Magic Rout Cleveland in 1st Win over Cavs in 17 Games

The Orlando Magic, off to one of their best starts in recent history, hadn't won a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers since 2012.

By
Victor Tan
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(Photo by Fernando Medina / Getty Images)
(Photo by Fernando Medina / Getty Images)

Game Recap

For the Orlando Magic, the 2017-18 season has been a season of new beginnings. It started with a season-opening win over the Miami Heat, the Magic’s first season-opening win in five seasons. Now, the Magic have broken another streak, as Orlando (2-1) defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers (2-1) 114-93 at Quicken Loans Arena on Oct. 21 night to break the Cavs’ 17-game win streak over Orlando. Prior to the Magic’s second win of the season, Orlando last beat Cleveland on Nov. 23, 2012, 108-104.

Orlando’s winning effort was led by its defense and three-point shooting. Led by center Nikola Vucevic, who was coming off a career-high 41-point game in a loss to the Brooklyn Nets, paced the Magic with 23 points. Overall, the Magic shot 17-for-35 (48.6 percent) from deep and held Cleveland to a paltry 38.4 percent from the field and 28.0 percent from three-point range (7-for-25).

Cleveland managed to narrowly out-score the Magic in only two quarters: the second and fourth. After trailing by 16 entering the second quarter, the Cavs out-scored the Magic 27-20 in the second to make it an 11-point game entering halftime. Cleveland slightly narrowed the deficit behind an 11-7 run to end the first half. Trailing 49-35, forwards LeBron James and Kevin Love led the way with five points each, as Iman Shumpert had one made free throw in the run.

Another high-scoring quarter in the third by the Magic, though, held Cleveland’s comeback at bay, as Orlando would out-score the Cavs 32-20 in the third. Vucevic continued a hot start with 10 points, two rebounds, an assist and a block in the third quarter. After Vucevic missed a 14-foot, mid-range jumper to open the third, point guard D.J. Augustin, who was starting over the injured Elfrid Payton, found Vucevic for back-to-back buckets. Augustin scored 10 of his 12 points and recorded four of his 10 assists in the third quarter.

The Magic’s hot start began with a 36-18 first quarter, wherein Vucevic led the Magic with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal. Jonathan Simmons scored three of his 19 points off the bench with a buzzer-beating triple to end the first quarter.

Player of the Game: C Nikola Vucevic

Vucevic led the Magic, again, with another game-high performance, scoring 23 points on a very efficient 11-for-16 shooting, including 1-for-3 from three-point range. He also added seven rebounds, five assists, a steal and three blocks, earning the bulk of his points in the first and third quarters when the Magic out-scored the Cavs by a combined score of 68-38.

What’s next?

The Magic return to the safety of the Amway Center for a rematch with the Brooklyn Nets. Orlando lost to Brooklyn 126-120 on Oct. 20.

Highlights

NDR Notes

  • Vucevic led all scorers for the second-consecutive game this season.
  • So far this season, Vucevic is tied for seventh with the Houston Rockets’ James Harden in points per game (27.7).
  • Payton missed his first game this season after injuring his hamstring in the loss to Brooklyn on Oct. 20.
  • Forward Aaron Gordon missed his second-consecutive game to start the 2017-18 season with an ankle injury.

Scoring

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Cleveland Cavaliers 18 27 20 28 93
Orlando Magic 36 20 32 26 114

Statistics and Starting Lineups

Team Leaders

Cleveland Cavaliers Orlando Magic
Points LeBron James (22) Nikola Vucevic (23)
Rebounds Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson (9) Nikola Vucevic (7)
Assists Dwyane Wade (4) D.J. Augustin (10)
Blocks Kevin Love, LeBron James, Jae Crowder, Jeff Green (1) Nikola Vucevic (3)
Steals Kevin Love, LeBron James, Jae Crowder, Jeff Green (1) Jonathan Isaac, Nikola Vucevic, D.J. Augustin, Evan Fournier, Jonathan Simmons, Shelvin Mack, Mario Hezonja (1)
Turnovers Jae Crowder (3) Jonathan Simmons, Shelvin Mack, Mario Hezonja (2)
Minutes LeBron James (31) Nikola Vucevic (28)

Team Statistics

Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals Turnovers
Cleveland Cavaliers 55 15 7 4 16
Orlando Magic 58 28 6 7 12

Shooting Percentages

Cleveland Cavaliers Orlando Magic
FG% 38.4% 44.4%
3FG% 28.0% 48.6%
FT% 74.1% 85.0%

Cleveland Cavaliers starting lineup: José Calderon (PG), Dwyane Wade (SG), Jae Crowder (SF), LeBron James (PF), Kevin Love (C)

Orlando Magic starting lineup: D.J. Augustin (PG), Evan Fournier (SG), Terrance Ross (SG), Jonathan Isaac (SF), Nikola Vucevic (C)

For more on the Magic, as they look to avenge an early-season loss to the Nets on Tuesday, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.

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