Game ID: 42300135
Orlando Magic @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 8:00 PM ET
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CLE 33 15 27 29 104ORL 23 24 23 33 103
CLE vs ORL ScoutingCLE vs ORL Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
CLE availability going into 4/20 · 5 days' restOUT Wade missed 19 since 3/10, out tonight
OUT Merrill missed 3 since 4/10, returns tonight: 4 min (25% of 17)
BACK Okoro back 4/07 after 4, 27 min since (100% of 26)
BACK Morris Sr. back 4/14 after 2, 19 min since (125% of 15)
BACK Porter Jr. back 4/06 after 4, 4 min since (34% of 13)
BACK Thompson back 4/14 after 3, 12 min since (110% of 11)
CLE availability going into 4/22 · 1 day's restOUT Wade missed 20 since 3/10, out tonight
BACK Okoro back 4/07 after 4, 25 min since (94% of 26)
BACK Merrill back 4/20 after 3, 4 min since (25% of 17)
BACK Morris Sr. back 4/14 after 2, 19 min since (125% of 15)
BACK Thompson back 4/14 after 3, 12 min since (110% of 11)
CLE availability going into 4/25 · 2 days' restOUT Wade missed 21 since 3/10, out tonight
OUT Morris Sr. missed 2 since 4/20, returns tonight: 10 min (63% of 15)
OUT Thompson missed 2 since 4/20, returns tonight: 10 min (94% of 11)
BACK Merrill back 4/20 after 3, 4 min since (25% of 17)
CLE availability going into 4/27 · 1 day's restOUT Wade missed 22 since 3/10, out tonight
BACK Merrill back 4/20 after 3, 13 min since (77% of 17)
BACK Morris Sr. back 4/14 after 2, 14 min since (94% of 15)
BACK Thompson back 4/14 after 3, 11 min since (102% of 11)
CLE availability going into 4/30 · 2 days' restOUT Wade missed 23 since 3/10, out tonight
BACK Merrill back 4/20 after 3, 10 min since (62% of 17)
BACK Morris Sr. back 4/14 after 2, 11 min since (75% of 15)
BACK Thompson back 4/14 after 3, 9 min since (86% of 11)
CLE availability going into 5/03 · 2 days' restOUT Wade missed 24 since 3/10, out tonight
BACK Merrill back 4/20 after 3, 9 min since (55% of 17)
BACK Morris Sr. back 4/25 after 2, 14 min since (90% of 15)
BACK Thompson back 4/25 after 2, 8 min since (76% of 11)
CLE availability going into 5/05 · 1 day's restOUT Allen missed 2 since 4/30, out tonight
OUT Wade missed 25 since 3/10, out tonight
BACK Morris Sr. back 4/25 after 2, 17 min since (112% of 15)
BACK Thompson back 4/25 after 2, 9 min since (85% of 11)
CLE availability going into 5/07 · 1 day's restOUT Allen missed 3 since 4/30, out tonight
OUT Wade missed 26 since 3/10, out tonight
BACK Morris Sr. back 4/25 after 2, 15 min since (99% of 15)
BACK Thompson back 4/25 after 2, 9 min since (81% of 11)
CLE availability going into 5/09 · 1 day's restOUT Allen missed 4 since 4/30, out tonight
OUT Wade missed 27 since 3/10, out tonight
ORL availability going into 4/20 · 5 days' restBACK F. Wagner back 4/12 after 2, 34 min since (103% of 33)
BACK Black back 4/07 after 3, 8 min since (46% of 16)
BACK Bitadze back 4/07 after 3, 5 min since (32% of 15)
BACK Houstan back 4/09 after 4, 8 min since (60% of 13)
BACK Queen back 4/09 after 23, 2 min since (14% of 12)
NEW Gar. Harris 24 to 31 min over the last 4
ORL availability going into 4/22 · 1 day's restBACK F. Wagner back 4/12 after 2, 35 min since (107% of 33)
BACK Houstan back 4/09 after 4, 8 min since (60% of 13)
BACK Queen back 4/09 after 23, 2 min since (14% of 12)
NEW Gar. Harris 24 to 31 min over the last 4
NEW Isaac 16 to 23 min over the last 5
ORL availability going into 4/25 · 2 days' restOUT Black missed 2 since 4/20, returns tonight: 7 min (40% of 16)
OUT Bitadze missed 2 since 4/20, returns tonight: 6 min (37% of 15)
BACK F. Wagner back 4/12 after 2, 36 min since (109% of 33)
NEW Gar. Harris 24 to 32 min over the last 4
NEW Isaac 16 to 23 min over the last 5
ORL availability going into 4/27 · 1 day's restBACK F. Wagner back 4/12 after 2, 35 min since (105% of 33)
BACK Black back 4/25 after 2, 7 min since (40% of 16)
BACK Bitadze back 4/25 after 2, 6 min since (37% of 15)
NEW Gar. Harris 24 to 30 min over the last 5
NEW Isaac 16 to 23 min over the last 5
ORL availability going into 4/30 · 2 days' restBACK Black back 4/25 after 2, 5 min since (33% of 16)
BACK Bitadze back 4/25 after 2, 5 min since (32% of 15)
NEW Isaac 16 to 22 min over the last 5
ORL availability going into 5/03 · 2 days' restBACK Black back 4/25 after 2, 5 min since (33% of 16)
BACK Bitadze back 4/25 after 2, 5 min since (32% of 15)
ORL availability going into 5/05 · 1 day's restOUT Black missed 2 since 4/30, out tonight
OUT Bitadze missed 2 since 4/30, out tonight
OUT Houstan missed 2 since 4/30, out tonight
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Cleveland comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 95 a night and allowing 104, shooting 44 percent and 31 from three, 18 free throws a game; Mitchell at 21 and Allen at 16 a game. Without Wade (23 straight). 2 days' rest. Orlando comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 103 a night and allowing 91, shooting 45 percent and 31 from three, 22 free throws a game; Banchero at 22 and F. Wagner at 22 a game. It has won the glass by 4 a night. 2 days' rest.
So: Orlando wins, on the road, and the game turns on the defense, Orlando allowing 91 a night to Cleveland's 104 and the glass, where Orlando has been plus-4 a night and Cleveland minus-3. Call it Orlando 106, Cleveland 102, Cleveland keeping it close.
4/20 vs ORL 97-83 — CLE notes
CLE won 97-83. CLE shot 44% (36 of 81) to ORL's 33%, 8 of 30 from three, and got to the line 21 times to ORL's 30. CLE turned it over 17 times to ORL's 12, and ORL turned those into 12 steals. The glass went 54-40 for them. Mitchell led with 30 (11 of 21, 3 of 8 from three); Mobley added 16, Allen 16. The hinge was Q1, 33-26: from level to 7 ahead, and the lead reached 20. Strus was the night's best plus/minus at +13.
4/22 vs ORL 96-86 — CLE notes
CLE won 96-86. CLE shot 41% (34 of 82) to ORL's 36%, 12 of 39 from three. Mitchell led with 23 (9 of 22, 2 of 10 from three); Mobley added 17, Allen 16. The hinge was Q1, 30-18: from level to 12 ahead, and the lead reached 22. Allen was the night's best plus/minus at +12.
4/25 @ ORL 83-121 — CLE notes
CLE lost 83-121. CLE shot 39% (32 of 82) to ORL's 51%, 8 of 34 from three. CLE turned it over 14 times to ORL's 8. The glass went 32-51 against them. LeVert led with 15 (5 of 13, 1 of 5 from three); Allen added 15, Mitchell 13. Q4 was theirs, 22-25, but the other 3 periods went 96-61 against them. LeVert's -29 in 29 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/27 @ ORL 89-112 — CLE notes
CLE lost 89-112. CLE shot 47% (34 of 72) to ORL's 56%, 4 of 17 from three. The glass went 29-43 against them. Allen led with 21 (8 of 11, 5 of 7 at the line); Mitchell added 18, Garland 14. Q2 was theirs, 37-29, but the other 3 periods went 83-52 against them. They led by as many as 10. Garland's -27 in 32 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/30 vs ORL 104-103 — CLE notes
CLE won 104-103. CLE shot 43% (38 of 88) to ORL's 46%, 13 of 37 from three, and got to the line 19 times to ORL's 29. Mitchell led with 28 (9 of 23, 1 of 7 from three, 9 of 10 at the line); Garland added 23, Strus 16. The hinge was Q1, 33-23: from level to 10 ahead.
5/03 @ ORL — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Orlando comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 101 a night and allowing 94, shooting 44 percent and 31 from three, 24 free throws a game; Banchero at 25 and F. Wagner at 20 a game. 2 days' rest. Cleveland comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 94 a night and allowing 101, shooting 43 percent and 29 from three, 20 free throws a game; Mitchell at 22 and Allen at 17 a game. Without Wade (24 straight). 2 days' rest.
So: Orlando wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Orlando has been plus-3 a night and Cleveland minus-3 and the defense, Orlando allowing 94 a night to Cleveland's 101. Call it Orlando 107, Cleveland 100.
5/05 vs ORL — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Cleveland comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 94 a night and allowing 105, shooting 44 percent and 28 from three, 18 free throws a game; Mitchell at 26 and Allen at 17 a game. It has lost the glass by 8 a night. Without Allen (2 straight), Wade (25 straight). One day's rest. Orlando comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 105 a night and allowing 94, shooting 46 percent and 33 from three, 23 free throws a game; Banchero at 25 and F. Wagner at 22 a game. It has won the glass by 8 a night. Without Black (2 straight), Bitadze (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: Orlando wins, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where Orlando has been plus-8 a night and Cleveland minus-8 and the defense, Orlando allowing 94 a night to Cleveland's 105. Call it Orlando 106, Cleveland 103, Cleveland keeping it close.
5/07 @ BOS — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Boston comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 108 a night and allowing 92, shooting 47 percent and 38 from three, 21 free throws a game; Brown at 23 and White at 22 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has won the glass by 9 a night. 5 days' rest. Cleveland comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 96 a night and allowing 107, shooting 44 percent and 29 from three, 20 free throws a game; Mitchell at 30 and Garland at 15 a game. It has lost the glass by 10 a night. Without Allen (3 straight), Wade (26 straight). One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Boston has been plus-9 a night and Cleveland minus-10 and the arc, Boston at 38 percent from three to Cleveland's 29. Call it Boston 112, Cleveland 101, Boston by 11.
5/09 @ BOS — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Boston comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 92, shooting 48 percent and 37 from three, 20 free throws a game; Brown at 26 and White at 23 a game. That is 4 straight wins. It has won the glass by 11 a night. Without Porziņģis (2 straight). One day's rest. Cleveland comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 98 a night and allowing 106, shooting 45 percent and 29 from three, 20 free throws a game; Mitchell at 34 and Garland at 17 a game. It has lost the glass by 9 a night. Without Allen (4 straight), Wade (27 straight). One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Boston has been plus-11 a night and Cleveland minus-9 and the defense, Boston allowing 92 a night to Cleveland's 106. Call it Boston 112, Cleveland 102, Boston by 10.
4/20 @ CLE 83-97 — ORL notes
ORL lost 83-97. ORL shot 33% (28 of 86) to CLE's 44%, 8 of 37 from three, and went to the line 30 times to CLE's 21 — 19 points from the stripe to their 17. ORL turned it over 12 times to CLE's 17. The glass went 40-54 against them. Banchero led with 24 (9 of 17, 2 of 7 from three, 4 of 8 at the line); F. Wagner added 18, Suggs 13. Q4 was theirs, 25-24, the deficit cut from 15 to 14, but the other 3 periods went 73-58 against them. Suggs's -13 in 33 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/22 @ CLE 86-96 — ORL notes
ORL lost 86-96. ORL shot 36% (29 of 80) to CLE's 41%, 9 of 35 from three. Banchero led with 21 (9 of 20, 1 of 4 from three); F. Wagner added 18, Harris 14. Q4 was theirs, 21-16, the deficit cut from 15 to 10, but the other 3 periods went 80-65 against them. Ingles's -14 in 14 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/25 vs CLE 121-83 — ORL notes
ORL won 121-83. ORL shot 51% (47 of 92) to CLE's 39%, 13 of 37 from three. ORL turned it over 8 times to CLE's 14. The glass went 51-32 for them. Banchero led with 31 (13 of 26, 4 of 9 from three); Suggs added 24, F. Wagner 16. The hinge was Q3, 35-16: a lead of 16 became 35, and the lead reached 43. F. Wagner was the night's best plus/minus at +32.
4/27 vs CLE 112-89 — ORL notes
ORL won 112-89. ORL shot 56% (43 of 77) to CLE's 47%, 12 of 26 from three. The glass went 43-29 for them. F. Wagner led with 34 (13 of 17, 2 of 3 from three, 6 of 7 at the line); Isaac added 14, Suggs 12. The hinge was Q3, 37-10: ORL came in trailing by 9 and left it ahead by 18, and the lead reached 30. ORL trailed 51-60 at the half and won the second half 61-29. F. Wagner was the night's best plus/minus at +32.
4/30 @ CLE 103-104 — ORL notes
ORL lost 103-104. ORL shot 46% (36 of 78) to CLE's 43%, 9 of 31 from three, and went to the line 29 times to CLE's 19 — 22 points from the stripe to their 15. Banchero led with 39 (14 of 24, 4 of 7 from three, 7 of 8 at the line); F. Wagner added 14, Suggs 13. Q2 was theirs, 24-15, the deficit cut from 10 to 1, but the other 3 periods went 89-79 against them. Anthony's -14 in 12 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/03 vs CLE — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Orlando comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 101 a night and allowing 94, shooting 44 percent and 31 from three, 24 free throws a game; Banchero at 25 and F. Wagner at 20 a game. 2 days' rest. Cleveland comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 94 a night and allowing 101, shooting 43 percent and 29 from three, 20 free throws a game; Mitchell at 22 and Allen at 17 a game. Without Wade (24 straight). 2 days' rest.
So: Orlando wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Orlando has been plus-3 a night and Cleveland minus-3 and the defense, Orlando allowing 94 a night to Cleveland's 101. Call it Orlando 107, Cleveland 100.
5/05 @ CLE — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Cleveland comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 94 a night and allowing 105, shooting 44 percent and 28 from three, 18 free throws a game; Mitchell at 26 and Allen at 17 a game. It has lost the glass by 8 a night. Without Allen (2 straight), Wade (25 straight). One day's rest. Orlando comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 105 a night and allowing 94, shooting 46 percent and 33 from three, 23 free throws a game; Banchero at 25 and F. Wagner at 22 a game. It has won the glass by 8 a night. Without Black (2 straight), Bitadze (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: Orlando wins, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where Orlando has been plus-8 a night and Cleveland minus-8 and the defense, Orlando allowing 94 a night to Cleveland's 105. Call it Orlando 106, Cleveland 103, Cleveland keeping it close.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
ORLCA C. Anthony
FW F. Wagner
GH G. Harris
JI J. Ingles
JI J. Isaac
JS J. Suggs
MF M. Fultz
MW M. Wagner
PB P. Banchero
WC W. Carter Jr.
CLECL C. LeVert
DG D. Garland
DM D. Mitchell
EM E. Mobley
IO I. Okoro
MM M. Morris Sr.
MS M. Strus
SM S. Merrill
TT T. Thompson
ORL/CLE the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Evan Mobley has huge block in final seconds as Cavaliers hold off Banchero, Magic 104-103 in Game 5
CLEVELAND -- — Evan Mobley groaned like an old man — and not a 22-year-old — as he pulled himself out of the chair in front of his locker.
“Long game,” Mobley said.
Long guy, and the Cavaliers needed every inch of the 7-footer.
Filling in at center for the injured Jarrett Allen , Mobley blocked Franz Wagner 's layup in the final seconds and Cleveland survived a scare from Orlando, holding off Paolo Banchero and the Magic 104-103 in Game 5 on Tuesday night to take a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference series.
The Cavs, who were embarrassed by the Magic while losing two games by 61 points in Orlando last week, regrouped inside roaring Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
It took everything they had.
Donovan Mitchell scored 28 points, Darius Garland added 23 and the Cavs got huge lifts from Max Strus and Marcus Morris Sr . to maintain home-court advantage while withstanding 39 points from the sensational Banchero.
“We really needed a game like this in the playoffs,” said Garland, noting how defense has ruled in this series. “I'm glad it was a block.”
After Mitchell missed a jumper with 15.7 seconds left, Wagner drove the left side for a potential game-tying layup but was denied at the rim by Mobley, who smacked the ball off the backboard and was soon mobbed by his teammates.
“It was just surreal,” Mobley said. “It was a big play, and we got it done.”
Wagner regretted challenging Mobley.
“It was not the best decision, and Evan Mobley made a great play," said Wagner, who scored 14 points after getting 34 in Game 4. “The mistakes add up and hurt us at the end of the game.”
From his vantage point, Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley thought Wagner could score.
“I thought he did a great job getting to the basket, and Mobley made a hell of a play at the rim,” Mosley said.
The Cavs, who spent the season trying put last year’s first-round flameout against New York behind them, can advance with a win in Game 6 on Friday in Orlando.
The Magic need a win to salvage their breakthrough season and force a Game 7 in Cleveland on Sunday. Orlando went 29-12 in the regular season at home and are coming off the decisive wins at Kia Center.
After the block, Mitchell was fouled and made two free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining to make 104-100. There wasn't enough time for the Magic, who got a 3-pointer in the final second from Banchero.
Playing in just his fifth postseason game, the 21-year-old Banchero looked like a savvy veteran. He scored 16 points in the fourth and finished 14 of 24 from the field (4 of 7 on 3s) and added eight rebounds.
“I just got lost in the game and really wanted to win because I knew how big it would have been,” Banchero said. "I just wanted to be aggressive, and I think I got a little fatigued at the end.”
Missing Allen with a bruised rib, Cleveland got 16 points from Strus in his best game in the back-and-forth series. Mobley added 14 points and 13 rebounds and Morris, who had played just garbage time in the first four games, gave Cleveland grit and 12 points.
“He always brings that toughness,” Garland said of Morris, who signed with Cleveland on March 18. “A couple buckets, a couple of mid ranges. That’s what he’s known for. He made a big three ball for us in the corner. That was really huge.”
Mitchell, who has been slowed by a left knee injury, scored 14 in the fourth — going 9 of 10 at the line.
With Banchero leading the way, the Magic, who trailed 2-0 before winning big at home, stared down the Cavs and a hostile, towel-waving Cleveland crowd and were poised to pull off their first playoff road win since 2019 at Toronto.
But Mitchell, Garland and Mobley wouldn’t be denied and the Cavs, who are 16-0 when leading 2-0 in a series, stayed perfect at home.
“We got to do it again on the road,” Mitchell said. “We did our job. This doesn’t prove anything. We haven’t proven anything. We haven’t done anything. We got to go down there and handle business.”
The Cavaliers were short-handed as Allen, who has arguably been their best player in this back-and-forth series, sat out with what the team said was a bruised rib. His status for Game 6 is unknown.'
Allen, who is averaging 17.0 points and 13.8 rebounds, took an elbow to the ribs in the second half of Game 4 on Saturday. He practiced Monday but was added to the injury report before being ruled out.
With Allen out, coach J.B. Bickerstaff went with a smaller first five and started Isaac Okoro .
Bickerstaff has been criticized for a lack of adjustments. But he also went deeper into his bench right away, bringing in guard Sam Merrill and both Tristan Thompson and Morris, a 13-year journeyman.
“He’s been through these battles before,” Bickerstaff said of Morris. “He’s tough as nails. He’s not afraid of (stuff) and he’s got big courage like that shot he hit from the corner. There’s not a lot he hasn’t seen, so it was great for us to be able to go to him.”