ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — By the time Franz Wagner finished outscoring Cleveland on his own in the third quarter, what had been a competitive game turned into another rout in this series between the Orlando Magic and The knights.
Wagner had 34 points and 13 rebounds, and the Magic held the Cavaliers scoreless for nearly seven minutes in the second half, leading to a 112-89 victory Saturday that evened the Eastern Conference first-round series at 2 -2.
After putting up 60 points in the first half, Cleveland was outscored 37-10 in the third quarter and managed just 29 points in the second half.
Asked if he’d ever seen a more dominant defensive quarterback, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said, “I’d have to look for that one.”
Wagner had 10 points in the first five minutes of the third quarter and finished with 12 points in the period, when the Cavaliers missed 14 of their 18 shots.
“Once we came back from that nine-point deficit from the third, and they took that timeout, I felt good, the momentum was going our way,” Magic big man Jonathan said Isaac.
He never came back.
Game 4 of the series is Tuesday night in Cleveland, where the No. 4 seed Cavaliers won the first two games by double digits before getting knocked out twice in Florida.
“They held the court just like we did,” Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff said. “We now have the opportunity to go home and play a best-of-three series with two games in Cleveland. We have some areas where we can change some things, fix some things, but I know our guys will be ready to play Tuesday night.
Isaac (14 points, seven rebounds, two blocks) and Markelle Fultz (12 points, four rebounds) provided major help to the Magic coming off the bench. Paolo Banchero, who had 35 points in Orlando’s 121-83 Game 3 win Thursday night, finished with nine points and five assists in his first single-digit game since Nov. 29.
Jarrett Allen had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers. Donovan Mitchell had 18 points, all in the first half.
“Ten points (in a quarter) is outrageous,” Donovan said. “We have to be better. I have to be better. I’m disappointed in myself, so it’s my fault. You can’t have 18 points in the first half and zero in the second, and only four shots.
Including games from this series, the Magic have won six straight at home while losing six straight on the road.
“We’re not happy at all,” Wagner said. “We just had two wins. We need two more against them, so we have to stay locked in and try to get Cleveland the next one.
Wagner opened the second half by converting a Cleveland turnover into a layup and hitting a jump shot from the free throw line. He added a 3-pointer and a three-point play during a five-minute, 17-6 run that put Orlando up 68-67.
Thunder take 3-0 series lead with 106-85 win over Pelicans
NEW ORLEANS — Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams was on all fours after taking a hard shot to the eye on the first possession of a crucial playoff game.
In the third quarter, Williams drained a pair of 3-pointers during a 9-0 run that shook the New Orleans Pelicans.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points, Williams and Josh Giddey each had 21 and the Thunder beat the Pelicans 106-85 on Saturday to take a 3-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
“Dub is very talented,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Williams, who averaged about 20 points in the series and scored 13 of his points in Game 3 in the second half. “He was definitely big tonight, very impressive and nothing we’re not used to.”
The top-seeded Thunder entered the playoffs answering plenty of questions about the relative youth and inexperience of their roster — and that seemed justified after a two-point escape at home in Game 1 against the Pelicans, eighth seed.
Since then, the Thunder have posted winning margins of 32 in Game 2 and 21 in Game 3, thanks in large part to a relentless defensive effort that held the Pelicans to 92 points or less in all three games of the series.
“We were ready to play,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Again, our physicality, our defense and our concentration on that end of the pitch was really, really good, which allowed them to win it all. And I thought that set the tone.
Oklahoma City made 17 of 36 (47.2%) from 3-point range and held a lead of 10 or more points throughout the second half, growing as many as 24 in the fourth quarter. At that point, a contingent of Thunder fans could be heard chanting, “OKC!” All right ! ” as New Orleans fans filed out.
“We adapted very well to the flow of the match. We look good,” Giddey said. “They gave us a lot of different looks, but we have a lot of weapons on the ground all the time. So the guys made the right play, the extra pass.
The Pelicans, who were without star forward Zion Williamson during the series due to a hamstring injury, will try to avoid elimination at home in Game 4 Monday night.
“It’s not over,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said of his message to the team. “Look, we have another game here at home and we’re not going to solve all our problems tonight. Go home, have a nice meal and we’ll come back (Sunday) to practice, go over what we need to do and get ready for the next game.
History is not on their side. No team in NBA history has come back from a 3-0 series deficit.
“You can’t take your foot off the gas, no matter how far ahead you are in a series,” Giddey said. “Neither team considers this series over.”
Brandon Ingram scored 19 points and CJ McCollum had 16 for New Orleans, which struggled to hit from the perimeter and take care of the ball.
Celtics beat Heat 104-84 to take 2-1 lead in East Series
MIAMI (AP) — Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 22 points, and the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat 104-84 on Saturday night to take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Tatum added 10 rebounds and six assists for the Celtics, who led Game 3 wire-to-wire and reclaimed the home-court advantage they lost when Miami won Game 2 in Boston. Kristaps Porzingis scored 18 points and Derrick White scored 16 for the Celtics, who used runs of 12-3, 11-0 and 20-8 in the first half to take complete control.
Bam Adebayo scored 20 points for eighth-seeded Miami, which remains without starters Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier due to injuries. Nikola Jovic and Tyler Herro each scored 15 for the Heat, who got 12 from Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Game 4 is Monday in Miami, where the Celtics are 9-2 in their last 11 games and 6-1 in their last seven playoff games.
It was a season low in points scored for Miami, a season low in points allowed for Boston.
Rebounding efforts have been a trend for Boston this season. The Celtics – the No. 1 seed in the playoffs – don’t lose often, and when they do, they tend to just go out and win their next game. Boston is now 15-4 in the game immediately after a loss this season, with its average margin of victory in these games being 12.2 points.
Boston never trailed in Game 1, a 114-94 victory, and never trailed in Game 3, en route to beating Miami for the fifth time in six games this season. The Celtics started slow and Miami started slower, with Boston leading 21-12 after one and setting the tone that nothing would come easy for the Heat.
It was Miami’s lowest-scoring first quarter in its last 197 games, dating back to the 2022 playoffs – also against Boston, when the Heat managed 11 points in the first 12 minutes of Game 4 of that series Eastern final.
Midway through the second quarter, it looked — briefly — like Miami had weathered the storm. The Heat had a bit of a run, the building had a bit of life and Herro glanced at a 3-point shot that would have brought the Heat to within 10.
Lakers avoid first-round elimination with 119-108 victory over champion Denver
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James scored 30 points, Anthony Davis added 25 points and 23 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers avoided playoff elimination with a 119-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets in the fourth game of their first-round series Saturday night. .
D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves scored 21 points each for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who ended their 11-game losing streak against the reigning NBA champions with their first win over the Nuggets since December 2022 .
Denver swept Los Angeles from the Western Conference Finals last season, but the current Lakers responded to that 0-3 deficit with a performance more worthy of a team that reached the playoffs with 12 wins in 15 games . James scored 14 points in the fourth quarter on 6-of-8 shooting, once again carrying the Lakers at the end of his 21st NBA season.
Nikola Jokic had 33 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists in the two-time MVP’s 18th career triple-double and second in this series. Game 5 will take place Monday night in Denver.
After taking a double-digit lead in each of the first three games of the series, Los Angeles again took a healthy lead early in the second half of Game 4, but never fell behind again despite the late rally unsurprisingly from the Nuggets.
Michael Porter Jr. had 27 points and 11 rebounds for Denver, and Jamal Murray scored 22 points while going 0 of 4 on 3-point attempts.
