Cavaliers Take Game 1 Over Magic – It turned out to be a game of experience versus the new kids on the block in a 90’s style slugfest. Both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic wanted to throw the first punch in their first-round NBA playoff series.
Well, the Cavaliers succeeded, landing the initial knockout punch Saturday afternoon with a 97-83 victory over the Magic in Game 1 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Tipoff for Game 2 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series between the fourth-seeded Cavs (48-34 in the regular season) and fifth-seeded Magic (47-35), separated by only one game, is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers will look to take a strangle hold, with searing memories of last season’s 4-1 first-round series loss to Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks hanging over coach J.B. Bickerstaff and the team. That experience left a bitter taste in the Cavs mouths, who came into these playoffs with an edge and more confident, with more depth, at least on paper, and relatively healthy after a regular season filled with injuries.
“Last year is over with,” Donovan Mitchell said. “We flushed that. This is who we are, and this is who we expect to be.”
Cleveland’s All-Star guard Mitchell did not let the left knee bone bruise he sustained back in February slow him down or affect him. He led all scorers with a game-high 30 points in Game 1. Center Jarrett Allen and forward Evan Mobley contributed 16 points each.
All-Star forward from Duke, Paolo Banchero, paced the Magic with 24 points, but his teammates did not come to the party until it was too late. Forward Franz Wagner added 18.
“We didn’t score enough,” Banchero said. “Just shots weren’t falling, but I thought we got good looks. We missed a lot of free throws (19 of 30) and didn’t make 3s (8 of 37). There were a lot of things we could have done a lot better.”
Neither team enjoyed their most efficient day from the field. The Cavs finished 36-of-81 shooting (44.4%), and 8 of 30 from 3-point land. As stated previously, the Magic were even worst, 28-of-86 shooting (32.6%) from the floor and 8 of 37 from distance.
The Cavs started the game on fire from beyond the arc, knocking down 5 of 5, but things took a turn for the worst when they bricked 18 in a row until point guard Darius Garland nailed one to end the drought and give them a 76-58 lead with 11:41 remaining in the fourth. Mitchell’s 3-pointer with 4:44 left in the final frame, was the final nail in the coffin, boosting the Cavs to an 88-74 advantage.
Suffocating defense and crashing the boards were the keys to the Cavaliers weathering their woes on offense.
The Cavs outrebounded the Magic 54-40. Allen was a man amongst boys, collecting a game-high 18 rebounds. Mobley tallied 11.
The Cavaliers led the Magic by 12, 53-41, at the break, with Mobley’s 16 first-half points leading the way, but Cleveland could not hit the broadside of a barn to start the second half.
The Cavs could only register a miniscule two points in the initial six minutes of the third quarter. On the injury front, Garland received treatment on his bothersome back in the early stages of the second half. However, he fought through it and returned and finished with 14 points.
Cleveland had their lead cut to four points in the third quarter twice. But Mitchell helped them regroup with seven third-quarter points, and they gained a 73-58 advantage entering the fourth quarter.
More importantly for the Cavaliers, they held on for a wire-to-wire win.
Embed from Getty ImagesAnd…
Timberwolves Take Down Suns in Game 1 – In front of a sellout enthusiastic crowd at Target Center, the Minnesota Timberwolves played and partied like it was 1999 and it was the Anthony Edwards show.
The Timberwolves took a 1-0 lead in their best of seven 1st Round series against the Phoenix Suns following a 120-95 shellacking on Saturday. Edwards led everyone with a game-high 33 points while the Suns’ Kevin Durant was not too shabby with 31 of his own.
Game 2 will be on Tuesday, April 23.
Physicality was the name of the game from the outset, and even in Game 1 of the series, things between the two sides got contentious from the start.
The Suns led by the slimmest of margins, 28-27, going into the second quarter thanks to a buzzer-beating three from Royce O’Neale. Durant was his usual efficient self, pacing all players with 11 points during the opening 12 minutes of action while the Timberwolves’ emphasized crashing the boards with13 rebounds, nearly doubling the Suns seven to kick things off.
“We were moving the basketball well. … Gotta do a better job on [Anthony] Edwards in transition – definitely the head of the snake in transition, iso, etc,” said Suns coach Frank Vogel in his between quarter interview.
The Wolves slowly but surely put their foot on the gas pedal and took control of the game after Durant and the rest of his teammates went cold to begin the second quarter, establishing a ten-point advantage in large part due to strong play from their bench.
The Timberwolves took a 10-point lead, 61-51, into the locker with plenty of help from their reserves who put up 21 points compared to Phoenix’s six. Minnesota led 16-2 on second-chance points while the Suns failed to score in transition in the first half.
Minnesota lost forward Kyle Anderson to a hip pointer while the Suns also saw Grayson Allen (ankle) exit the game.
The Timberwolves dictated pace and play for the first two quarters and it was much of the same for the next 24 minutes.
Edwards, who was forced out of action to end the second because of three fouls, erupted for 18 points in the third quarter, extending Minnesota’s lead to 20 points heading into the final quarter, 92-72.
The Wolves closed the third on a 19-4 run while the Suns looked defeated in every phase.
The sluggishness from Phoenix extended to the fourth, where Minnesota kept the Suns out of reach until the final buzzer. The Suns called off the dogs with just over three minutes left, emptying the bench and conceding victory.
The Suns were anemic from downtown, burying just nine of 28 three-point attempts on the day.
The Timberwolves’ bench played a critical role in the win over Phoenix, which was led by Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s 18 points and four steals.
Other major contributors for Minnesota include Rudy Gobert (14 points, 16 rebounds) and Karl-Anthony Towns (19 points, seven rebounds, four assists).
Devin Booker notched 18 points while Bradley Beal poured in 15. Royce O’Neale scored 14 of the Suns’ 18 bench points. Phoenix was crushed on the glass, 52-28 on the day.
It was a statement game from the Timberwolves, who set the tone early and never looked back after trailing in the first. The Suns never seemed to have an answer for anything Minnesota did, and Vogel certainly has his work cut out for him in the next 48 hours.
