Cleveland Cavaliers Battle Back to Clinch Game 5 Victory in Play-off Series Against Orlando Magic

The series in the first round of the play-offs between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic seems to respond to a logical statistic: the home team wins. Tuesday evening, after two defeats in Florida (83-121 and 89-112), the Cavs returned to success and won Game 5, often crucial in a series (because it offers two match points).

It was close for German winger Franz Wagner (14 points on 3 out of 11, 5 rebounds, 6 assists) to overthrow everything, with a penetration 7 seconds from the buzzer. While the locals led by two points (102-100), they were able to count on the extension of their interior Evan Mobley (14 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks) to counter the ball and thus send the men of JB Bickerstaff to victory (104-103).

The meeting was very close, with the two franchises never letting go after the break. If on the Magic side, the American-Italian interior Paolo Banchero most often stood out (39 points at 14 out of 24, 8 rebounds, 4 assists), the Cavaliers notably relied on Donovan Mitchell (28 points at 9 out of 23) and leader Darius Garland (23 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) in order to compensate for the clumsiness of their team in shooting (43.2%). “We really needed a match like that in the play-offs,” noted Garland afterwards. I’m happy that it came down to a counterattack. »

Wagner, in difficulty most of the evening, confided his regret at having attacked Mobley one-on-one: “He pulled off a superb action, it was not a good decision on my part. » Now, the Cavaliers – who were forced to play without their center Jarrett Allen (ribs) – will have to find a way to perform better away on Thursday if they do not wish to play a Game 7 at home. But the statistics are, once again, in their favor: they have never lost a series after leading 2-0 (16 victories).

2024-05-01 05:07:58
#Cleveland #Cavaliers #regain #lead #series #Orlando #Magic