Cavs secure homecourt advantage, get 50th win of season

The Cleveland Cavaliers(50-30) hoped to accomplish two things on Tuesday night as they began a two-game set in Orlando against the Magic(34-45).

First, secure homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a win, and next, win 50 games for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

Mission accomplished!

The Cavs defeated the Magic 117-113 at Amway Center. 

With the loss, the Magic are officially eliminated from playoff contention.

Here’s the Great, Not So Great, and the Bottom Line of the Cavs’ win over the Magic.

The Great:

-Donovan Mitchell went over 40 points for the fourth straight game as he had 43 points, five rebounds, and four assists.

According to the NBA, Mitchell is the fourth player over the last 25 seasons to record four straight 40-plus point games.

After Paolo Banchero’s layup gave Orlando a 109-108 lead with just under four minutes to go, Mitchell would score six of Cleveland’s final nine points. He came up big when needed.

-Caris LeVert was huge for the Cavs, and he added 19 points, including five threes off the bench. With Cleveland trailing 109-108 with just under four minutes to go, LeVert hit a three that would give the Cavs the lead for good.

LeVert has been in double figures in 11 of his last 12 games.

–Darius Garland had a solid floor game with 16 points and 10 assists. This was Garland’s 18th double-double of the season.

Not So Great:

Rebounding: Orlando did a solid job on the boards as they outrebounded Cleveland 47-30 and outscored the Cavs 14-4 in second-chance points.

Bottom Line:

Coming into this season, on paper, three teams in the East were better than the Cavs, the Bucks, Celtics, and the 76ers, and in terms of the standings, those three teams are better than Cleveland right now.

However, that does not take away from how great it is to win 50 games, which was expected after the acquisition of Mitchell.

With homecourt advantage, the Cavs will probably be the favorite when they face the fifth-seeded Knicks(likely opponent) in the first round, which should be a lot of fun.

For now, Cleveland should enjoy winning 50 games, but there is most definitely more work to be done.

What’s Next:

Cleveland concludes their two-game set in Orlando against the Magic on Thursday night.

Best of the Rest:

Evan Mobley had 14 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Jarrett Allen had 12 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks.

For Orlando, Markelle Fultz led the way with 23 points and eight assists; Banchero had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Cleveland was 15/31 from three-point range on Tuesday night.