The Cleveland Cavaliers have been the top team in the NBA all season, record-wise, and they came into their matchup on Sunday with the Orlando Magic riding a 16-game winning streak. But the Magic came out ready to play, snapping the Cavaliers’ win streak and grabbing an important 108-103 win. Following the game, Magic star Paolo Banchero spoke about what went into getting a huge win down the stretch of the regular season, as per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel.
“It’s a big win,” Banchero said. “Last game of the road trip. We knew this was going to be probably the toughest game coming in here on national TV against one of the better teams in the league also on a winning streak. So, big win.”
Coming into the game, the Magic had lost seven of their last nine games, including a loss to these Cavaliers at the beginning of that stretch. The Magic were led by Paolo Banchero’s game-high 24 points. He also added 11 rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one blocked shot. Franz Wagner added 22 points, eight rebounds, two assists and one steal.
The Magic defense held the Cavaliers to only 41.7 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent shooting from the three-point line. With the win, the Magic improved to 32-37 while the Cavs fell to 56-11. The Cavs still hold a seven and a half game lead over the Boston Celtics for the top seed in the East.
The Magic, on the other hand, are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings. They hold a two-game lead over the Miami Heat. The Magic had been one of the surprise teams of the season early on, but they suffered injuries to both Banchero and Franz Wagner, while losing Mo Wagner to a season-ending injury.
This season, Banchero has been averaging a career-high 25.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists with splits of 45 percent shooting from the field, 32.3 percent shooting from the three-point line and 70.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
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