The Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers will play Game 7 of their first-round series in the NBA playoffs, despite Donovan Mitchell scoring 50 points for the Cavs.
Franz Wagner scored 26 points (11 of 11 from the free throw line) and Jalen Suggs added 22 (6 of 13 from 3-point range) as the Magic attempt to win their first playoff series since the 2009-10 season. season.
Game 7 in Cleveland is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Fortune seemed to smile on the Magic from the beginning. That was best demonstrated on a play midway through the first quarter. Suggs dove to prevent a ball from going out of bounds on the sideline and passed it to Wendell Carter Jr.
Carter then tried to pass the ball to Suggs to reset the play, but he nearly threw it out of reach. Suggs tracked the ball near midcourt and when he noticed Marcus Morris Sr. far away from him, he fired a long 3-pointer from the midcourt logo that went in.
Orlando had a significant advantage in three-point shooting in the first quarter, going 4 of 10 from behind the arc. Meanwhile, the Cavs continued to struggle with three-point shooting, going 1-for-8.
Franz Wagner also started strong, looking like he was going to have a dominant game after scoring 14 points in the first quarter.
Donovan Mitchell almost did it alone
Mitchell did everything he could to prevent the Cavs from playing a Game 7. He almost made sure the series didn’t come back to Cleveland all by himself, scoring 50 points. Mitchell scored the final 22 points for the Cavs, including all of his fourth-quarter points.
With those 50 points, Mitchell became the second player in Cavaliers team history to score that many in a playoff game, joining LeBron James, who scored 51 in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals.
Mitchell’s ability to briefly finish the game looked doubtful when he went to the locker room with a knee injury about midway through the third quarter. He suffered a bone bruise in the same left knee in early March that sidelined him for three games.
Injuries appeared to become an issue for the Cavs, with Evan Mobley spraining an ankle in the second quarter and Jarrett Allen missing his second straight game with a bruised rib. However, Mitchell returned after a brief absence and scored 13 points in the third quarter.
Darius Garland scored 21 points to help Mitchell. Unfortunately, the rest of the Cavs team only scored 25 points in the Game 6 loss.
Game 7 of the Magic-Cavaliers series is scheduled for Sunday in Cleveland. Kickoff is at 1 pm ET with telecast on ABC.