Game Recap: Cavs vs Magic

*** All good things must come to an end, and on Sunday afternoon – in the final game before a five-game West Coast trip – the Wine & Gold saw their 16-game win streak snapped by a feisty Magic squad, who rallied back to hand Cleveland the 108-103 loss, its first defeat since early last month. 

The Cavs cruised to a 38-point first quarter and it looked like they’d continue rolling from there. But the Magic were the more physical squad over the final three quarters – erasing a 13-point second-half deficit and capitalizing on Cleveland’s 12 turnovers after intermission. 

Cleveland took a three-point lead with just over two minutes to play on Jarrett Allen’s dunk, but Orlando’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope tied the contest with a triple on the next possession. Max Strus’ bomb with just over a minute to play gave the Cavs a one-point edge following a pair of three throws from Franz Wagner, but those would be Cleveland’s final points of the afternoon – with the Magic closing the affair with the game’s final six points. 

Five Cavaliers scored in double-figures, but Clevland shot just 25 percent from long-range and 65 percent from the stripe. Orlando, one of the league’s worst three-point shooting squads, went 42 percent from beyond the arc and attempted 34 free throws in the win. 

“We obviously did not shoot it well, but I told the guys in the locker room, listen man, 16 in a row,” said Kenny Atkinson following the contest. “We had a couple of these games where they went our way. This is one that didn't. Shooting was definitely a part of it, and we did not shoot the ball well enough to win.”

*** Donovan Mitchell bounced back from a slow start, scoring 16 of his team-high 23 points after half – going 9-for-28 from the floor overall, including 3-of-14 from deep. Jarrett Allen followed up with his 37^th double-double of the season, finishing with 20 points and a team-best 12 rebounds. 

Darius Garland pitched in with 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting and Max Strus rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures with 10 points. Ty Jerome was the only reserve in double-figures – adding 12 points, going 5-of-9 from the floor in the loss. 

“A lot went wrong, but I mean, I feel like we did everything that we could,” lamented Jarrett Allen after the loss. “We missed a lot of shots. We missed a lot of wide-open stuff. But before that, screening, getting open, offensive rebounding – we did every single thing we could to put ourselves in a position to win.”

*** The Cavaliers hit the road for the next five as they wrap up their final West Coast junket of the year beginning on Tuesday night in Tinseltown, taking on Tyronn Lue’s Clippers before taking on the Kings the following evening in Sacramento. On Friday night, it’s a matchup against Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and the Suns followed by a visit to Salt Lake City next Sunday afternoon. Cleveland closes out the roadie next Tuesday night in Portland. The Cavs next home matchup comes on Friday night, March 27 when they welcome the Spurs to Rocket Arena.