NBA highlights on May 5: Mitchell guards Cavs' home in Game 7

The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic 106-94 in Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoffs at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sunday, winning the series 4-3. They will play the Boston Celtics in the Eastern semifinals from Game 1 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, on Tuesday.

Both teams won all three of their home games before Sunday's win-or-go-home contest. Though the Cavaliers had the chance to wrap the series up at home, they had a poor start after being overwhelmed by the Magic in size, power, athleticism and momentum. Paolo Banchero kept found a mismatch in smaller defenders and then bullied his way into the paint. The Cavaliers' defensive priority was to have Evan Mobley drop back to protect the rim. That meant the Magic could easily set open shots both in the mid-range and from downtown.

The Magic shot 7-for-16 outside the 3-point line in the first half, not necessarily well enough to shoot to kill, but when Wendell Carter Jr., Moritz Wagner and Banchero all knocked down shots behind the arc, they were punishing hard the Cavaliers' defensive policy. Mobley got three blocks in the first two quarters, but he was constantly on the run for both protecting the paint and switching to guard Banchero. In the end, he failed to do both.

The Magic were very aggressive on the defensive end as well. They switched everything on all Cavaliers but had Jalen Suggs and Gary Harris beat through screens to limit Donovan Mitchell. As the game went on, defenders even tried to deny Mitchell the ball from the logo. They won Game 6 on May 3, but understandably wouldn't want to risk allowing him to get 50 points again.

Mitchell worked hard in the first half, but he struggled to make shots, missing 10 of his 13 field goals (FGs). He went to the free throw line 10 times and scored team-high 15 points in the first two quarters. His back-court All-Star partner Darius Garland went 1-for-6 from downtown, getting only two points, one assist and two turnovers. By contrast, Banchero had 24 points and eight rebounds in the first half, becoming the second under-22-year-old player in NBA history to get 20+points in half of a postseason game after LeBron James.

The Magic led by 18 points (47-29) after Harris drained a triple at 4:48 in the second quarter. At that moment, the Cavaliers looked very close to falling apart, but they pulled through the danger. Caris LeVert's efforts of constantly charging the paint paid off both in scoring by himself and assisting others for open buckets. The home team cut their deficit to 10 points (53-43) after the first half.

Mitchell increased his individual attacks off the dribble from the third quarter by taking the ball from the back court. The truth is, when he resolved to attack, the Magic couldn't stop him with regular defense. He shot 7-for-9 from the field to get 17 points in this period, outscoring the whole team of the opponents by two. Meanwhile, Max Strus made three triples for the Cavaliers which led 76-68 before the fourth quarter began.

Strus also made surprising defensive contributions. He and Issac Okoro showed more toughness in guarding Banchero in the second half. Though both were at a disadvantage against Banchero in both size and power, they didn't need to shut him down completely. Instead, their job was to slow him down in penetration and, if possible, force him to shoot fadeaway jumpers instead of charging the rim directly. In this way, Mobley could be set free to protect the paint.

Strus and Okoro achieved even better effects with their defense. Banchero missed 11 of his 15 shots in the second half. Moreover, the whole Magic team seemed to have no clue about how to attack when their power and size advantages ceased to work. Their ball-movement often stopped in the wrong place and at the wrong time before resulting in a poor shot or an even poorer pass.

As a result, the Magic committed nine turnovers in the second half. Of course, that problem revealed itself in the second quarter during which they had six turnovers. As one of the youngest teams in today's NBA, they had one of the worst turnover controls in the league. Banchero and Suggs both turned the ball over five times in Sunday's game.

The Magic stopped at nothing to try to shut down Mitchell in the fourth quarter and he made only one of his five shots in this period. Nonetheless, Mitchell did one thing correct and it meant too much for the Cavaliers. He kept passing to Garland, who went 1-for-9 in FGs in the first three quarters, including missing four layups.

When Garland made the 3-pointer from the right corner, assisted by Mitchell, at 5:53 in the fourth quarter, not only did he extend the Cavaliers' lead to 11 points (88-77), he was also finally relieved from the pressure. He found his pace since then and added 10 points in this period. Meanwhile, Mobley began to contribute offensively. He still didn't have the juice to attack off the dribble, but as a seven-footer, he did a good job of finishing next to the hoop by going 3-for-4 in the paint to get seven points.

Sunday's victory meant that the Cavaliers won their first series without LeBron James since 1993. Mitchell scored 89 points in total in Game 6 and Game 7, beating the franchise record of James (81 points) and trailing behind only 90 points by Allen Iverson in NBA history.