Donovan Mitchell scored 39 points and the Cavaliers overcame an 18-point deficit to win their seventh straight game, 106-94.
Donovan Mitchell's 39 points led the host Cleveland Cavaliers to a 106-94 victory over the Orlando Magic in Game 7 of their first-round series, advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Mitchell, who scored 17 points in the third quarter, made 15 of 17 free throws and had nine rebounds and five assists Sunday. His stellar performance came on the heels of Friday's 50-point performance in Cleveland's 103-96 loss to Orlando.
Caris LeVert scored 15 points off the bench and Max Strus added 13 for the fourth-seeded Cavaliers, who overcame an 18-point deficit to record their fourth series win at home.
With Donovan Mitchell's score and a dramatic advance to the third quarter, @cavs On to the Eastern Conference semifinals! CLE will visit BOS for Game 1 on TNT Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Caris LeVert: 15 points, 5 REB
Max Strass: 13 PTS, 3:00 PM
Paolo Banchero: 38 points, 16 rebounds pic.twitter.com/AFiWODgBPH— NBA (@NBA) May 5, 2024
Cleveland, which won its first playoff series in six years, will face the top-seeded Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the conference semifinals on Tuesday. The Celtics won two of three regular season games.
After the game, Mitchell said, “We can be better.”
“I hate to be that guy. This was a great win, a great series, a great test mentally and physically. But we can beat Boston and we will.” We have to. I'm not going to disrespect Orlando because they're a great team with a lot of great teams. We feel like this is a big thing for us as a group, but we don't really have time to celebrate.”
The Cavaliers won despite playing without All-Star center Jarrett Allen for the third straight game.
Orlando's Paolo Banchero played in Game 7 for the first time in his career and had 38 points and 16 rebounds.
“They ran like hell,” Magic coach Jamal Mosley said of the Cavaliers.
“I think they did a great job of forcing tough shots. Those tough shots and long shots led to runouts. It started to stagnate a little bit. [but] I found something that works.Then we missed a couple [of] Shot, they were able to get out and escape. Similar to the last match, Donovan went downhill quite a bit. ”
Conference semifinals have been decided 👀
2024 #NBAplayoffs Monday TNT powered by Google Pixel continues! pic.twitter.com/oNn1BVcVLm
— NBA (@NBA) May 5, 2024
