Magic forward Paolo Banchero drives past Cavaliers forward Marcus Morris Sr., left, in the second half of Game 6 of their first-round series on Friday in Orlando, Fla. John Raoux/Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. — Paolo Banchero scored 10 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Orlando Magic overcome Donovan Mitchell’s 50 points and hold off the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-96 on Friday night to force a decisive Game 7 in their first-round NBA playoff series.
Three nights after scoring 39 points on 14-of-24 shooting in a one-point road loss that left the Magic on the brink of elimination, the 21-year-old Banchero put his team on his back and carried them to their biggest win in years.
Franz Wagner had 26 points and Jalen Suggs made six 3-pointers and finished with 22 for the Magic, who pulled away in the closing minutes, with Banchero hitting a 3-pointer that put Orlando ahead for good at 92-89.
Mitchell was magnificent for Cleveland, scoring all of his team’s 18 points in the fourth quarter. Darius Garland finished with 21, but ultimately the Cavs were unable to overcome poor 3-point shooting (7 of 28).
Game 7 is Sunday in Cleveland, where the Cavs won Games 1, 2 and 5 and clearly play better than on the road, where they’ve dropped seven straight playoff games dating to a LeBron James-led Game 7 victory at Boston in the 2018 Eastern Conference finals.
The Cavs haven’t won a postseason series since then. The Magic, in the playoffs for the first time since 2020, are seeking their first series win in 14 years.
Orlando took Games 3 and 4 by a combined 61 points, yet came out Friday night with a slightly different look, inserting forward Jonathan Isaac into the starting lineup and shifting Wagner from forward to guard to put four 6-foot-10 players on the floor at the same time.
With center Jarrett Allen out for the second consecutive game because of a bruised rib, the Cavs slid forward Evan Mobley to center and started Marcus Morris Sr. after the 34-year-old came off the bench to score 12 points and elevate Cleveland’s level of physicality.
The Cavs trailed 53-49 at the half and were fortunate the deficit wasn’t larger, considering they had misfired on 13 of 14 3-point attempts.
With an aggressive Mitchell and Garland seemingly driving to the basket at will, Cleveland converted 22 of 32 shots inside the arc and wound up shooting 50% overall (23 of 46) before the break to stay close.
They finally heated up from long range in the third quarter, with Mitchell and Max Strus making 3-pointers during a 17-4 surge to begin the period. The trailed by as many as nine before closing within 78-73 leading into the fourth quarter.
NOTES
Darvin Ham, who led the Lakers to the Western Conference final in his first season as their coach, was fired on Friday after a first-round exit this season. Jack Dempsey/Associated Press
LAKERS: Los Angeles fired Coach Darvin Ham after just two seasons in charge.
The Lakers announced on social media that they were dismissing Ham four days after their season ended with a first-round playoff loss to Denver in five games.
Ham led Los Angeles to the Western Conference finals less than a year ago in his first season as an NBA head coach. He had replaced Frank Vogel, who was fired by the Lakers exactly 18 months after winning the franchise’s 17th championship in 2020.
Ham had two winning seasons and made two playoff appearances, but that’s not enough with the championship-focused Lakers. With little time left to capitalize on the concurrent presence of Anthony Davis and 39-year-old LeBron James – who hasn’t decided whether to return for his 22nd NBA season – the Lakers are resetting their coaching staff once again instead of blaming General Manager Rob Pelinka for his roster construction.
BUCKS: Milwaukee guard Pat Beverley indicated a video showing him throwing a ball at a spectator on Thursday was misleading but later added that “I have to be better.”
Cameras showed Beverley sitting on the bench and tossing a ball into the stands and hitting a fan with about 2 1/2 minutes left in Milwaukee’s 120-98 Game 6 loss at Indiana that knocked the Bucks out of the playoffs. After a different fan threw the ball back to Beverley, who was holding his arm out for it, the Bucks guard fired it back at that spectator.
Beverley declined to answer a question about it while speaking to reporters after the game. But he replied to an X post that showed the video by saying, “Not Fair at all. Exchanged between a fan and our ball club all night. We warned and asked for help all night. Not fair.”
Six hours later, Beverley issued another X post saying, “But I have to be better. And I will.”
Also during his postgame media session, Beverley wouldn’t allow a particular journalist to ask a question after discovering that she didn’t subscribe to his podcast. He told her to get her microphone out of his face and then eventually asked her to leave the interview circle.
The journalist was identified on social media as ESPN producer Malinda Adams. She tweeted Friday that Beverley called her and apologized.
“I appreciate it and accept it,” she said in her tweet. “The Bucks also reached out to apologize.”
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