Cleveland star Donovan Mitchell shined despite offensive struggles from the Cavaliers in their first-round playoff tie against the Orlando Magic.
Cleveland Star Shines Despite Team Offensive Struggles
As Wendell Carter Jr. of the Orlando Magic makes the second of his free throws to increase the lead to an unassailable seven points, it’s incredibly clear this tight affair will go down to the last game in Cleveland.
Donovan Mitchell scored 50 points in 42 minutes of action. It ultimately proved not enough to pull off what would have been the first road win of the series.
He made 22 of his 36 shot attempts from the field. He was uncharacteristically poor from the free-throw line, scoring just three of his six attempts. Neither was he accurate from three (3-of-9), but he found other ways to impact the game: four rebounds, four assists, and a block.
He couldn’t get help from his teammates on the night; only Darius Garland (21, 10-of-17) and Max Strus (10, 4-of-7) scored in double figures. They struggled from the three-point line as a team, making just seven (25%) of their attempts.
The Magic got 20+ points from their young star trio of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs to stave off elimination and force a game seven. Amazingly, this will be the first seven-game series of the 2024 NBA playoffs.
Orlando got to the free-throw line at will, going 22-for-26 from the charity stripe. They made four more three-pointers (11) than the Cavs. They have dominated Cleveland at home, winning by an average of about 23 points over their three home games.
Offensive Struggles for the Cavs
The Cavaliers have struggled to score points in the playoffs, averaging a measly 94.2 points per game. That is good for the third-worst among the 16 teams that appeared in the playoffs.
Coming into this series, the Cavaliers had scored 15 more threes than the Magic during their regular-season meetings. The Magic have flipped that narrative on its head, scoring 10 more threes in the playoffs.
Dean Wade’s absence poses an intriguing “what if” question. Perhaps the shooting gap is not this large? He had a career year, averaging 39% from three on 3.7 attempts per game in 20 minutes.
Jarrett Allen has been a consistent performer for Cleveland. He’s their second-highest scorer, averaging about 17.0 points and 13.8 rebounds. A rib contusion has kept him out for the previous two games. The Cavaliers have struggled on the rebounds in his absence. They have been out-rebounded by 14 boards during this two-game span. That difference has mostly been felt offensively, where the Magic have a seven-rebound advantage.
The Last Word
Staring into the abyss of a first-round elimination, Mitchell’s superhuman effort might not be enough with the offensive struggles the Cavaliers possess. The organization has to ask tough questions even if they beat the Magic. They could face the Boston Celtics in the next round. There’s nothing to suggest that the Cavaliers can pull off an upset with how they struggle to shoot the three.
Mitchell has been linked with a trade elsewhere (the Heat, 76ers, and Knicks). In the NBA, where there’s smoke, there’s probably fire. Even if they don’t trade Mitchell, they must make roster changes. Perhaps figure out trade packages around Evan Mobley, Garland, or Allen. One thing is for certain: things need to change.
