Los Angeles (AFP)
50 points from Donovan Mitchell were not enough to carry the Cleveland Cavaliers to the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference in the NBA, as the host Orlando Magic turned the tables on them, achieving a 103-96 victory, forcing a decisive seventh game.
Paulo Banquero scored 10 of his 27 points in the final quarter, planting a hat-trick with 3:39 left that put his team ahead during an exciting game.
German world champion Fraz Wagner added 26 points for Orlando, and Jaylen Suggs scored 6 three-pointers, on his way to finishing the game with 22 points.
Cleveland had a 2-0 lead at home, before Orlando responded with a double at home as well, but with a large margin of 30.5 points, then Cleveland snatched a hard-fought victory by a point in the sixth game.
Orlando, fifth in the Eastern Conference, benefited from Mitchell’s discomfort with his knee in the last quarter, but he scored all of Cleveland’s 18 points in this quarter (30-18).
“Obviously Mitchell had a great game, but we stopped them at the right time, the whole group stuck together,” Wagner said.
With the series tied 3-3, Cleveland, fourth in the Eastern Conference, will host the decisive seventh game “Sunday.”
To face the Boston Celtics, the leaders of the Eastern Conference in the regular season, and the winner over the Miami Heat “4-1”, Orlando must become the first team in this series to achieve a victory outside its home, but Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff believes that he can stop them. “We will be ready.” Our young men were good on their home turf, and I don’t think the equation will change.”
Cleveland, which scored an “orphan” attempt out of 14 from beyond the arc in the first half, and seven three-pointers in the entire match, dominated under the basket, to remain close to its host.
He trailed by four points at halftime, but he continued his attack, achieving a distinguished series of 13-0, which gave him a 62-55 lead in the third quarter, and Mitchell left the field, before returning to score a “floating” ball that gave his team an 87-73 lead before the start of the decisive quarter. The two teams exchanged the lead five times in the final quarter, before Banquero equalized, and Orlando embarked on a winning journey.
Bickerstaff believed that losing the ball “turn over” seven times in the last quarter gave Orlando the advantage, and distributor Darius Garland added 21 points for Cleveland, who played in the absence of center player Jarrett Allen, who was injured in his ribs.
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