***On Friday night in Orlando, Donovan Mitchell posted one of the greatest Playoff performances in franchise history. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, as the Magic ran past the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter – pulling away late for the 103-96 win and forcing a Game 7 despite Mitchell’s masterpiece. The Wine & Gold led by nine in the second half and by five to start the fourth quarter, but the Cavs were held to just 18 points in the final period – all 18 scored by Cleveland’s five-time All-Star. On the night, Mitchell poured in 50 points on 22-for-36 shooting, going 3-of-9 from three-point range and 3-of-6 from the line, adding four boards, four assists and a block.
*** In Games 3 and 4 in Orlando, the Cavaliers’ bugaboo was the third quarter. But Cleveland answered the bell after half on Friday – starting the second stanza on a 13-2 run and outscoring the Magic, 29-20, in the period. But Cleveland cooled off collectively down the stretch. Tristan Thompson’s dunk with 2:37 to play in the third proved to the final points that a Cavalier not named Donovan Mitchell would score for the remainder of the contest. Mitchell’s three-pointer with four minutes to play tied the contest at 89-apiece. But Orlando closed the contest on a 14-7 run to seal the deal.
*** Coach J.B. Bickerstaff talked about the final two quarters following Friday’s loss. “I thought we did a great job playing with tempo, playing with pace and then defensively we were really good in the third quarter. We got shots without turning the basketball over in the third quarter, and I think that’s what bit us in the butt. We had seven turnovers in the fourth quarter. And it’s hard to overcome not getting any shots on goal against a good defensive team.”
*** In Friday’s loss, the Cavaliers actually out-shot the Magic – connecting on 49 percent from the floor compared to Orlando’s 39 percent. But the Magic drilled 11 triples to Cleveland’s seven and took 26 free throws to just 10 for the Cavs. The Cavaliers scored a series-high 66 points in the paint, but were once again outrebounded (48-38), including a 15-7 edge on the offensive glass.
Donovan Mitchell Highlights | Cavs at Magic, Game 6 | 5.3.2024
*** Mitchell’s magnum opus was just the second 50-point Playoff performance in Cavs history – just behind LeBron James, who went for 51 in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals vs. Golden State. Friday’s performance was Mitchell’s fifth postseason game of at least 40 points, and he became just the fourth player in team history to go for 40-plus, joining James, Kyrie Irving and Brad Daugherty.
*** Mitchell talked postgame about his approach on Friday night. “Be aggressive, just try to continue to force my way into the game. It hasn’t been the best series for me, but especially a game like this, I felt like I did a solid job of that. Just trying to find ways to make my imprint on the game. That was the mindset, just come out and try to put them away.”
*** Darius Garland posted his second straight solid offensive game – finishing with 21 points, his second straight topping the 20-point plateau, going 10-of-17 from the floor, adding seven boards, a game-high five assists and a pair of steals.
*** After the game, Garland (succinctly) summed up Friday’s fateful fourth quarter in which no player besides Mitchell canned a shot. “The ball got stagnant. And we stopped being aggressive offensively.”
*** Jarrett Allen was forced to miss his second straight game with bruised ribs. With their center on the shelf, the Cavaliers started Marcus Morris Sr., who chipped in with 12 points off the bench in Game 5 but never found his rhythm in Game 6 – going 1-of-7 from the floor for two points, but still grabbed a team-high-tying eight rebounds.
*** Evan Mobley was a beast on the defensive end once again – swatting five Magic offerings on the night, one more than Orlando as a team. But he struggled offensively with just three points on 1-of-7 shooting, adding six boards and a steal in the loss. Through the first six games of the First Round series, Mobley has blocked at least two shots in five of them.
*** Max Strus was the only other Cavalier in double-figures, chipping in with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-5 from beyond the arc, while grabbing eight rebounds. Friday was the fourth game in the series that Strus has finished with at least six boards.
*** Cleveland’s bench struggled again on Friday night – with Isaac Okoro leading four reserves with four points on 2-of-5 shooting. Aside from Okoro, the other Cavalier reserves shot just 2-for-9 from the floor.
*** Orlando featured three starters with at least 20 points, led by Paolo Banchero’s 27. Franz Wagner added 26 points off his own and Jalen Suggs finished with 22 – going 6-of-13 from long-range in the win.
*** The Cavs and Magic do it one more time with both of their seasons on the line when they square off for Game 7 on Sunday afternoon at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The winner moves on to face Boston in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.