Updated Cleveland Cavaliers Starting Lineup vs. Orlando Magic

The Cleveland Cavaliers will play their second of three preseason games on Sunday evening against the Orlando Magic.

Orlando With Lots of Pressure This Year

The Magic quietly have the most stakes to play for this season. After a successful rebuild put Orlando in the postseason three consecutive years, they have not been able to win a first round series to advance (including a loss to Cleveland in 2024).

Orlando made a huge move in the 2025 offseason, bringing in sharpshooter Desmond Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies. This cost the Magic a lot of their future draft compensation, and if their core of Bane, Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs are not able to have any playoff success, it could give Magic president Jeff Weltman reason to pull the plug on this iteration of the team.

They nearly won last year’s first round matchup against the top-seeded Detroit Pistons, but blew a 3-1 lead in that series. Orlando had Detroit on the ropes too, having a 24-point advantage in the third quarter of Game 6 at home. Unfortunately, they had a historically cold second half, getting outscored 55-19 in the final 24 minutes.

The Magic’s big offseason move was the firing of head coach Jahmal Mosley and hiring Sean Sweeney to replace him. Sweeney has spent the last 15 seasons as an assistant coach for a lot of successful teams, including last year’s San Antonio Spurs and the 2023-24 Dallas Mavericks, both of whom made the NBA Finals.

But Sweeney’s bread and butter has been more on the defensive end, which is not Orlando’s problem. The Magic have been held back by the basic offensive philosophies that Mosley brought to the table, similar to what the Cleveland Cavaliers were dealing with in regards to J.B. Bickerstaff.

Despite the many moves throughout the Eastern Conference to other teams, I believe Orlando has the most internal pressure to succeed out of the East.

What To Expect From the Cavaliers

After Cleveland’s opening preseason loss to Boston on Thursday, head coach Kenny Atkinson hopes to see some more minutes from his regulars. That includes a potential return for James Harden, who missed the Celtics game with right ankle soreness.

This indicates that the Cavaliers will play their starters for an increased amount of time, to allow them to ramp up their on-court reps before their regular season begins on Jan. 22. Cleveland fans may get to see their team’s brand new starting lineup for the very first time with Peyton Watson.

As for on the court, the Wine and Gold looked pretty solid in a lot of areas against Boston. But the one glaring problem on Thursday was their lack of defensive rebounding. The Cavaliers allowed 21 offensive boards from the third string Celtics.

Atkinson said postgame that “rebounding is a concern heading into the season.” Playing against a tough, physical Orlando Magic team will test that weakness once again.

Injury Report

Orlando Magic

• Desmond Bane (Rest) - Out
• Jalen Suggs (Illness) - Out
• Jonathan Isaac (Personal Reasons) - Out
• Izaiyah Nelson (Ankle) - Out

Cleveland Cavaliers

• Nae'Qwan Tomlin (back) - Out
• Khalifa Diop (Undisclosed) - Out

Official Starting Lineup

Orlando Magic - Jase Richardson, Tristan da Silva, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter Jr.

Cleveland Cavaliers - James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Peyton Watson, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Jerseys

Orlando Magic - Icon (Blue)

Cleveland Cavaliers - Association (White)

How to Watch and Listen

Date: Sunday, Oct. 11

Time: 6:30 p.m. ET

Location: Rocket Arena, Cleveland

TV: ESPN, DAZN

Radio: WTAM 1100