The Magic Went On A Crazy 51-15 Second Half Run To Even The Series With The Cavs

The Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers have played a truly bizarre series thus far, as the home team has dominated the road team in all four games. The series will now shift back to Cleveland knotted at 2-2 thanks to one of the more remarkable second half runs in playoff history by the Magic, as they turned a first half deficit into a 112-89 win.

After getting smoked in Game 3, the Cavs came out aggressive in the first half and looked to have fixed their offensive issues and were back to playing solid defense, leading 60-51 at the break. Turnovers played a big role in the first half, as the Cavs scored 12 points off of Magic turnovers that was, effectively, the difference in the half.

Given how poorly things went in the first two games when Orlando got down, there was a lot of interest in how they’d respond coming out of halftime. The answer: better than anyone could’ve imagined. The Magic came out and simply dominated the second half, as they won the third quarter 37-10 and went on an extended 51-15 run to turn a 9-point deficit into a 27-point lead.

It was a collective effort to pull away by the Magic, with Franz Wagner leading the way but getting contributions from Wendell Carter Jr., Jonathan Isaac, and older brother Mo Wagner.

Franz finished the game as the high scorer with 34 points and 14 rebounds, as he was relentless attacking the rim and even knocked down a pair of threes. Once the parade to the basket began, the Cavs defense had to collapse and the Magic took advantage, getting it rolling from distance as they shot 11-of-24 from long range. Isaac had a big night off the bench with 14 points (including four threes) and seven rebounds, with Carter Jr., Markelle Fultz, and Jalen Suggs all hitting double figures as well to ensure a cold night from Paolo Banchero didn’t matter. While the offensive output was impressive, the Magic once again led with their defense, as they were suffocating on that end in the second half.

Cleveland’s backcourt struggled once again with the Orlando ball pressure, as Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points on 10-of-25 shooting with eight turnovers. Jarrett Allen had a terrific first half, but he could only do so much offensively, scoring 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting. In total, the Cavs shot just 43.9 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from three, as they were totally discombobulated once Orlando ratcheted up the defensive intensity in the second half.

Now the series moves back to Cleveland tied at 2-2 with the vibes completely flipped from when they arrived in Orlando. The question will be whether the Magic were just feeling the nerves of their first postseason in those first two games, or if it was being on the road that had their offense rattled. If it’s the former, Cleveland could be in trouble now that the Magic are comfortable. If it’s the latter, we might see yet another wild swing in this series.