Playoffs NBA – playoffs – day 19
Cleveland CavaliersOrlando Magic
The Cavaliers signed Donovan Mitchell for this. The Cleveland guard was the decisive player on the decisive day of the only NBA first-round tie that has gone to the seventh game. Spider Mitchell started the game unknown, but he refined his aim and was unstoppable. He led the Cavaliers to a victory against the Orlando Magic that looked very difficult midway through the second quarter, before the game turned around. Now, they meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics, but they won’t have the slightest chance if they don’t improve their performance away from home.
In the tie between the Cavaliers and the Magic, each team has won the games in which they played at home. The home field advantage due to the best classification in the regular season has ended up being decisive. There was a moment in the seventh game, however, when it seemed that the very young Magic (the average age of their starting five this Sunday was less than 24 years old) were going to surprise. The Cavaliers reacted when they were on the brink.
The life or death duel began with an exhibition by power forward Paolo Banchero, whom the Magic chose as number one in the 2022 draft. Banchero, 21, scored 25 points in the first half, but, above all, he led his team to take an 18-point lead midway through the second quarter. Those from Orlando did not know how to manage that difference and shipwrecked with a bang.
The evolution of the scoreboard says almost everything. Orlando led 31-49 with just four minutes left before halftime. From there until the end of the third quarter, the Cavaliers gave them a run of 45-19. The 10-point advantage that the visitors still had in the middle of the game (43-53) became eight points against with the last quarter remaining (76-68), after the visitors collapsed in the third. After a small threat of reaction, the debacle of those from Orlando, who could not quite understand how the game had gotten out of hand, was consummated without remedy, with a 106-94 in the final score.
In the comeback phase, Cleveland won the game in both rings. They increased the pressure on Banchero, who began to fail everything he tried, while Mitchell dismantled Orlando’s defense. The Cleveland star was not having his day from the three-point line, but he sneaked in again and again to make baskets under the basket and also forced fouls almost at will.
Mitchell closed the game with 39 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. In the scoring aspect he was supported by Caris LeVert (15 points), Max Strus (13), Darius Garland (12) and Evan Mobley (11). Up front, Paolo Banchero’s 38 points and 16 rebounds were useless.
The Cavaliers had not passed the first round since 2018, when they dominated the East with LeBron James in their ranks. In that golden period, they won four consecutive Conference championships and their only NBA championship ring. Since the Eastern final against the Celtics in 2018, they have accumulated seven consecutive road losses in the playoffs.
The Magic were participating in the postseason playoffs for the first time in four years and for the third time in 12. As in the previous two, they fell in the first round. They are young and will try again next year.
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