After a 30-point showing by Donovan Mitchell, the Cleveland Cavaliers(48-34) beat the Orlando Magic(47-35) by a score of 97-83, which allows the Cavaliers to take a 1-0 series lead into game two of the series. The affair was low-scoring, with the point total of 180 being the lowest of any of the first four games played on Saturday.

The clunkiness of the first-round matchup could be attributed to the playoff inexperience located on both teams in the series. The Cavaliers are heading to only their second playoffs since the 2017-2018 season when LeBron James carried the team to the NBA Finals, according to Pro Basketball Reference. Though Donovan Mitchell has some playoff experience with the Utah Jazz, playing in his seventh playoff series(according to Pro Basketball Reference), the rest of the Cavaliers’ squad is truly new to the environment of playoff basketball. Of the remaining four on the Cavs’ starting lineup, Evan Mobely and Darius Garland are just in their second stint of postseason basketball, with Jarrett Allen and Max Strus having three years of prior playoff experience.

If the Cavaliers are just getting adjusted to playoff basketball, the Orlando Magic are truly newbies to the experience of playing past the regular season. Of the Magic starting five, Paolo Branchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs each are playing in their first season of playoff basketball, while Gary Harris is playing in his third and Jonathan Isaac is playing in his second, according to Pro Basketball Reference. Seeing as the Magic are truly new to the experience of playing a tight series with another team, they aren’t expected to make a deep run with the inexperience they carry into the series with the Cavaliers.

While the first game between the two teams carried a poor shooting performance, the Cavaliers slightly edged the Magic in all shooting categories, which proved a vital factor in them taking the first game. The Cavaliers shot 44.4% from the field, 26.7% percent from three, and 81% from the free throw line, according to ESPN. While their field goal percentage and three-point percentage are poor, they surpassed the Magic’s even lower levels of 32.6% from the field and 21.6% from three. 

Hopefully each team will be able to ease into the hostile nature of playoff basketball, and those marks could potentially increase over the series, proving for a matchup that could be a diamond in the rough.