Los Angeles (AFP) – The Orlando Magic dominated late to overcome a heroic 50-point performance from Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell and beat the Cavaliers 103-96 on Friday, forcing a decisive game seven in their NBA Eastern Conference playoff series.
Paolo Banchero scored 10 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter for Orlando, drilling a three-pointer that put the Magic ahead for good with 3:39 left to play in a tight back-and-forth battle.
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Franz Wagner added 26 points for Orlando and Jalen Suggs made six three-pointers on the way to 22 in what Wagner called a “full team effort.”
Orlando, which won games three and four at home by an average of 30.5 points, never looked like they would produce another blowout.
But they had enough at the end to overcome Mitchell, who was clearly troubled by a nagging knee injury but had all 18 of the Cavs’ fourth-quarter points.
“Obviously, Mitchell had an amazing game, but we stuck with it and got stops when we needed it,” Wagner said.
“The whole group just stayed with it.”
With the series tied at three games apiece, the Cavs host game seven on Sunday.
To advance to a second-round series against the Boston Celtics, the Magic will have to do what neither team has done this series and win on the road.
Cleveland coach J.B.Bickerstaff thinks the Cavs can stop them.
“We’ll be ready for the moment,” Bickerstaff vowed.
“Our guys have been good at home and we don’t expect that to change.”
Cleveland players, who made just one of 14 from three-point range in the first half and seven three-pointers total, dominated the paint to keep it close.
Down by four at halftime, the Cavs continued to attack the rim, authoring a 13-0 scoring run to take a 62-55 lead in the third quarter.
Mitchell briefly departed the court in the third but returned to close the period with a floater at the buzzer that sent Cleveland into the fourth quarter with a 78-73 advantage.
The lead would change hands five times in the final period before Banchero broke a tie and the Magic pulled away, with Bickerstaff saying seven fourth-quarter turnovers were just too damaging to the Cavs.
Darius Garland added 21 points for Cleveland, who were without center Jarrett Allen because of a rib contusion.
Friday’s other game saw the Dallas Mavericks, with a 3-2 series lead over the Los Angeles Clippers, trying to close out their Western Conference series at home.
© 2024 AFP
