Cavs vs. Magic Game 2 score, highlights: Cleveland yet to trail in series in winning again

CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers drew first blood in their best-of-seven NBA playoff series with the Orlando Magic.

Then the Cavs provided an encore Monday night by defeating the Magic 96-86 in Game 2 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Cleveland has a 2-0 series lead, with the first-round Eastern Conference matchup shifting to Orlando for Game 3 on Thursday night.

After the Cavs prevailed 97-83 on Saturday in Game 1, Magic All-Star Paolo Banchero told reporters Orlando shot just 32.6% from the field (28 of 86), 21.6% from 3-point range (8 of 37) and 63.3% from the free-throw line (19 of 30) "and it still wasn't ever over until the last two minutes."

Banchero is right about the Magic underachieving, but the Cavs didn't have their best outing, either. For example, they shot 26.7% on 3-pointers (8 of 30) and missed 18 in a row.

Everyone knew whichever team adjusted better would have the upper hand in Game 2. The Cavs did their part. They finished 34-of-82 shooting (41.5%) from the field (12 of 39 on 3-pointers). By comparison, the Magic were 29-of-80 shooting (36.3%) from the field (9 of 35 on 3s).

The Cavs claimed another wire-to-wire victory. They haven't trailed in the series yet.

All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell had a game-high 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Cavs. Forward Evan Mobley had 17 points and seven rebounds. Center Jarrett Allen posted 16 points and a game-high 20 rebounds.

Banchero led the Magic with 21 points, followed by forward Franz Wagner's 18 points.

Tipoff occurred shortly after 7 p.m. Monday. Here are our updates as they unfolded throughout the game.

Below is some information about the fourth quarter.

Magic center Moritz Wagner isn't exactly popular among Cavs fans. When he fouled out with 2:55 remaining, the Cleveland crowd erupted with some of the loudest cheering of Game 2.

For the record, the foul was drawn by Cavs point guard Darius Garland.

Fan leaves court after Darius Garland, Moritz Wagner spill onto the sideline

A fan who sat courtside walked off the floor with medical personnel after Garland and Mortiz Wagner spilled onto the sideline while pursuing a loose ball with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter. Garland was shaken up during the play, but he remained in the game.

The Magic were in the midst of a rally and cut the Cavs' lead to 87-78. After the Magic cut their deficit to nine points, All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell scored twice to push Cleveland's lead to 91-78.

Cavs boost lead to 87-65 early in the fourth quarter

Point guard Darius Garland scored five of the Cavs' first seven points of the fourth quarter. And Cleveland outscored Orlando 7-0 to begin the final quarter.

With 9:09 left to play, the Cavs had a 87-65 lead. As of this update, the 22-point lead was Cleveland's largest advantage of Game 2 and Garland had reached 15 points. He finished with the same amount.

Below is some information about the third quarter.

The Cleveland Cavaliers lead the Orlando Magic 80-65 at the end of the third quarter

Garland made consecutive 3-pointers on consecutive possessions in the final 1:09 of the third quarter.

Those shots helped the Cavs lead the Magic 80-65 at the end of the third quarter.

Through three quarters, Garland had 10 points. The Cavs were led by guard Donovan Mitchell (19 points, eight rebounds and three assists), center Jarrett Allen (15 points and 14 rebounds) and forward Evan Mobley (15 points seven rebounds).

Franz Wagner and Banchero paced the Magic with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

Cavs lead Magic 74-60 with 1:12 remaining in the third quarter

At this juncture, the Cavs and Magic have each scored 16 points in the third quarter.

The Cavs won't complain about it, either. They lead 74-60 with 1:12 left in the third quarter.

Cavs have 17-point lead vs. Magic with 5:36 left in the third quarter

At this checkpoint, the Cavs had their largest lead of Game 2 when Allen made a layup on an assist from Mobley with 8:06 left in the third quarter. The Magic trailed 71-54 during a Cavs timeout with 5:36 remaining.

Cavs lead Magic 67-49 with 8:37 left in the third quarter

Mobley went scoreless in the second half of Game 1. He refused to do the same in the second half of Game 2.

Mobley scored eight of the Cavs' first nine points of the third quarter, allowing them to go ahead 67-49 and compel the Magic to call timeout with 8:37 remaining in the third quarter. Mobley's dunk on an assist from Garland put the Cavs ahead by the 18-point margin.

Magic starting guard Jalen Suggs returned to the game to begin the second half. He suffered a strained left knee in the first quarter, the Magic announced, and had to be helped off the court with 4:02 remaining in the opening quarter.

Below is some information about the second quarter.

Cavaliers up over Orlando Magic 58-44 at halftime of Game 2

Mitchell has the Cavaliers up 55-48 at the break.

He has a game-high 19 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists. Allen has eight points and seven rebounds and his on his way to a double-double.

The Cavs are shooting 50 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from 3-point range. For the Magic, meanwhile, it's been pretty ugly on offense. Orlando is shooting just 37.5 percent from the floor and 26.3 percent from 3-point range, which isn't gonna cut it.

Franz Wagner has a team-high 17 points, but Banchero has been really quiet tonight, with just six points, one rebound and two assists midway through this one.

The Magic announced Suggs is questionable to return with a strained left knee.

Suggs left the game earlier after falling to the floor and grabbing for that knee. He had to be helped to the Magic bench and then the locker room.

For team really struggling to find any offense at all, that'd be a pretty sizable setback.

The Cavaliers are currently holding onto a 53-42 lead with two minutes to go in the first half.

Isaac Okoro has eight points, Cavs extending comfortable lead over Magic in Game 2

Isaac Okoro is having a really solid night for the Cavs off the bench and now has eight points, including a layup he just hit in transition to extend Cleveland's lead to 46-31 with 6:29 left in the second quarter.

Garland was pumped as Okoro walked off the floor after the layup.

Mitchell is having himself a game.

With 7:37 still left in the second quarter, Mitchell has a game-high 16 points to go with seven rebounds and two assists.

Two possessions ago, he dribbled through traffic and found Max Strus, who made the extra pass to get it to Isaac Okoro in the corner, as he hit a 3 as the shot clocked expired.

Then, Mobley was able to get Moritz Wagner airborne with a pump-fake and complete a three-point play after being fouled, putting the Cavs up 41-30.

Below is some information about the first quarter.

Cavaliers lead Magic 30-18 at the end of the first quarter

The Cavs caught fire to end the first quarter and head into the second quarter with a 30-18 lead.

Caris LeVert led the late charge, scoring eight points within the final couple minutes of the quarter.

All 30 Cavs points in that quarter were scored by Mitchell (14), Allen (eight) and LeVert (eight).

Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen have all 20 of the Cavaliers points against the Magic in Game 2

Another note: Game 2 hasn't gotten as chippy as Game 1 yet (though, that might be simply because Mortiz Wagner hasn't checked into the game yet), but Mitchell looked less than pleased heading into a late timeout and appeared to be telling the refs that he was shouldered at some point, pleading his case and pointing to the Magic bench as Orlando walked back for the timeout.

The Cavs are holding a 20-13 lead late in the first quarter, and it's been all Mitchell and JAllen.

Mitchell has been tremendous in this one, scoring 14 points to go with five rebounds and two assists. Allen has six points and three bounds thus far, and the two just connected on an alley-oop.

The Cavs needed Mitchell's best for this playoff run. They're getting it so far.

Jalen Suggs injury forces his exit as he's helped off floor in Game 2

Suggs is being helped to the locker room after going down with an apparent left knee injury in the first quarter of Game 2 against the Cavaliers.

Suggs went down and appeared to grab for his left knee upon falling to the floor. He was down for several minutes before being helped to the bench by team trainers.

The Cavs lead 16-13 with 4:02 left in the first quarter. Mitchell has 12 points and four rebounds.

Cavaliers, Magic tied in first quarter of Game 2

The Magic offense has looked awful so far — but so, too, have the Cavs. Despite Orlando still being 0-for-5 from 3-point range, the Magic and Cavs are tied 10-10 with a little more than five minutes left in the first quarter.

That was one of the hidden storylines from Game 1, that while the Cavs won, it was as much because the Magic simply played so poorly, than any indication that Cleveland played to their level.

The Magic, again, cannot seem to buy a 3-pointer. And yet, again, the Cavs haven't been able to take full advantage of Orlando's shooting woes.

The Cavs lead 9-6 with 6:30 left in the first quarter in a game that is turning into a possession-by-possession defensive grind on both sides of the floor. There have been some jokes about how the first one to 85 will win games in this series, and that sure looks like Game 2 will follow that trend, to a degree.

Donovan Mitchell gets Game 2 started with a 3-pointer; Magic open cold again

Game 2 has started with a similar tone as Game 1. The Magic, after a dreadful shooting performance Saturday, have already missed four 3-pointers, and Mitchell drilled his first 3-point attempt of the night (as he did in Game 1).

Mitchell was then fouled and made both free throws.

Below is some pregame information.

We both had the Cavs (48-34 in the regular season) winning Game 1. We both have them taking a 2-0 series lead in Game 2 versus the Magic (47-35). To see why, and who we pick for the series, click here.

What channel are the Cleveland Cavaliers on in Game 2 vs. Orlando Magic?

The game is being televised nationally by NBA TV and locally by Bally Sports Ohio. It's being broadcast on the radio via WTAM (1100-AM), WMMS (100.7-FM) and WNZN (89.1-FM).

What is the injury report for Game 2 of Cleveland Cavs vs Orlando Magic?

Injured Cavs players who were inactive in Game 1 and have also been ruled out for Game 2 are backup forward Dean Wade (sprained knee) and reserve point guards Craig Porter Jr. (ankle) and Ty Jerome (ankle). Wade has missed the past 20 games. Undrafted rookie Porter suffered a sprained ankle in the April 14 regular-season finale. Jerome underwent surgery and missed virtually the entire season.

The Magic didn't list any players on their injury report.

Cavs vs. Magic this season: Teams split their 2023-24 regular-season series

Before the Cavaliers won Game 1, the Cavs and Magic played each other four times during the 2023-24 regular season. Each team won twice, including once on the other team's home court. Here's a look at those games:
• Magic 116, Cavs 109; Feb. 22, in Cleveland
• Notable: Mo Wagner's 22 points and seven rebounds led the Magic to a win. Max Strus (18 points and six assists) and Jarrett Allen (18 points and 10 rebounds) led the Cavs, who were without Donovan Mitchell (illness).
• Cavs 129, Magic 99; Jan. 22, in Orlando
• Notable: Sam Merrill scored 26 points, 20 in the first half, to lead the Cavs to their eighth consecutive win. Donovan Mitchell added 25 points and 13 assists, and Jarrett Allen had a 12th straight double-double (14 points and 11 rebounds). Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 18 points and six assists.
• Magic 104, Cavs 94; Dec. 11, in Orlando
• Notable: Despite 36 points by Darius Garland and 22 by Donovan Mitchell, the Cavs lost. Paolo Banchero scored 20 points to lead the Magic, and Franz Wagner added 19. The Cavs were without Evan Mobley (knee), and foul trouble for Jarrett Allen created problems in the second half.
• Cavs 110, Magic 101; Dec. 6, in Cleveland
• Notable: Donovan Mitchell (35 points, seven rebounds, six assists) and Darius Garland (26 points, nine assists) led the way for the Cavs. Max Strus (17 points, five rebounds, six assists) and Evan Mobley (16 points and five rebounds) also came up big. Paolo Banchero went for 42 points to go with six rebounds and nine assists for Orlando. The Magic shot just 2 for 23 on 3-pointers.

The Cavs are 65-61 against the Magic in the regular season. Cleveland is 39-23 at home.

In the playoffs, the Cavs are 3-4 against the Magic. The Cavs suffered a 4-2 series loss to the Magic in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavs earned their third all-time postseason win over the Magic Saturday in Game 1.

Looking back at Cavs' 97-83 win over Magic in Game 1

Here is our coverage from Game 1:
• Donovan Mitchell's ferocious Game 1 dunk gives Cavs a jolt, allays concerns about his knee
• 'We're not friends': The Cavs proved they won't be pushed around against the Magic | Ryan Lewis column
• Cavs vs Magic: Cleveland Cavaliers grind out victory in Game 1 of NBA playoff series
• Cavs vs Magic Game 1 score, highlights: Cavaliers top Orlando Magic to take series lead
• Game 5: Magic vs. Cavs — Tuesday, April 30, in Cleveland (if necessary)
• Game 6: Cavs vs. Magic — Friday, May 3, in Orlando (if necessary)
• Game 7: Magic vs. Cavs — Sunday, May 5, in Cleveland (if necessary)

The winner of the Cavs-Magic series advances to the Eastern Conference semifinals to play whichever team prevails between the top-seeded Boston Celtics (64-18 in the regular season) and eighth-seeded Miami Heat (46-36). The No. 8 spot was determined by the Heat emerging from the NBA Play-In Tournament.

Ryan Lewis can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Threads at @ByRyanLewis. Nate Ulrich can be reached at [email protected]. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.