AP – It took Donovan Mitchell’s magnificence, a historic comeback and plenty of grit for the Cavaliers to escape the first round. It will take even more to go any further.
Cleveland avoided a second straight first-round playoff knockout – and a potential doomsday scenario for the organisation by overcoming an 18-point deficit yesterday to beat the Orlando Magic 106-94 in Game 7.
The Cavs, who turned some early boos into deafening roars at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, had little time to celebrate their first series win since 1993 without a certain NBA career scoring leader from nearby Akron on their roster.
The page had to be turned quickly. Number one seed Boston Celtics next.
But before they began focusing on the Celtics ahead of Game 1 tomorrow at TD Center, the Cavs savored a victory that was in many ways a microcosm of a season filled with injuries, highs, lows and doubt.
“We showed a lot of fight,” said Caris LeVert, who came off the bench and scored 15 points.
“We showed what we’ve been showing all year long. We just kept fighting. We’ve been there several times this year, not just games, just as a unit. We’ve been banged up. We’ve been injured. But we got a next-man-up mentality and we just never quit.”
With centre Jarrett Allen missing his third straight game because of a badly bruised rib, Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff had to juggle his lineup and rotation, something he was forced to do on an almost daily basis this season.
But then just minutes in, the Cavs appeared to be in major trouble, and a year dedicated to erasing the painful memory of last year’s five-game flameout against the New York Knicks would be for nothing.
The Cavs were being outplayed by the young and playoff-untested Magic, who led by 21-year-old sensation Paolo Banchero, pushed their lead to 47-29 midway through the second quarter.
