INDEPENDENCE — J.B. Bickerstaff and Jamahl Mosley have been friends for around 20 years and view each other more as brothers, but they might not be talking much over the next couple weeks.
That's because the Cavaliers have work to do, and the Orlando Magic are in their way.
Bickerstaff , at the helm of the Cavs, and Mosley, coach of the Magic, have long been close and entered the league about the same time.
They talk on a regular basis. They try to watch each other's games as much as possible. Mosley has even stayed at Bickerstaff's house in the past when the Magic were in Cleveland . Their families spent the All-Star break together.
But now the No. 4-seeded Cavs and No. 5 Magic will face each other in the first round of the NBA playoffs, with Game 1 set for 1 p.m. Saturday.
One of them will be going home. One will be moving on. And for a moment, the friendly banter might have to be put on hold.
"Don't matter. Don't matter at all," Bickerstaff said when asked what it was like for it to be Mosley's Magic who are in the Cavs' path to advancing. "We had a conversation Sunday night, and we both agreed this is the last time we'll speak, probably, for the next two and a half, three weeks, and we'll go out and try to kick each other's butt."
Aside from the friendship (temporarily on hold) between the coaches, the Cavs are preparing for their matchup with the Magic, a lengthy team that can give opponents fits with its size and a couple of 20-point scorers in an up-and-coming starting lineup.
At the very least, the Cavs actually should have a healthy starting lineup entering the series, which they've rarely been able to say this season while using dozens of different configurations and dealing with lengthy absences by Donovan Mitchell , Evan Mobley , Max Strus and Darius Garland ( who had to eat food through a straw for weeks ), especially.
Mitchell, in particularly, says he's "100 percent" and ready to go for what is a critical playoffs for both his future and the team's next path, as he can opt out of his contract in the summer of 2025 .
Mitchell, who has been dealing with a knee injury ( he at least has ditched the black mask ), said the stretch leading into the playoffs feels like the longest week of the entire season, but the time off for him to rest is valuable.
"It's a blessing for sure, but mentally I'm ready to play," Mitchell said. "As much as I'm itching to do more training, it's telling me to sit my behind down and create patience. I think everybody's like that. I think everybody knows, everybody wants to get out there."
While the Cavs' starting lineup is healthy, it doesn't mean the whole roster is available. Key contributor off the bench Dean Wade (knee) didn't practice Wednesday, and Bickerstaff added it's his assumption that Wade will not play in Game 1. "If he does play, it'll be later down the line," Bickerstaff said.
The Cavs and Magic split their season series 2-2, with the former learning some valuable lessons in both losses.
In the first loss, in Orlando, Banchero and Wagner combined for 39 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists to lead the way for the Magic. In the second Cavs loss, Moritz Wagner came off the bench and exploded for 22 points.
Banchero is an all-star and a rising star in the league who averaged 22.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists. Franz Wagner was the Magic's second leading scorer at 19.7 points per game, along with 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists.
Step 1 for the Cavs defense is to slow down that two-headed monster. Step 2 is to try to avoid Mortiz Wagner, Cole Anthony or anyone else from the Magic bench igniting again.
"We've got to do a great job on their two big guns," Bickerstaff said. "With [Franz] Wagner and Banchero, we've got to do the job of making their life miserable, making them have to earn everything, keeping them off the foul line and making sure that one of those guys doesn't have a huge night."
"So it's eliminating one or both of their stars, but not letting a role player have an X-factor type of game."
The next step is handling the Magic's length in the front court. Orlando has key contributors in its rotation who are all at least 6-foot-10, including Banchero, both Wagners, Wendell Carter Jr. and Jonathan Isaac .
That combo of athleticism and size has given the Cavs fits at times in the past. A year ago, perhaps the No. 1 lesson from the Cavs' early exit at the hands of the New York Knicks is they needed to find an interior toughness that didn't seem to exist when it was needed most.
The Cavs will counter that size with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley in the paint. Those two knew they'd again be tested in the playoffs ever since they walked off the court with the Knicks celebrating a year ago. Facing the Magic in the first round creates an immediate exam.
But the Cavs will also be counting on a few options to counter Banchero, Franz Wagner and Co. not with as much size, but grit. That group that includes Isaac Okoro , Strus, Georges Niang and Marcus Morris Sr.
In many defensive matchups, David will need to get the best of Goliath with technique, not pure size.
"Obviously we've got two 7-footers that present a ton of trouble and present a ton of size and can match up in different ways," Bickerstaff said. "We're confident in those guys defending up and down the lineup, so that helps.
"And then we do have smaller guys who are crafty enough, small enough to guard bigger positions. … We've got guys that we feel confident, although maybe shorter in stature, have the grit and toughness to guard up a position."
Even though they only logged five games as a core group last year, the 2024 Cavaliers do enter this series with one advantage over the Magic: playoff experience.
The Cavs went through their first series as constructed against the Knicks and then added Strus, fresh off his run to the NBA finals with the Miami Heat . The Magic, meanwhile, are a young, up-and-coming team that hasn't been to the playoffs in four years.
In some ways, the Magic represent the Cavaliers of roughly 365 days ago. And the Cavs hope they can use some element of that disparity to their advantage.
"I think obviously with the guys we brought in, you can't teach experience," Mitchell said. "I think that's something that definitely helps and, as nasty as last year was, I think that definitely is something that helps for the guys that were here last year."
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com. Follow him on Threads at @ByRyanLewis .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Cavaliers Orlando Magic playoff series breakdown Mitchell
