Apr 7, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving (2) and Orlando Magic small forward Maurice Harkless (21) go for a loose ball during the game at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Eric P. Mull-USA TODAY Sports

Since writing my piece on the 10-game losing that the Cleveland Cavaliers (24-52) and their fans endured for more than two weeks, the Wine and Gold have righted the ship. After power forward Tristan Thompson fueled the Cavs to victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday, it was now time for Cleveland to take down the team that many thought could have ended the streak if it were still going on.

The Orlando Magic (19-59) hung tough for the most part, but the Cavaliers were able to take the season series (3-1) with a 91-85 victory on Sunday evening at Quicken Loans Arena.

Even though the Cavaliers let center Nikola Vucevic – a player who averaged 13.7 points and 9.3 rebounds in three previous matchups with Cleveland – run rampant on the boards all night long, a nice defensive effort in the fourth quarter allowed Cleveland to win back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 26 and 27. Vucevic finished with 21 points, 21 rebounds, six assists and two blocks and shot 50 percent from the field.

He started off the game hot, grabbing eight rebounds and tallying six points in the first quarter. Orlando’s rising star was controlling the game from the tipoff, but Cleveland’s savior was still in a shooting slump. Over the past three games Kyrie Irving has combined to shoot 23.5 percent from the field and is averaging 12 points in that same time. Sunday night is a reason why Irving’s numbers have been so low as of late, as he only scored nine points and shot 20 percent from the field.

Since returning from his injury, Kyrie has been pretty ineffective. However, he did make the players around him better on Sunday with his unselfish play. He dished out 10 dimes, and most notably he had four assists in the third quarter. This helped the Cavaliers keep the lead for a short time in the third frame, but Tobias Harris’ huge quarter kept Orlando on top. His eight points allowed the Magic to carry a four-point lead into the final 12 minutes.

Harris totaled 26 points and 12 rebounds on the night, while shooting 11-of-19 from the field. While Harris and Vucevic had an overwhelming impact on the game compared to the rest of the Magic, Cleveland had a nice supporting cast of players contributing throughout the game. C.J. Miles was one of those players until Vucevic decided he had enough of his streaky shooting. Miles had eight points in six minutes before the Magic big man threw an accidental elbow in his direction, causing Miles to leave the court bloody and needing six stitches.

With Miles gone, the rest of Cleveland’s bench had to pick up the pace. They did this the best when the team needed them the most. The Wine and Gold bench, consisting of Marreese Speights, Omri Casspi, Kevin Jones and Shaun Livingston, combined for 14 of Cleveland’s first 16 points of the fourth quarter. This gave the Cavs a nice three-point cushion, setting up the starters quite nicely.

5 minutes remained on the clock when Thompson, Irving and Alonzo Gee took over. They helped the Cavs close the game on a 12-8 run, sealing their second straight victory.

With six games left on the schedule – three that are against playoff teams – the Cavaliers will look to head into the offseason with a .500 split the rest of the way. Their next matchup may not bode well for them, as they will be traveling to Indiana to take on the Pacers on Tuesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

February 8, 2013;Cleveland, OH USA: Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Dion Waiters (3) drives to the basket as Orlando Magic shooting guard E

When the fourth quarter began head coach Byron Scott didn’t send out any of his starters, a trend he is beginning to develop.  In fact, a starter didn’t enter the game until Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson came into the game with six minutes left in the game.

But the bench gave the Cavs enough of a lead for Coach Scott to keep his starters on the bench and rest.  The game ended in favor of the Cavs 119-108.

The stat of the night goes to the Cavaliers’ bench scoring 51 points, compared to the 15 points the Magic’s bench scored.

This game went back and forth all night and was tied 24-24 at the end of the first and 56-56 at half.

But when fourth quarter started Marreese Speights took over like he did against the Oklahoma City Thunder last Saturday.  Speights finished with 18 points, including going 12-12 from the free throw line.  His teammate who came over in the trade with Memphis contributed 14 points playing 25 minutes.

Orlando came into Cleveland without two of their three leading scorers: J.J. Redick and Glen Davis.  Davis has been on the injury report for most of the year with a broken bone in his foot.

Jameer Nelson was almost non-existent all game due to Coach Scott matching him up against a bigger defender.  Alonzo Gee started on him in the first quarter, and then as the game went on, Shaun Livingston did his duties to defend him.  However, down the stretch in the fourth quarter, Nelson hit three 3-pointers to keep the game close.

This was the Magic’s 12-straight loss and the third-straight win for the Cavs.

Kyrie Irving, who was recently voted to the All-Star team, the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, and the 3-point contest, was the team’s top performer tonight with 24 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds.

Defensively the Cavs weren’t sound tonight giving up 46 points to the Magic’s front court, including giving up a career-high 25 points to Nikola Vucevic.  Rookie power forward Andrew Nicholson scored 21 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.

The Cavaliers’ hot shooting streak continued tonight as they shot 49 percent form the field, and 83 percent from the charity strike.

This win makes the Cavs 6-2 after the trade with Memphis and 3-0 after Coach Scott had a closed door meeting with the team after the Pistons’ loss last Friday.

The Cavs take the court again tomorrow when they welcome in the Denver Nuggets.  The Nuggets are currently fourth in the Western Conference standings, but didn’t have any players selected to the All-Star team.  Tipoff is schedule for 7:30 p.m.

Nov 23, 2012; Orlando, FL, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers small forward Omri Casspi (36) attempts a layup as Orlando Magic power forward Andrew Nicholson (44) defends during the third quarter at Amway Center. Orlando defeated Cleveland 108-104. Mandatory Credit: Douglas Jones-USA TODAY Sports

When a team is rolling on all cylinders, it is very easy to point out. The Cleveland Cavaliers (15-34) have reached the apex of that realization, as they have won five of their last seven contests. Playing at home helps as well and Cleveland has racked up a record of 5-1 at Quicken Loans Arena in their last six home games. The statistics have been way up at home too, especially in regards to bench production and ball movement. Cleveland will be going up against a team in the Orlando Magic (14-35) that they struggled with closing out in the fourth quarter in a matchup earlier this season. Cleveland walked away from Orlando with a 108-104 loss, but the free throws that J.J. Redick just simply couldn’t miss to end the game made it hurt much more. Luckily for the Cavs, Redick, Al Harrington and Glen Davis will all sit out Friday night’s game, while Arron Afflalo is probable and DeQuan Jones and Hedo Turkoglu are questionable:

Opponent’s Blog: Presto in the Paint

Venue: Quicken Loans Arena – Cleveland

Tipoff: Friday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Betting Line: Cavaliers by -6.5

Where you can watch: Fox Sports Ohio

Where you can listen: WTAM (1100 AM), WFUN (970 AM)

With Redick out – he is currently averaging 15.3 points, 4.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds, while shooting 39.9 percent from three – this should be a game where the Cavaliers are favorites for the second game in a row. With the resurgence of the bench – thanks to Marreese Speights and Wayne Ellington – Cleveland now ranks 24^th in the league in regards to bench scoring. That says a lot for a team that was in the cellar of that category just a couple of weeks ago. The Magic’s bench ranks 19^th in the NBA, but I do feel with the injuries that Orlando has had to deal with this season that Cleveland’s bench holds the advantage in this matchup. Young guns Gustavo Ayon and Kyle O’Quinn will be seeing plenty of time, and I think that the Cavs bench will be able to take advantage of their time on the court because of that.

A matchup that most people would think is in favor of the Cavaliers might go the other way if things don’t get rolling from an offensive standpoint early on. Last time these two teams met up, Jeremy Pargo was starting at point guard. Due to Kyrie Irving’s injury, Orlando point guard was able to cut loose and score 22 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three. Even though Dion Waiters was in the starting lineup for this particular game, his 25 points made little difference due to the backcourt duo of Nelson and Afflalo (who will suit up tonight). Both were lethal from beyond the arc, and the perimeter defense from Waiters and Irving hasn’t been the best. Nelson and Affalo are going to get buckets, but Cleveland’s young backcourt will have to limit their production and play good off-the-ball defense in order to put the rock into other shooter’s hands.

With Davis out, Cleveland will be going up against two starting rookies in Andrew Nicholson and Moe Harkless, who are averaging 7.3 and 4.8 points respectively. That means sophomore power forward Tristan Thompson and three-year player Alonzo Gee will have an experience advantage (finally). Gee hasn’t been an offensive presence this season, but his tight on-the-ball defense could cause Harkless to have some rookie fits. Get the Magic to crack, and the Cavaliers will put this game away as early as they did on Wednesday.