Cavaliers 107, Magic 96: Donovan Mitchell makes threes, Magic do not

Dec 3, 2022 - 3:04 AM

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Donovan Mitchell nearly made more threes than the Orlando Magic during the Cavs’ 107-96 win on Friday.

The Magic opened the game by making their first five shots, which included Markelle Fultz converting a floater and a drive to the basket. But Mitchell helped keep pace by scoring 10 of the Cavs first 13 points. A three by Mitchell capped an 14-2 Cleveland run that opened a 22-15 lead. Mitchell finished with 16 points in the first on 6-for-8 shooting.

The Magic still outshot the Cavs in the quarter, shooting 58.8 percent in the quarter. But they committed six turnovers, three of which were by Bol Bol, to make things easy for Cleveland. Paolo Banchero had nine points in the first, including a three-point play late in the first that make it a one-possession game.

After falling behind by nine early in the second, the Magic cut the deficit to one on Moe Wagner’s layup off a feed from Fultz. But Mitchell responded with another three, his fourth of the half, and his teammates joined in with some makes from long-range to help send the Cavs into the half with a 54-47 lead.

The Magic shot 54.3 percent in the half, compared to 45.7 for the Cavs, which made nine attempts from three to the Magic’s three. Orlando also turned the ball over 11 times in the half.

The Magic shooting cooled off in the third while the Cavs shot 63.2 percent in the quarter. Mitchell made all three of his attempts from long distance and scored 13 in the quarter, powering an 11-0 run that gave Cleveland an 82-62 advantage late in the third.

Threes in the opening minutes of the fourth by Caleb Houstan, Cole Anthony and Franz Wagner helped pull the Magic within 89-78 within eight minutes remaining. A three-point play by Franz Wagner sparked a 9-0 run that made it 97-89 with 3:37 to go. But Evan Mobley answered with a three to push the lead back to 11. A Franz Wagner three was then canceled out by a Darius Garland lead to maintain the double-digit lead and the Cavs closed is out from there.

Mitchell finished with 34 points on 12-for-21 shooting, going 7-for-11 from three. He nearly singlehandedly outshot the Magic from deep, with Orlando going 8-for-23. The Jazz overall made 16 of 42 three-point attempts en route to getting their seventh win in nine games.

It was the seventh straight loss for the Magic. Banchero had 22 points, five rebounds and four assists. Franz Wagner, who through the first three quarters had been held to two points on 1-for-7 shooting, scored 14 points in fourth to finish with 16 in the game. Moe Wagner, making his first start of the season, added 16 points and nine rebounds.

Fultz finished with 10 points, six assists and six rebounds in 30 minutes. Anthony had 19 points off the bench on 7-for-11 shooting to go along with six rebounds.

The Magic complete a difficult back-to-back on Saturday when they head to Toronto to take on the Raptors.