Paolo Banchero scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game NBA unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory on Sunday.Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter.But after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring.The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and Banchero adding seven.Although Cleveland led by a slender 83-82 margin heading into the fourth quarter, and threatened to stretch away once more after Donovan Mitchell’s driving layup made it 91-84, Orlando refused to roll over.Eight more points from Wagner in the final frame and five apiece from Banchero and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope saw the Magic home to silence a 19,432 sellout crowd at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena.Former No.
1 NBA Draft pick Banchero finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists while Wagner added 22 points with eight rebounds and two assists as Orlando improved to 32-37 to remain eighth in the Eastern Conference standings.”It’s a big win,” Banchero said after what was the final leg of a five-game road trip for Orlando.
“We knew this was going to be probably the toughest game of the trip.”To come in here … against one of the better teams in the league, also on a win streak — big win.”Mitchell led the Cleveland scoring with 23 points, with Jarrett Allen finishing on 20 and Darius Garland adding 19.Elsewhere Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a four-game losing streak and dealt a blow to the Phoenix Suns’ hopes of reaching the playoffs after powering to a 107-96 victory.Phoenix, sitting 11th in the Western Conference just outside the play-in places, badly need wins as they attempt to force their way into the post-season reckoning.But 33 points from Luka Doncic and another assured performance from Austin Reaves, who scored 28 points, carried the Lakers to a comfortable victory that left the Suns on 31-37 in the Western Conference standings.In other games, the Philadelphia 76ers scored an upset 130-125 win over the Dallas Mavericks on the road.Quentin Grimes led the scoring for a depleted Sixers line-up missing Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr, finishing with 28 points.
Sun, 16 Mar 2025 22:17:07 GMT
