The Cleveland Cavaliers took care of business as they defeated the Orlando Magic 119-105 to win their third game in a row.
The stats in the table below are from Cleaning the Glass.
Now, let’s dive into the
numbers.
- Donovan Mitchell scored 27 of his 36 points in the second half. Mitchell struggled to get anything going at the start of the game, but turned it around in the second half. Orlando couldn’t keep him from driving inside as he went 9-14 on shots in the paint in the second half.
- Mitchell is now leading the league in second-half scoring with 17.2 points per game on .519/.427/.836 shooting splits. The Cavs have needed their best player to carry their offense to victory many nights. The numbers partially reflect that. However, they also show just how gifted a scorer Mitchell really is. He’s been producing in volume and efficiency when his team has needed him most, regardless of what his clutch numbers say.
- This was the 17th time this season that Mitchell has scored 20 or more points in the second half. The Cavs are 11-6 when he does so and 7-0 when he puts up 24 or more over the final two quarters.
- The Cavs are now 10-1 when Mitchell scores 35 or more points. This team has gone as Mitchell has from a scoring perspective. That trend continued again in Orlando.
- Mitchell hit just two triples en route to his 36-point performance. He’s reached at least 30 points 24 times this season, and he’s registered two or fewer three-point makes in just five of those outings. This was the second time he’s scored 35 or more and had just two outside field goals.
- This was the third time this season Mitchell has contributed at least nine assists. The Cavs have won each time he’s done so. They’re 10-5 when he has seven or more assists in a game.
- The Magic went just 11-40 (27.5%) from three. They’re the second-worst three-point shooting team in the league this season. The Cavs, understandably, played into that. They packed the paint and dared the Magic to shoot. This led to them taking 43% of their shots from beyond the arc (74th percentile). That’s exactly how you want to play the Magic.
- Only 26% of Orlando’s field-goal attempts came at the rim (26th percentile). The best defenses force their opponent to take their shots where they want them to. The Cavs did this as they kept the Magic from getting to the rim. Cleveland executed their defensive game plan perfectly.
- Cleveland outscored Orlando 50-40 in the paint.
- The Cavs connected on 44.1% of their threes (85th percentile). This was the 15th time this season the Cavs hit 40% or more of their triples. They’re 11-4 when they do so.
- Cavaliers outside of Mitchell and Evan Mobley went 12-20 (60%) from beyond the arc. This was a well-rounded performance where each member in the rotation made a positive contribution in the victory.
- Cleveland had five players finish in double figures scoring: Mitchell (36), Jaylon Tyson (17), Mobley (13), Tyrese Proctor (12), and Dean Wade (10).
- This was the eighth time Wade has scored 10 or more points in a game this season. The Cavs are now 6-2 when he does so.
- Twenty-seven of Cleveland’s 43 field goals were assisted. The ball was moving around the court well in Orlando. That doesn’t always show through in the assist numbers, but it did so here.
- Five Cavaliers contributed two or more assists: Mitchell (9), Nae’Qwan Tomlin (4), Tyson (4), Mobley (3), and Lonzo Ball (2).
