While they found themselves in the first round of the last playoffs, for a fierce struggle between two teams at the very close level, the horsemen and the magic took fairly opposite directions this season.
On the one hand, the Cleveland of Kenny Atkinson is silent, with an ongoing series of 16 consecutive victories, the longest in the history of the club. On the other, the Orlando of Jamahl Mosley has a hard time recovering from his many injuries, and arrives in Ohio with seven defeats in the last nine games …
The good news, for the Floridians, is thatEvan Mobley is not there. Nevertheless, with De'Andre Hunter and Max Strus in the five major alongside Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen, the riders start very hard, their playmaker making a perfect start to the match. The gap is already +13 (38-25) for Cleveland after a quarter … except that it will be the biggest difference in the match for the locals.
Because behind, Orlando will nibble his first time, taking advantage of Anthony Black's good entry. Even if the Cavs still manage to finish half-time, to iron again at +13 (60-47).
Building in the first half, Franz Wagner finally finds openings in the third quarter, and Orlando still hooked, while the horsemen shift their “role players”, which cannot put in it.
And by dint of not killing the match, Cleveland is exposed to the opposing heist, when there is no longer a difference in the last six minutes. The end of the match is complicated, on both sides, with stars that miss a lot, a lot. But in the game of clumsiness, it is ultimately Orlando who is doing a little better, with a shot halfway by Paolo Banchero which will make the difference. On the other side, Max Strus will however have the opportunity to equalize, just like Donovan mitchell twice thanks to the offensive rebounds of Jarrett Allen. But it was written that the series of victories of Cleveland had to stop at 16 …
What to remember
– End of series for Cleveland. Without Evan Mobley, it was therefore against the Magic that the longest series of victories in the franchise (16) stopped. From now on, the Cavs are going to “road trip” to the west.
-A villain fourth quarter. The horsemen had curled several times on the correctional in recent times, however, still managing to find the solution to win. It almost worked, because one or two outdoor shots at the end of the match could have turned things up on their side. But faced with a solid and physical defense of Orlando, Kenny Atkinson's troop had a lot of trouble finding spaces, with a Mitchell Donovan who was to play the desperate heroes at the end of possession, and who therefore finished the last period at 3/12 in shooting including 1/8 behind the 3-point line …
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How to read the stats? Min = minutes; Shots = successful shots / tempted shots; 3pts = 3-point / 3-point attempted; LF = Successful free throws / tempted free throws; O = offensive rebound; D = defensive rebound; T = total rebounds; PD = assists; FTE: Personal faults; Int = interceptions; BP = lost bullets; CT: against; +/- = Differential points when the player is on the field; Pts = points; EVAL: evaluation of the player calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
