs win Thursday would have given them an insurmountable 3-0 series lead, and having to win just one of the remaining four games to end the series. Instead, the Cavs have allowed the Magic to get back into the series. With a win in Game 4 Saturday, Orlando could even the series 2-2, and make Cleveland's two wins in the first two games seem like ancient history. Thursday's Cavs loss would have been more digestible for the Cavs had they competed rather than coasted. The game was basically over at halftime, which gave the Cavs 24 minutes to figure out what they can do to avoid looking like they looked in last year's brief Cavs cameo in the playoffs vs. the Knicks. They can start with not being surprised that the other team is playing as hard as the Magic played in Game 3, which included some woofing on both sides after both sides realized which team was going to win. The final score was 121-83, and it wasn't that close. With a chance to put the Magic behind the 8-ball, with a chance to put the Magic one loss away from summer vacation, with a chance to put themselves in the driver's seat in this series by atoning for the embarrassing mauling they took from the Knicks last year ... The Cavs lost by 38 points. It wasn't just a game, it wasn't just a loss, it was a trip to the woodshed, and a haunting reminder of last year's quick exit from the playoffs at the hands of the Knickerbockers. Cleveland still leads the series 2-1. But if Game 3 was the best the Cavs could do at a moment in time when they could have all but officially ended the series, well, let's just say that doesn't bode well for the rest of the series. Best case scenario now is that Thursday's loss will be a wake-up call for a Cavs team that could use one. Losing to the Magic by itself is no embarrassment. Losing with honor is at times acceptable. But with a chance to all but put the series to bed with a victory, losing by 38 points once again raises all sorts of questions about the backbone of this Cavs team. All playoff games are hard to win, and they should be, because these are the best teams in the league. But losing by 38 points when you are up two games to none? Unacceptable. Contact Jim Ingraham at jingraham4@gmail.com and follow him @Jim_Ingraham on X.