CLEVELAND — Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers spent the week saying they were more prepared for this year’s playoffs.
On Saturday, they proved it.
Mitchell got 30 points, Jarrett Allen grabbed 18 rebounds and the Cavs seemed mentally and physically stronger than last year, beating the Orlando Magic 97-83 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series.
“Last year is done,” Mitchell said. “We moved on. This is who we are, and this is what we expect to be.”
Evan Mobley scored 16 points and Darius Garland had 14 for Cleveland, which was easily defeated by the New York Knicks in the 2023 postseason.
That experience affected the Cavs, who entered these playoffs more sure of themselves, deeper (at least on paper) and relatively healthy after a regular season filled with injuries.
Mitchell has been slowed for two months with a left knee bone bruise, but the All-Star guard moved well and looked much more like himself as Cleveland’s only reliable offensive threat for more than two quarters.
In the first half, Mitchell grabbed a loose ball and went in for a soaring dunk that made it clear he was back, and that the Cavs would be much better in his second postseason with Cleveland.
“This is who I am,” he said. “That’s been my message all year. This is why I’m here. I could have had 10 points as long as we got the job done.”
Orlando’s Paolo Banchero scored 24 points in his playoff debut, but had nine turnovers. The Magic shot just 33% from the field — some due to bad shooting, some because of Cleveland’s defense.
“We didn’t score enough,” Banchero said. “Shots just 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.”
Game 2 is Monday at raucous Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, where fans didn’t have much to cheer last spring as the Knicks ended the Cavaliers’ run shortly after it started.
Mitchell slept only two hours Friday night due to nerves — and the 1 p.m. tip — disrupting his pregame routine. But once he got to the arena and heard Phil Collins’ anthemic “In The Air Tonight” blaring, he quickly got into playoff mode.
“He’s ready for the moment and it’s the Game 1s,” Cavs coach J.B. Bickestaff said. “It’s the bigger games during the regular season. He has the ability and the understanding of how important the start is, whatever that may be.”
Like the Cavs a year ago, the Magic lack playoff experience and it showed.
Orlando’s offense was unorganized and Banchero too often tried to force things. He went 9 of 17 from the floor in 41 minutes.
The Cavs have waited all season for a chance to make up for last season’s first-round failure.
And while they were in control for most of the game, they had just seven field goals over an 18-minute stretch and only led 60-56 when Banchero converted a three-point play with 4:24 left in the third.
Mitchell calmed things down with consecutive baskets and Cleveland finished the third with a 13-2 run that sent the Cavs into the fourth leading by 15.
The Magic managed to reduce a 20-point disadvantage to nine in the fourth quarter twice, but the Cavs reacted and Mitchell’s 3-pointer with 4:44 remaining put a stop to any hope of an Orlando comeback.
The teams got into a heated argument in the second quarter, resulting in some trash-talking, finger-pointing, and two technical fouls being issued.
Orlando’s Moritz Wagner pushed an off-balance Mobley as he was falling out of bounds on the baseline, and his clapping annoyed Cleveland’s Isaac Okoro, who pushed Wagner and received a technical foul.
Shortly after, Magic guard Markelle Fultz was given a flagrant-1 for his foul on Georges Niang, who was driving to the basket. Niang didn’t react well, walked towards Fultz, and was given a technical foul for taunting as Cleveland’s crowd cheered.
As if the Cavs needed any reminders, Tom Petty’s 'I Won’t Back Down' played over the arena’s sound system as Fultz’s foul was reviewed.
“It’s the playoffs, right?” said Niang, signed by the Cavs to improve their toughness. “You expect everything to just be amplified to a whole new level. So whatever they were planning on doing, I was expecting it to be as physical as it was, if not more physical.
“That’s just the playoffs. It’s a battle. You may have friends out there, but we’re not friends.”
T-WOLVES 120, SUNS 95
MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Edwards scored 18 of his 33 points in the third quarter and had nine rebounds to lead Minnesota to a significant win over Phoenix in the first round of the playoffs.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 19 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting and Rudy Gobert dominated the lane with 14 points, 16 rebounds and consistent shot-altering defense to help the Wolves secure their first Game 1 home victory in the playoffs in 20 years.
Kevin Durant scored 31 points on 11-for-17 shooting to lead the Suns, whose lack of depth and size were exposed. Devin Booker had 18 points on 5-for-16 shooting and Bradley Beal added 15 points, but the Suns were outrebounded 52-28 and outscored 52-34 in the paint by the Wolves.
Game 2 will take place in Minneapolis on Tuesday before the series switches to Phoenix for Game 3 in the best-of-seven series.
Edwards initiated a 19-4 run to end the third quarter, extending his arms wide to acknowledge the crowd after making some of his biggest shots during that stretch. He stared and taunted Durant, who could only smile at the 22-year-old’s confidence.
With 3:37 remaining, Edwards capped off his performance by stealing the ball from Durant — after Gobert had knocked it loose — and finishing with a slam at the other end.
His excitement spread throughout the afternoon. After picking up his third foul late in the second quarter, Edwards was swinging a towel on the bench as a tribute to the effort to take the lead into double digits for the first time in the game.
Durant, the 14-time All-Star with two championship rings who arrived in the desert a little over a year ago in the first move in the major overhaul of the roster, was in prime playoff form. Be it a fadeaway, a turnaround or a spot-up, the Wolves and their NBA-best defense had no answer when the 6-foot-10 Durant went up with his smooth jump shot.
But Booker, the main player along with Durant and Beal, who is the only player remaining from the 2021 team that made it to the NBA Finals, had no luck. He couldn't make layups or jump shots. Grayson Allen, the player who shoots the most 3-pointers in the league, missed all three of his shots and only scored four points.
The Wolves had sold-out crowds for every home game this season for the first time since they moved into Target Center 34 years ago. Their fans, who are as eager for a postseason as any in American professional sports, brought the level of energy usually seen in the finals to the first round, a stage the Wolves have not advanced from since 20 years ago. The crowd included former Viking star Adrian Peterson and current star Justin Jefferson.
The high-paid players provided what the Wolves needed, but their advantage in this series should have been their bench, which supported them with a 41-18 scoring lead over the Suns' substitutes.
Alexander-Walker played a key role in the surge during the second quarter, particularly when he intercepted a loose pass by Allen in the lane to set up a fast break layup near the end of the half. He also made a corner 3-pointer right before the buzzer of the third quarter to give a 20-point lead.
Wolves backup Kyle Anderson got a hip injury in the second quarter and did not come back.
Minnesota made 20 out of 22 free throws. Towns made all eight of his attempts, and Gobert made six out of seven.
