Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, Jarrett Allen posted a 16-point, 18-rebound double-double, and the No. 4 seed Cleveland Cavaliers led wire-to-wire to take Game 1 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series at home against the Orlando Magic, 97-83, on Saturday.
Cleveland scored Game 1’s first six points and jumped to an 11-point lead early, with Evan Mobley scoring eight of his 16 points on the day less than six minutes in. The Cavaliers never looked back after their initial start, pushing their advantage to as many as 20 points.
After falling behind by 14 points coming out of halftime, however, Orlando stormed back to pull within four points. Paolo Banchero, who scored a team-high 24 points, hit a 3-pointer to cap a 12-2 run.
Jalen Suggs scored six of his 13 points during the surge.
Cleveland regained control going into the fourth quarter when Caris LeVert closed the third period finishing on layups while being fouled. He converted one of the two and-one opportunities, accounting for all five of his points for the game coming off the bench.
The Cavaliers kept the run going into the fourth quarter before Orlando battled back to within a single-digit margin. Cleveland answered each Magic comeback push, however, thanks to an outstanding defensive effort.
Game 2 is Monday night in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers held the Magic to just 32.6 percent shooting from the floor at 28 of 86, including 8 of 37 from 3-point range. Cleveland endured its own 3-point woes after making its first five attempts, finishing 8-of-30 for the day, but connected from deep with some timely shots.
One came from Mitchell with 4:44 remaining, part of his game-high in scoring, to stymie an Orlando rally attempt and effectively put the game away.
Mitchell shot 3 of 8 from deep and 11 of 21 from the floor overall. Darius Garland, who went 2-of-6 from beyond the arc, finished with 14 points and eight assists.
Mobley shot 2-of-4 from 3-point range, 6-of-12 from the floor overall, and grabbed 11 rebounds. Max Strus added another nine rebounds to go with seven points.
Franz Wagner scored 18 points for Orlando.
–Field Level Media
