CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers regained the series lead with a huge 104-103 win in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Evan Mobley took the lead repeatedly in the final two minutes, which included a winner from Franz Wagner in the final seconds.
After the Cavaliers' time in Orlando in Games 3 and 4 couldn't have been much worse, they entered Tuesday without starting center Jarrett Allen (rib bruise). With Allen sidelined, the Cavaliers start Darius Garland at point guard, Donovan Mitchell at shooting guard, Max Strus at small forward, Isaac Okoro at power forward and Evan Mobley at center. Okoro usually plays as a small forward and Mobley is a power forward.
Here's how it all unfolded Tuesday night.
Cavs-Magic stat leaders from Game 5
Mobley finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals for the Cavaliers. Donovan Mitchell finished with 28 points on 9-of-23 shooting, and Darius Garland scored 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go with five assists.
For the Magic, Paolo Banchero scored a career-high 39 points on 14-of-24 shooting with eight rebounds and four assists, but it wasn't enough. Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs scored 14 and 13 respectively, but shot 8-of-25 from the floor.
Paolo Banchero hit a 3-pointer, but it wasn't enough, and the Cavaliers won Game 5 104-103.
Evan Mobley was very lively in the final two minutes on both ends of the court, coming up with two of the biggest buckets and two of the biggest defensive blocks.
The Cavs lead 3-2 and will look to finish off the Magic in Game 6 on Friday night in Orlando.
Evan Mobley took the biggest block by a Cavalier since denying LeBron James in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.
With the Cavaliers up two as time expired, Franz Wagner drove to the hoop but was denied by Mobley at the rim with 3.2 seconds left.
Donovan Mitchell was fouled and made two free throws, giving the Cavaliers a 104-100 lead.
Evan Mobley came up big in the final two minutes.
Mobley hit his first home run to give the Cavaliers a 99-98 lead with 1:45 left.
Banchero then forced a missed 3, and with the Cavaliers leading 100-98, Darius Garland found Mobley under the basket for a layup that gave Cleveland a 102-98 lead with 40.6 seconds left.
Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus were the Cavs' most valuable players tonight, which is why they hold the lead.
But both now have five fouls with 2:52 to go.
The Cavaliers lead 97-96.
The stars on Earth move back and forth.
Paolo Banchero hit some very tough shots tonight and now has a game high of 34 points. His free throw gave the Magic a 95-94 lead.
Donovan Mitchell had a flurry of buckets that gave the Cavaliers the lead on multiple occasions and just found Max Strus for a go-ahead 3-pointer to put the Cavaliers ahead 97-95 with 3:30 remaining.
This game 5 is wild. All the back-and-forth that was expected in this series was poured into the fourth quarter.
Max Struss was just called for his fifth foul of the game with 6:18 left after driving Franz Wagner to the hoop.
Strauss couldn't believe it, so he put his hands on his head and walked away in disbelief. Cavaliers fans can't believe it after watching the replay. JB Bickerstaff looks like he's about to undergo an art procedure.
Very loud and very clear “Referees you suck!” The chant broke out immediately.
Strus was great for the Cavs tonight, but now he's one foul away from being out.
Magic lead 88-85.
There's the Donovan Mitchell that the Cavaliers need.
Trailing by one, Mitchell hit a 3-pointer, allowing the Cavaliers to regain the lead, 85-83, with 8:26 remaining.
Since Garland's first quarter explosion, he's been pretty quiet. It will be interesting to see how Mitchell and Garland handle the offense down the stretch.
And now, after Mortiz Wagner scored two beautiful goals 2 and 1, he leaves the game after landing hard at the other end of the floor. He did not wait until the substitute entered the match before arriving at the bench.
Magic leads Cavaliers 83-82.
Orlando regained the lead thanks to a three-pointer by Joe Ingles.
Paolo Banchero and Darius Garland are tied with 23 points each.
The Cavs may need Donovan Mitchell to find rhythm. He's now just 7-for-17 from the floor with 16 points and has a -15 +/- tonight.
And now Jalen Suggs comes in, jumping a little after a shot attempt in which he was fouled, and appears to be reaching for his right leg. He missed part of the second game due to a left knee injury.
Suggs appears to be fine and staying in the game.
The Cavaliers led 77-74 with 11:12 remaining.
The Orlando Magic announced that guard Gary Harris strained his right hamstring and will not return tonight.
Below is information from the third quarter.
Paolo Banchero was impressive tonight and just delivered a thunderous dunk.
Perhaps also poignantly, he fouled Max Struss, his fourth of the match.
Mitchell and the Struts now have four fouls and will need to be careful as the Cavaliers protect a five-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
This series may have had its first good ending yet.
The Cavaliers opened up a 75-67 lead, thanks in large part to Strus, who didn't have the best series, but just put together a huge stretch in which he directed an offense against Paolo Banchero, nailing a 3-pointer from the corner and then hitting a layup over Mortiz Wagner on back-to-back possessions.
Strus then buried a 3-pointer from several feet behind the 3-point line. It was heat check 3 that was drilled.
Strus now has 13 points, four rebounds and three assists tonight. Most of that production came during the final two minutes.
Donovan Mitchell will need to be careful for the rest of the night.
He was just called for his fourth foul of the game after shoving Jalen Suggs on a rebound. Mitchell is checking in a bit now, as the Cavaliers can't let him get to the No. 5 spot too quickly.
Mitchell remains scoreless in the second half for the second straight game.
Suggs hit one of two free throws to give the Magic a 64-63 lead.
Paolo Banchero took charge of this game.
He hit several faded jumpers along the baseline, an unguardable shot when he makes it, and also buried a jumper to tie the score at 57-57 with 6:50 remaining in the third quarter.
He now has a game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting in addition to six rebounds.
Just a few moments later, Donovan Mitchell was now being examined by the team's coach.
Mitchell stayed on the floor after Paolo Banchero hit a faded jumper to make it 55-51 with 8:50 left in the third quarter.
Replays indicate that Mitchell was hit in the back of the knee by Wendell Carter Jr. while the shot was in the air.
Mitchell was helped and walked to the bench. He was playing with a bruise in his left knee bone.
Mitchell, like Strus, will remain in the game.
With the Cavs on defense, Max Strus tried to fight through a pick but instead received a hard shoulder from Gary Harris in the ribs. Strus was finished for a few moments before returning to his feet. He's still in the game
The Cavaliers are already struggling without Jarrett Allen, who suffered an elbow to the ribs in Game 4.
The Cavaliers opened the third quarter with a 7-2 run to open up a 55-49 lead.
Here is some information about the second quarter.
The Magic went on an 8-0 run in the final 2:51 of the second quarter to cut the Cavaliers' lead to 48-47 at halftime.
All-Star forward Paolo Banchero made two jump shots and guard Jalen Suggs added two field goals as the Magic took the lead before halftime.
Garland and Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 17 and 14 points, respectively, in the first half. Banchero scored a team-high 12 points for the Magic.
After beating the Magic 33-23 in the first quarter, the Cavaliers outscored the Magic 24-15 in the second quarter.
The Cavaliers outscored the Magic 24-14 in the paint through two quarters, but Orlando led the rebounding battle 27-20.
Okoro made a 3-pointer with 3:47 left in the second quarter and provided an assist for Mitchell to set up a fast break on a Strus steal with 3:10 remaining. The sequence allowed the Cavs to go ahead 48-39.
The Cavaliers led 41-37 with 5:35 left in the second quarter. Magic center Moritz Wagner hit a 3-pointer with 5:53 remaining to cut Orlando's deficit to four points.
Mo Wagner and forwards Joe Ingles and Jonathan Isaac provided a spark off the bench. At this point, the Magic had outscored the Cavaliers by six points during the second quarter with these players on the court.
He coached the Cavaliers 14-2 in scoring off the bench.
Here is some information about the first quarter.
The Cavaliers used a barrage of three-pointers to build a 33-23 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Garland made back-to-back 3s with 1:04 and 43 seconds left. Sixth man Caris LeVert then made another 3-steal with 1.2 seconds left.
Garland has a game-high 17 points through one quarter. The Magic led Banchero by eight points.
The Magic took a 17-16 lead as Banchero hit a 3-pointer with 4:16 left in the first quarter, prompting a Cavaliers timeout.
Banchero started the game shooting 2 of 2 from 3-point range.
Mitchell was called for his second foul with 5:50 left in the first quarter. The Cleveland crowd didn't agree with the call, which led to Magic forward Franz Wagner making a pair of foul shots.
With 5:01 remaining in the first quarter, Mitchell exited the game and was replaced by fellow guard LeVert.
The Cavaliers needed to respond by hitting the Magic at the mouth after their debacles in Games 3 and 4. At least so far, they have.
The Cavs fired in with a surge of energy — which J.B. Bickerstaff noted before the game was a must, as the Cavs lost their rhythm in Orlando — and opened up an early 13-6 lead.
Garland has five points. Mitchell and Evan Mobley each have four points. The Cavaliers will need all three to pick up the slack with Allen out.
The Magic had three baskets in the paint, which could be a concern with Allen not in the lineup. But other than that, the magic was cold.
Here is some pre-game information.
On Tuesday, Allen was listed as questionable for Game 5 until he was ruled out about a half-hour before tipoff.
During Bickerstaff's media availability before the game, the coach said Allen will continue to practice and receive treatment and “we'll see” if he plays in Game 5. Well, Allen won't be playing.
Bickerstaff said Allen suffered the injury when he was elbowed in the ribs during Game 4. Bickerstaff said Allen would have worn protective gear if he played on Tuesday. But, once again, Allen won't play.
Allen's absence represents a huge loss for the CAF. He had arguably the best streak among Cleveland players through four games, averaging 17 points on 67.6% shooting from the field and 13.8 rebounds in 32 minutes.
Donovan Mitchell said the Cavaliers don't have time to grieve after their Game 3 and 4 collapse.
We both picked the Cavaliers to win tonight. To see our reasons and final score predictions, please click here. For entertainment purposes only, the Cavaliers are a 4.5 favorite over the Magic in Game 5, according to MGM sportsbook. In what has been mostly a low-scoring series, the game has an over/under total of 200.5.
Game 5 will be held at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Cleveland. Game 6 will be held on Friday in Orlando, although information has not yet been determined.
Cavs-Magic is on Bally Sports Ohio in the Cleveland market. Outside of the Cleveland market, the game is shown on NBA TV.
Cavs Magic TV information: The Cavaliers vs. Magic game tonight in Ohio has been blacked out on NBA TV. Here's how you can watch
Here's our coverage of Game 1:
Here's our coverage of Game 2:
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