The Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off a historic comeback in Game 7 on Sunday to beat the Orlando Magic, 106-94, and advance to the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs. The Magic led by as many as 18 points in the first half, but the Cavs and Donovan Mitchell turned things around for the 12-point victory that sets up Cleveland's second-round date with the top-seeded Boston Celtics. It was the largest Game 7 comeback of the NBA's play-by-play era (since the 1996-97 season).
Mitchell finished with a game-high 39 points on Sunday after going for 50 in Game 6. He scored 17 of those points in the third quarter, which the Cavs won 33-15 to turn a 10-point halftime deficit into an 8-point lead. Mitchell's combined 89 points in the last two games of the series are the most by any Cavaliers play ever in a two-game postseason stretch. LeBron James previously held that franchise record with 86 points.
The loss in Game 7 marked the end of the season for the fifth-seeded Magic. Paolo Banchero had a team-high 38 points in Game 7, and the former No. 1 overall pick was phenomenal in the first half with 24 points. Franz Wagner, who averaged 21 points per game in this series entering Sunday, finished with just 6 points on 1-of-15 shooting.
Here are three things to know about the Cavs' Game 7 win.
1. Mitchell was superb again
Mitchell had a disappointing run in this series. He scored just a total of 31 points in Games 3 and 4 and the Cavs lost both of those games in Orlando. He bounced back with 28 points in a Game 5 win, and he took his scoring to the next level in Games 6 and 7.
After scoring 50 points in a Game 6 loss, Mitchell had a game-high 39 on Sunday. He only made two of his eight 3-point attempts and shot 11 for 27 from the field, but Mitchell got to the free-throw line 17 times in Game 7, earning 15 of his points at the charity stripe. Mitchell also scored 17 points in a crucial third quarter.
His combined 89 points in the last two games were just one point off Allen Iverson's record for most points in Games 6 and 7 in a series. AI scored 90 for the 76ers in 2001.
2. Moving on without LeBron
It had been 31 years since the Cavaliers won a playoff series without LeBron James. The James-less Cavs last won a playoff series in 1993, beating the Nets in the first round. The Cavaliers had four first-round playoff exits between 1993 and James' playoff debut in 2006. They lost again in the first round last year as they made it to the playoffs for the first time since LeBron left the team for the second time in 2018.
The Cavs have a tough task against them, facing the 64-win Celtics in the next round as they try to get to the Conference Finals for the first time since 2018.
"We accomplished one goal and now we have to do it again," Mitchell told reporters "...When they traded for me it wasn't just to win a first-round series."
3. Banchero needed more help
Paolo Banchero's first playoff series did not disappoint. The No. 1 pick of the 2022 NBA Draft scored 25.6 points per game in the series and eclipsed the 30-point mark three times. That includes Sunday's 38-point performance, which featured 24 points in the first half. Banchero was bottled up a bit in the second half on Sunday, but he was not getting much help from his Orlando teammates.
Co-star Franz Wagner had a miserable Game 7. He made one of his 15 attempts from the floor and settled for 6 points. Starting guard Jalen Suggs was not much better. He had 10 points on 2-of-13 shooting. The Magic shot 33.7% from the floor in Game 7, and they averaged 91.5 points per game on the road in the series, losing every game in Cleveland.