The Cleveland Cavaliers dropped a chippy game to the Orlando Magic 128-122 due to their inability to defend the paint and clutch shot-making from Desmond Bane.
The Magic have a bad offense. They can’t shoot from the outside and don’t have many playmakers. They do, however, have size, and that was an issue for a Cavs team that desperately missed Jarrett Allen, who sat out this game with a knee injury.
Orlando set the tone early, scoring 38 points in the first quarter while going 11-12 in the paint and attempting
7 shots at the free-throw line. They were able to consistently outmuscle the Cavs’ smaller defenders, which became a theme for the entire evening.
The Cavs were able to take advantage of their smaller, more athletic lineup on the other end of the court at the beginning of the night, but they weren’t able to keep pace for 48 minutes.
The three-ball being average and leaving far too many points at the free-throw line eventually did the offense in. After scoring 35 points in the first quarter, they were held to just 27 the next two, which wasn’t enough considering how poorly their own defense was playing.
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The Cavaliers went into the second half tied, but lost their grip on the game at the start of the third quarter. Bane’s 12 points on 4-4 shooting in that frame had a lot to do with that. Orlando pushed its lead to 10 at the end of the third quarter.
The Magic carried that momentum into the fourth. They extended their advantage to 12 at the halfway point of the final frame, before Cleveland attempted a comeback that was far too late in the making.
Cleveland cut the deficit to two with threes on four-straight possessions to make it a two-point game with 39 seconds left. They needed one more stop to give themselves a chance to tie or take the lead, but Bane had other ideas. He hit a tough, off-balance triple with a hand in his face late in the shot clock to put the game away.
Earlier this week, Kenny Atkinson said he wanted to see the role players step up to claim a spot in the playoff rotation. Ellis seems to have taken that message to heart. He was the unquestioned best Cavalier on the defensive end and more than did his job offensively. Ellis poured in 20 points on 6-9 shooting with 12 of them coming in the fourth quarter.
James Harden led Cleveland in scoring with 30 points on an efficient 11-16 shooting with eight assists and four turnovers.
Donovan Mitchell wasn’t able to establish his usual rhythm and was inefficient in the clutch. He went just 2-8 from the field in the final quarter. Mitchell finished the game with 25 points on 9-24 shooting with five assists and three turnovers.
Evan Mobley had a solid night from the field, but being in foul trouble and not being able to convert from the free-throw line (2-7) kept him from being as effective as you’d like. He ended the evening with 18 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists.
Bane led the Magic with a game-high 35 points on 12-19 shooting. Paolo Banchero provided 25 points in the victory.
The victory extends the Magic’s winning streak to five. The Cavs are now up 2-1 in the season series against Orlando. Their final meeting of the regular season will be Tuesday, March 24.
The Cavs are back in action on Friday when they head on the road to take on the Dallas Mavericks. Tip-off is at 8 PM.
