ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Paolo Banchero scored 10 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Orlando Magic surpass Donovan Mitchell’s 50 points and hold off the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-96 on Friday night to force a game 7 decisive in their first round NBA playoff series.
Three nights after scoring 39 points on 14-of-24 shooting in a one-point road loss that left the Magic on the brink of elimination, the 21-year-old Banchero put his team on his back and led them to their biggest win in years.
Franz Wagner had 26 points and Jalen Suggs made six 3-pointers and finished with 22 for the Magic, who pulled away in the final minutes, with Banchero hitting a 3-pointer that put Orlando ahead definitively 92-89.
Mitchell was magnificent for Cleveland, scoring all 18 of his team’s points in the fourth quarter. Darius Garland finished with 21, but in the end the Cavs couldn’t overcome their poor 3-point shooting (7 of 28).
Game 7 is Sunday in Cleveland, where the Cavs won Games 1, 2 and 5 and clearly play better than they did on the road, where they lost seven straight playoff games until their LeBron James-led Game 7 win in Boston in 2018 Eastern Conference Finals.
The Cavs haven’t won a postseason series since. The Magic, who are in the playoffs for the first time since 2020, are looking for their first series victory in 14 years.
Orlando won Games 3 and 4 by a combined 61 points, but came out Friday night with a slightly different look, inserting forward Jonathan Isaac into the starting lineup and moving Wagner from power forward to guard to field four 1,000 players. 80 meters on the ground at the same time.
With center Jarrett Allen out for the second straight game because of a bruised rib, the Cavs moved forward Evan Mobley to center and started Marcus Morris Sr. after the 34-year-old came off the bench to score 12 points and raise the Cleveland level physicality.
The Cavs trailed 53-49 at halftime and were lucky the deficit wasn’t greater considering they missed 13 of 14 3-point attempts.
With an aggressive Mitchell and Garland seemingly going to the basket at will, Cleveland converted 22 of 32 shots inside the arc and ended up shooting 50% overall (23 of 46) before halftime to stay close.
They finally got hot from long range in the third quarter, with Mitchell and Max Strus hitting 3-pointers during a 17-4 surge to start the period. They trailed by nine before closing within 78-73 in the fourth quarter.
