Beede’s Breakdown: How Magic bounced back at home to dominate Cavs in Game 3
The booming voice of public address announcer Paul Porter filled the air.
The confetti fell down on the court inside Kia Center.
The fans stood in ovation for the Magic.
Orlando had done it.
Behind a game-high 31 points from Paolo Banchero, the Magic overcame back-to-back low-scoring losses at Cleveland and dominated the Cavs at home 121-83 to cut the deficit to 2-1 in the first-round playoff series between the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds in the East on Thursday.
In the process, Banchero (21 years, 165 days) became the the second-youngest player in NBA history to debut the postseason with three consecutive 20-plus point games. He trails only LeBron James (21, 119 days).
This time around, however, Banchero had much-needed help when Jalen Suggs (24 points) made three triples to go with 4 rebounds, 3 assists and steals. Franz Wanger had 16 points and 8 assists while Markelle Fultz added 11 points off the bench.
But the work doesn’t stop. It can’t stop if the Magic want to further extend the series.
Orlando hosts Game 4 on Saturday (Bally Sports Florida/TNT, 1) and looks to avoid falling down 3-1 before heading back to Cleveland on Tuesday for Game 5.
In 281 tries, only 13 teams have ever come back from a 3-1 deficit.
Lineup change
After starting Jonathan Isaac in the first two contests, coach Jamahl Mosley went back to Wendell Carter Jr. for Game 3.
His most successful starting lineup during the regular season went 14-3 when Carter, Suggs, Wagner, Banchero and Gary Harris started together.
Once it was made clear in Cleveland that starting Isaac wasn’t going to work the way Mosley intended — the Cavs outrebounded the Magic by 14 in the Game 1 and 7 in Game 2 — Mosley felt the need to return to what worked previously.
And the decision paid off.
Although Carter only grabbed 5 rebounds in the third meeting, his impact went beyond the stat sheet. The Magic center helped box out Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley while setting stronger screens compared to Isaac.
The Magic (51) outrebounded the Cavs (32), and that included 14 offensive rebounds.
Strong start
The change in the starting five made a difference but so did Orlando’s ability to weather the storm early and play with patience.
The Magic missed their first six triples before Wagner and Suggs drilled back-to-back 3s five minutes into the first quarter.
From there, the floodgates opened as Wagner and Banchero each had 10 points in the opening frame and Orlando totaled 31 for a 10-point lead.
The Magic only had 26 points in the first quarter of Game 1 and 18 to begin Game 2.
On Thursday, however, Orlando used a 28-11 to end the first and the Cavs never recovered.
Anthony’s action
Following a scoreless Game 2 and only 4 points in Game 1, Magic guard Cole Anthony pieced together 10 off the bench in 16 minutes.
That included 8 points in the second quarter when Anthony found his spots for pull-up jump shots and attacked the paint searching to score.
His performance was part of a larger effort by Orlando’s all-bench unit (Anthony, Fultz, Joe Ingles, Isaac and Moe Wagner) that opened the second quarter and held its own before Mosley began to trickle back in his starters.
In the end, the Magic’s reserves outscored Cleveland’s 46-36. Orlando’s bench totaled 39 points combined in Games 1 and 2.
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
