The best two words in sports are Game 7, and the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic were looking to advance to the second round on Sunday in Cleveland.
Orlando got off to a great start and had a 49-31 with 4:17 left in the second quarter. From there, the Cavs outscored the Magic 75-49 to win 106-94.
Cleveland wins the series 4-3 and will move to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
The Cavs will now battle the Celtics, and Game 1 is on Tuesday night in Boston.
Here’s the Great, Not So Great, and the Bottom Line of the Cavs’ win over the Magic.
Great:
-Donovan Mitchell is the star of the Cavs. He scored 50 points in Game 6 and was just as good in Game 7, scoring 39 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and dishing out five assists. In addition, he was 15/17 from the free-throw line. He dominated the third quarter, scoring 17 points on 7/9 shooting from the field. Cleveland took control of the game in the third, and that was because of Mitchell.
-In the first half, the Cavs struggled, but Caris LeVert helped keep them alive as he scored 10 of his 15 points in the first half off the bench. LeVert did his job and gave Cleveland a spark.
-Evan Mobley got another start at center for the injured Jarrett Allen and had a good all-around game. He had 11 points, 16 rebounds, and five blocked shots, his second straight five-block game.
Third Quarter: This might have been the Cavs’ best quarter of the series. After trailing 53-43 at the break, Cleveland shot 61% from the field in third and held the Magic to 4/24(16%) from the floor. Mitchell had 17 points, and Max Strus scored 11 of his 13 points in the quarter. A 10-point halftime deficit turned into an eight-point lead for Cleveland going into the fourth quarter.
Not So Great:
First Half: Cleveland was terrible in the first half and appeared to be on the verge of a first-round exit. The Cavs scored only 43 points and shot only 35% from the floor. They had nine turnovers and were just not getting the job done. Fortunately, there are two halves of basketball.
Darius Garland was not very good in Game 7. He scored only 12 points on 3/13 shooting. He scored 10 points in the second half to his credit, but he has to be better.
Bottom Line:
For the first 24 minutes, it appeared J.B. Bickerstaff was getting fired, Mitchell was moving on, and things were falling apart in Cleveland. However, they got it right in the second half. Thank goodness for Mitchell. Hopefully, the Cavs can get Jarrett Allen back in the future, who missed the past three games with a rib injury.
The Cavs can’t defeat the Celtics without Allen; the Celtics probably won’t have Kristaps Porzingis in this series, so Cleveland has a shot. For now, they can celebrate getting to the next round.
What’s Next:
The Cavs battle the Celtics in Game 1 on Tuesday night in Boston.
Best of the Rest:
-Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 38 and 16 rebounds. Wendell Carter Jr. added 13 points and seven rebounds.
-The home team won every game in this series.
-According to Elias Sports, Mitchell (89 points) scored the second-most points in NBA history in Games 6 and 7 in a series.
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