CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – It wasn’t pretty or perfect.
In the playoffs it rarely is, but for the Cleveland Cavaliers, it was good enough Monday night.
Jarrett Alen scored 16 points and pulled down 20 rebounds and Donovan Mitchell led five Cavs in double figures with 23 points as Cleveland took Game 2 from the Magic 96-86 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Here’s our top Wine & Gold Nuggets from Game 2.
Staying on top – The Cavs have yet to trail in the series as they led wire-to-wire for the second straight game. That doesn’t mean they’re satisfied with how they played in the first two games either. “We got the win, we're up 2-0, but we're not looking just to be up 2-0,” Mitchell said. “You hold a team under 90 points for two games in a row. It's not a bad thing, but we can be better. And that's kind of the mindset.” It is the first time the Cavs, who held Orlando to 36.2% from the field, have done that since Games 1 and 2 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals against Boston. “It always starts with our defense,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “With us. If we do the job defensively, we have enough pieces offensively to create opportunities to play the game selflessly, share the game, create for one another. So for us, it just starts with our defense and that's what it's always going to give us a chance.”
Told ya so – Heading into the series Allen said it would be a first to 85 type of game with Orlando. The first two games have held true with the Magic held to 83 points in Game 1 and 86 Monday night. “I just want to say I told you so,” Allen joked. “No, I mean, yeah, like I said before, it's first to 85. It's going to be a very defensive minded series and let's just keep it that way.” A year removed from being criticized for playing soft against the Knicks in Round 1, Allen is playing like a man possessed, ripping basketballs from the clutches of Magic players left and right. He won’t be denied but doesn't feel he's on a mission to alter the perception of him from that series in 2023. “It's not really important for me to change my reputation,” Allen said. “I know who I am as a person, but I know it's still, the reputation's still not changed. We're only two games in. Do we want to change it as a team? Probably. We want to be known as a team that's going to go out there and fight every single night and we still a long way to go for that.” Through two games Allen has scored 32 points, pulled down 38 rebounds, blocked two shots, had five assists and four steals. “I can't say enough,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He's been phenomenal understanding what is necessary and then going, doing whatever he can to impact it. We knew that this series was going to be won in the interior. We knew that we were going to have to do a great job on the boards in back-to-back nights. He's taken it upon himself to make sure we win that battle. We're not here without his effort. And you watch it. It's not easy in there, right? I mean, there's grabbing, holding, hitting, but somehow some way he keeps finding a way to come up with the basketball, whether it's offensive rebounds to give us extra possessions or closing out possessions on the defensive end.” Allen joined Brad Daugherty and Kevin Love as the only Cavs to pull down 20 boards in a playoff game. Daugherty had 20 in 1993 against the Nets and Love 23 in the 2017 NBA finals against the Warriors. “I'm not going to lie, but it's good company,” Allen said. Mitchell never had a doubt Allen would step up and dominate. “I think he's a prideful individual, and I think that the way it happened last year, you could see it's a motivating thing,” Mitchell said. “I think it goes without saying, I think he's shown it himself to us all season. I had no doubt that this is who he would be. I think sometimes you have a bad playoff series. Believe me, I know how that is. So for him to respond this way, it's phenomenal to see.” Allen didn't do it all by himself inside. Evan Mobley had a career playoff high 17 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
Set the tone – Mitchell set the tone early by scoring 14 points to go with six rebounds, two assists and a block in the opening quarter to build a 12-point lead after one. “It's on me,” Mitchell said “I said it last game, why I'm here. I set the tone and kind of doing that and my teammates have my back… I did it twice and I got to do it again. I got to do it again.” Joel Embiid in 2021 for the Nets against Atlanta was the last to put up such numbers in a quarter of a playoff game. Mitchell scored nine points the rest of the way but he had eight rebounds and four assists. “I started out great and didn't really do my thing throughout the course, the game,” Mitchell said. “I did a lot of different things, but I could be better for the group as a whole and I will be.” Mitchell scored at least 20 points in a playff game for the 38th time, his fifth with the Cavs.
Okoro spurt – Isaac Okoro came off the bench and scored a quick eight points, including a pair of threes, to help the Cavs bump their lead back to 15, 46-31 with 6:29 to play in the first half. Okoro finished with 10 points and tied a career-high with four steals. “He just impacts the game in so many different ways,” Bickerstaff said. “He has the ability to guard multiple positions. He can guard up, he can guard down. He finds ways to score in transition. Now you see the confidence that he on his shot, not just from the corners anymore. He's putting it on the floor, taking step backs. So he's got that belief, but he plays a way that inspires his teammates. He's just willing to do all the dirty things, the loose balls, the long rebounds, take any defensive assignment. So he's the spirit of our group and he's an inspiration to the rest of his teammates.”
Coming through – Darius Garland was limited in the first half to less than 10 minutes thanks to three quick fouls but Garland bounced back and scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half. “We all know the season he's had, up and down,” Mitchell said, “but continuing to have your mental locked in when you have three fouls, it's easy to kind of get lost and to shuffle and figure things out. But for him to extend that lead when they were making that push to bring it up to, what was it, 20 or 22. That's huge.” Garland hit back-to-back threes and added a driving layup to extend the advantage to 87-65 with 9 minutes to play.
Scare for Suggs – Magic guard Jalen Suggs suffered a left knee sprain with 4:02 to play in the first quarter after he collided with Mitchell, who drew the foul. Suggs remained down for several minutes as his teammates came onto the floor. Suggs returned at the start of the third and finished with nine points, six rebounds and five assists in 29 minutes.
Round 1 schedule – Game 3: Thursday at Orlando, 7 p.m. on NBATV; Game 4: Saturday, April 27 at Orlando, 1 p.m. on TNT; Game 5: Tuesday, April 30, TBD; Game 6: Friday, May 3 at Orlando, TBD; Game 7: Sunday, May 5, TBD.
Starting 5 – Bickerstaff went with the same starting five as Game 1: Evan Mobley, Max Strus, Jarrett Allen, Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland Monday night.
