Donovan Mitchell scored 39 points, Caris LeVert added 15 and the Cleveland Cavaliers avoided a potentially franchise-shifting loss by rallying for a 106-94 win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday in Game 7 to advance in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Cavs trailed by 18 in the first half and were in danger of being knocked out in the first round for the second year in a row – a scenario that may have led to firings.
But Mitchell, who scored 50 in a Game 6 loss at Orlando and has been battling a left knee injury for months, put the Cavs on his back. He carried them past an up-and-coming-fast Orlando team whose playoff inexperience showed in the second half.
“I’m tired of losing in the first round,” Mitchell said. “You work too hard. We work too hard. That was my mindset ... For me, just be in attack mode. I’m battling through what I’m battling through, but I could battle through it and figure it out, or rehab it for the next three or four months. That’s where I’m at mentally.”
Evan Mobley grabbed 16 rebounds and Darius Garland hit a critical 3-pointer in the fourth for Cleveland, which won its first playoff series without LeBron James since 1993.
The Cavs will begin the second round on the road against the top-seeded Celtics in Game 1 on Tuesday. Boston went 2-1 against Cleveland this season.
In the closing minutes, the towel-waving crowd inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse chanted, “We want Boston!” – a matchup that didn’t look likely an hour earlier.
“I’m pretty sure everybody thinks they’re going to come in and kick our ass,” Mitchell said. “So for us to continue to stay level-headed throughout, and just be who we are, that’s the biggest thing.”