Cavaliers season round-up: 5 best games of the 2023-24 season

2. May 5th, 2024 vs Orlando Magic. Cavaliers Game 7 comeback victory

On May 5, the Cavaliers were scheduled to host a Game Seven against the young and up-and-coming Orlando Magic. It had been a tough, back-and-forth series and it all came down to this final game. Jarrett Allen was ruled out with a rib injury and Donovan Mitchell was coming off a 50-point Game Six performance, although he looked hampered and appeared to be limping at times during the game.

Things looked extremely bleak early in the game. The Cavs showed no signs of any offense and trailed 47-29 with 4:48 to go in the first half. The Cavs looked lost and zapped of all energy, it was hard to imagine that a comeback was on the horizon. But the Cavaliers made a crucial push before the end of the first half, cutting the 18-point deficit to 10 at the half, thanks to some key baskets from their bench players Sam Merrill and Caris LeVert.

The second half was all Cavaliers as they torched the Magic 63-41 in the second half. Every Cavalier was getting involved and played an important role in the Cavalier victory. Evan Mobley grabbed 16 rebounds to go with his 11 points. Isaac Okoro had a team high +24 and had 8 points to go along with his key defensive stops. Max Strus hit three huge three pointers during their third quarter run and finished with 13 points. Caris LeVert and Sam Merrill had 15 and 8 points respectively off the bench.

But a big takeaway that jumped out on the screen was the Cavs never giving up on Darius Garland. Garland was struggling mightily in this game to get anything to fall. However, that didn't stop J.B Bickerstaff from bringing him back in to close the game. With 5:53 left in the game, Garland had just missed another three point jumper, when the Cavs got the offense rebound and kicked back out to Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell drove to the basket and instead of trying to finish, he trusted Garland with another shot and kicked it to him wide open in the corner. Garland splashed the three to give the Cavs an 88-77 lead and that moment seemed to bring his confidence back. Garland would go on to score seven more points in the fourth quarter to finish with 12 overall.

Donovan Mitchell was the star of the show - leading the Cavaliers with 39 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. He shot 15-17 from the free throw line in his relentless pursuits to the basket and hit two key three pointers in the second half surge. Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 38 points, but Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs were unable to deliver in this crucial Game Seven. Wagner shot one-of-15 and finished with 6 points, while Suggs shot two-of-13 and finished with 10 points. The Cavaliers would win the game 106-94 and win their first playoff series since 2018.