Paolo Banchero collected 31 points and 14 rebounds to fuel the host Orlando Magic to a convincing 121-83 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Banchero sank four 3-pointers and had seven rebounds on the offensive glass for the fifth-seeded Magic, who trail 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Saturday afternoon in Orlando.
The 38-point loss is the worst in Cleveland postseason history.
“He’s a winner … and that’s who he is,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said of Banchero. “I challenged him today to go after some more rebounds and he did it, and that’s the thing about him. He’s going to find whatever way necessary to help his team win. Whether that’s scoring, rebounding, defending, whatever that looks like, that’s the young man that he is.”
Jalen Suggs scored 24 points after making 9 of 11 shots from the floor and 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Franz Wagner added 16 points, eight assists and five rebounds in the rout.
The Magic scored 35 of the 51 points in the third quarter to seize a 96-61 lead. Orlando mustered just 83 and 86 points, respectively, in the first two games of the series.
The Magic shot a robust 51.1 percent from the floor. They also enjoyed a 51-32 edge in rebounds and committed just eight turnovers.
Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen collected 15 points and eight rebounds and Caris LeVert added 15 points off the bench. Donovan Mitchell recorded 13 points and seven assists for the fourth-seeded Cavaliers, who made just 8 of 34 shots (23.5 percent) from 3-point range.
LeVert sank a 3-pointer to give Cleveland a 21-18 lead with 3:13 remaining in the first before Orlando answered with a 13-0 run to end the quarter. Suggs made a three-point play before Banchero and Cole Anthony converted from beyond the arc in that sequence.
“I just wanted to come out and be aggressive,” Banchero told Bally Sports Florida. “Going down 3-0 is a lot different than being down 2-1, so we knew we had to get this game and we have to do it again on Saturday.”
The Magic extended their lead to 21 points at 55-34 after Jonathan Isaac sank a 3-pointer to cap his team’s 10-0 run. Mitchell made a 3-pointer and a pair of shots from the interior late in the second quarter to trim Orlando’s lead to 61-45 at halftime.
Suggs sank a 3-pointer and a layup as the Magic scored 11 of the first 15 points in the third quarter to take a 72-49 advantage. Orlando finished the quarter on a 20-5 run to end any realistic doubt of a comeback.
“When things started bombarding us a little bit, it got difficult, shots weren’t going,” Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “I think things just started to pile on. I don’t think, by any means, they didn’t try to respond to it, it’s just things kept not going our way.”
–Field Level Media
