Magic dominate the Cavs in game 3 121-83

The Cavs traveled to Orlando to face the Magic in game 3 of their 1st round matchup. The Cavs entered the game leading the series 2 games to none but wound up losing by the largest margin in franchise history.

The 1st quarter the Cavs came out on fire, going up 10-3 in the first 4 minutes. After missing their first 8 shots the Magic put together a 13-3 run to tie the game at 16 and held their first lead during any game in the series.

The Cavs’ shooting prowess cooled as the quarter went on, the 1st quarter ended with the Cavs being outscored 15-5 over the final 4 minutes. The Magic ended the quarter leading 31-21.

The remainder of the first half was all about the Magic and Paolo Banchero.

While defense is what the Cavs hang their hat on, they struggled to slow down Banchero, who scored 10 1st quarter points and added another 9 in the 2nd quarter. The Magic generated plenty of open looks for their team and accumulated 7 assists in the quarter as the Magic cruised to a 61-46 halftime lead.

The Cavaliers were outscored by 16 in the 2nd quarter and committed 4 turnovers resulting in 9 points for the Magic.

The 2nd half wasn’t any better for the Wine and Gold and matched their lowest amount of points in any quarter so far in the playoffs with 16. Banchero was the driving force behind everything the Magic did. He scored 12 points 7 rebounds and 2 assists in the 3 quarter as the Magic lead ballooned to 96-61 by the end of the period.

Down 35 entering the final quarter, the Cavs didn’t get any closer and Coach Bickerstaff emptied his bench and let the reserves close the game.

Donovan Mitchell struggled offensively, scoring 13 points on 6/16 from the floor and was a minus 29 while on the floor. During his postgame press conference he shouldered the blame for the Cavs lackluster offense

“We have to find a way to score and it starts with me.”

Mitchell wasn’t the only starter to struggle, Max Strus only 4 points on 6 shots from the floor while missing all of his 3 point attempts.

After the game Coach Bickerstaff pointed to the 1st quarter as the issue for the Cavs.

“They (Magic) set the tone, they came out and played with a sense of urgency. It started on the offensive glass. We did a good job early defensively, but let them get multiple looks at it, you allow them to catch a rhythm, start to feel the boost. You knew they were going to come out and play hard, but it was the 1st quarter where they set the tone and we were chasing them and we couldn’t find it.”

The Magic win game 3 to now cut the Cavs series lead to 2 games to 1. The Cavs and Magic will play game 4 on Saturday April 27th.