Magic’s Paolo Banchero Quickly Breaks Scoring Record Held by LeBron James in Game 7 vs. Cavaliers

May 5, 2024 Jimm Sallivan

Though six games, Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero’s first playoff series has been a rousing success.

The numbers tell all: in three Magic wins and three Cleveland Cavaliers wins in the first round, Banchero has averaged 25.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. His play has Orlando on the cusp of its first playoff series victory since 2010.

In the first half of Game 7 Sunday, however, Banchero went to another level. The Duke product exploded for 24 points against the Cavaliers—the most by a player 21 or younger in a Game 7 in the history of the NBA.

Whose record did he break? Cleveland fans may know this one.

Paolo Banchero had 24 points in the first half vs. the Cavs, passing LeBron James (2006) for the most points scored in a Game 7 by a player age 21 or younger in NBA history 🔥 pic.twitter.com/H5x3qqhbF3

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 5, 2024

That’s right—Cavaliers forward LeBron James scored 21 points in Game 7 of the 2006 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Detroit Pistons, which the Pistons won by the very ’06 score of 79-61.

Cleveland rallied from a big first-half deficit to take the lead against the Magic, but Orlando fans will have Banchero’s heroics win or lose.

6 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

NBA Playoff Schedule: Full Rundown for Conference Semifinals

The first round of the 2024 NBA postseason had some great matchups, and things will only get better from here on out. Saturday marked the start of the second round of the playoffs, when true contenders battle against one another in an effort to reach the final four of their conference. Iron sharpens iron, after all, and this year's slate of Round 2 contests look pretty great across the board.

Fewer games means fewer overlapping broadcast times, too. After two weeks with up to three NBA games on every night, we're more or less back to the standard of an Eastern Conference tip-off around 7 p.m. ET and a Western Conference tip-off around 10 p.m. ET.

For your viewing habit purposes, here is the full schedule for the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs, organized by series.

NBA Playoff Schedule for Second Round

Eastern Conference

(1) Boston Celtics v. (4) Cleveland Cavaliers

• Game 1: Cavaliers vs. Celtics, Tuesday, May 7 (7 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 2: Cavaliers vs. Celtics, Thursday, May 9 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
• Game 3: Celtics vs. Cavaliers, Saturday, May 11 (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
• Game 4: Celtics vs. Cavaliers, Monday, May 13 (7 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 5 (if necessary): Cavaliers vs. Celtics, Wednesday, May 15 (TBD)
• Game 6 (if necessary): Celtics vs. Cavaliers, Friday, May 17 (TBD)
• Game 7 (if necessary): Cavaliers vs. Celtics, Sunday, May 19 (TBD)

(2) New York Knicks v. (3) Indiana Pacers

• Game 1: Pacers vs. Knicks, Monday, May 6 (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 2: Pacers vs. Knicks, Wednesday, May 8 (8 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 3: Knicks vs. Pacers, Friday, May 10 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
• Game 4: Knicks vs. Pacers, Sunday, May 12 (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
• Game 5 (if necessary): Pacers vs. Knicks, Tuesday, May 14 (TBD)
• Game 6 (if necessary): Knicks vs. Pacers, Friday, May 17 (TBD)
• Game 7 (if necessary): Pacers vs. Knicks, Sunday, May 19 (TBD)

Western Conference

(1) Oklahoma City Thunder v. (5) Dallas Mavericks

• Game 1: Mavericks vs. Thunder, Tuesday, May 7 (9:30 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 2: Mavericks vs. Thunder, Thursday, May 9 (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
• Game 3: Thunder vs. Mavericks, Saturday, May 11 (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
• Game 4: Thunder vs. Mavericks, Monday, May 13 (9:30 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 5 (if necessary): Mavericks vs. Thunder, Wednesday, May 15 (TBD)
• Game 6 (if necessary): Thunder vs. Mavericks, Saturday, May 18 (8:30 p.m. ET)
• Game 7 (if necessary): Mavericks vs. Thunder, Monday, May 20 (8:30 p.m. ET)

(2) Denver Nuggets v. (3) Minnesota Timberwolves

• Game 2: Timberwolves vs. Nuggets, Monday, May 6 (10 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 3: Nuggets vs. Timberwolves, Friday, May 10 (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
• Game 4: Nuggets vs. Timberwolves, Sunday, May 12 (8 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 5 (if necessary): Timberwolves vs. Nuggets, Tuesday, May 14 (TBD)
• Game 6 (if necessary): Nuggets vs. Timberwolves, Thursday, May 16 (8:30 p.m. ET)
• Game 7 (if necessary): Timberwolves vs. Nuggets, Sunday, May 19 (TBD)

Key Dates for the 2024 NBA Playoffs

Aside from the all the above, the NBA postseason generally has a few key dates.

The first have already passed in the form of the play-in tournament, as well as the start of the first round. The Nuggets and Timberwolves kicked off the second round on Saturday, May 4. Below are several other key dates to look forward to.

• Conference Finals start dates: May 19-22, depending on the length of the second-round series.
• NBA Finals start date: Thursday, June 6 will be Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals. Sunday, June 9 will be Game 2. Game 3 will take place on Wednesday, June 12. Friday, June 14 will be Game 4.

First Round Results

Below are the full results for the first round of this year's postseason.

Eastern Conference

(1) Boston Celtics def. (8) Miami Heat in 5 games

(2) New York Knicks def. (7) Philadelphia 76ers in 6 games

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers def. (5) Orlando Magic in 7 games

(6) Indiana Pacers def. (3) Milwaukee Bucks in 6 games

Western Conference

(1) Oklahoma City Thunder def. (8) New Orleans Pelicans in 4 games

(2) Denver Nuggets def. (7) Los Angeles Lakers in 5 games

(3) Minnesota Timberwolves def. (6) Phoenix Suns in 4 games

(5) Dallas Mavericks def. (4) Los Angeles Clippers in 6 games

And that's everything you need to know about the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs. Enjoy watching!

6 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

SI:AM | Donovan Mitchell Saved the Cavs in Game 7

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m not surprised Tom Brady didn’t love all the jokes at his Netflix roast.

In today’s SI:AM:
🏀 Cavs win Game 7
🏒 Stars win Game 7
🐎 Mystik Dan wins by a hair

He always steps up in the playoffs

When the Cleveland Cavaliers traded a king’s ransom for Donovan Mitchell in 2022, it was with games like Sunday’s Game 7 against the Orlando Magic in mind.

Few players in the NBA can score in bunches like Mitchell can. Since he entered the league in 2017, only eight players have had more 40-point games (regular season and postseason) than Mitchell. He has had 32 40-point games in that span, more than LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis. The unfortunate thing for Mitchell is that his elite scoring ability has never translated to team success. In five seasons with the Utah Jazz, his teams never advanced farther than the second round of the playoffs. In his first season in Cleveland last year, the Cavs got bounced in the first round in five games by the New York Knicks.

But Mitchell stepped up again with two memorable performances in the series against the Magic. In Game 6, he dropped 50 points on 22-of-36 shooting. Yes, the Cavs lost the game, 103–96, but Mitchell’s big game was the only reason it was close. Cleveland got out-rebounded 48–38 and took just 10 free throws as a team, compared to 26 for Orlando. It wouldn’t have been close if Mitchell hadn’t gone off.

The Magic’s win at home in Game 6 forced a Game 7 in Cleveland, and at halftime it looked like Mitchell’s team was destined for another early postseason exit. The Cavs trailed by as many as 18 in the first half as their offense fell completely flat. Cleveland shot 35% from the field as a team, including a dismal 2-for-11 from three. And Mitchell struggled just as badly as the rest of his teammates in the first half, hitting just three of his 13 shots, although he did go 9-for-10 from the line.

But after halftime, the tide turned. Mitchell erupted for 17 points in the third quarter on 7-of-9 shooting and out-scored the Magic (15 points) all by himself. Max Strus, who was held scoreless in the first half, scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the third quarter.

The big quarter from Mitchell and Strus (who accounted for 28 of Cleveland’s 33 points) turned a 10-point Cavs deficit into an eight-point lead. The Cavs never looked back and maintained their lead for the rest of the game, eventually winning 106–94.

Mitchell finished with 39 points, giving him 89 points combined in the last two games of the series. That’s the second most ever in Games 6 and 7 of a playoff series, according to ESPN, trailing only the 90 scored by Allen Iverson in the 2001 Eastern Conference finals. The win also marked Cleveland’s first playoff series victory without LeBron James since 1993.

“I’m tired of losing in the first round,” Mitchell said after the game. “You work too hard. We work too hard. That was my mindset ... for me, just be in attack mode. I’m battling through what I’m battling through, but I could battle through it and figure it out, or rehab it for the next three or four months. That’s where I'm at mentally.”

Mitchell may be tired of losing in the first round, but he’ll be a longshot to advance past the second round for the first time in his career. The Cavs’ win over the Magic set up a second-round matchup against the mighty Boston Celtics, the best team in the regular season by a wide margin. Cleveland will have a better chance of pulling off the upset if it is able to get center Jarrett Allen back on the floor. He’s missed the last three games with bruised ribs. Allen is an elite defender and rebounder who will be sorely missed if he isn’t able to go against Boston. The silver lining is that his absence on the interior won’t be felt as significantly if Celtics center Kristaps Porziņģis isn’t able to return from his calf injury. Regardless of whether Allen plays, though, the Cavs need Mitchell to keep up his historic scoring pace.

The best of Sports Illustrated

The top five…

… things I saw yesterday:
5. Jonny DeLuca’s walk-off hit for the Rays.
4. Shohei Ohtani’s 10th home run of the season, which traveled a whopping 464 feet.
3. Cole Anthony’s block at the rim on Darius Garland.
2. Radek Faksa’s goal early in the third period that proved to be the game-winner for the Stars in Game 7.
1. The Rangers’ crisp passing on Mika Zibanejad’s power-play goal.

7 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

Mics Captured Donovan Mitchell’s Inspirational Message to Struggling Teammate During Cavaliers’ Game 7 Win

For Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland, Games 6 and 7 of the Cavaliers' first-round series against the Orlando Magic were 96 minutes from hell.

Despite a strong offensive performance in Friday's Game 6, a late eight-second violation by Garland helped seal Cleveland's fate in a 103-96 defeat. In Game 7 on Sunday, he struggled mightily, making just three of his 13 field goal attempts.

However, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell refused to quit on his backcourt mate as Cleveland iced its eventual 106-94 win. Behind-the-scenes video from the game showed one Cavaliers All-Star encouraging another.

"I believe in you. Believe in yourself," Mitchell told Garland in video posted on social media by Cleveland. "Believe in yourself. I believe in you, we believe in you."

this is BELIEVELAND after all. #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/OjoDDW1HQf
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 7, 2024

Garland believed just enough to knock down a three-pointer, a two-pointer and three free throws as the Cavaliers outscored the Magic in the fourth quarter 30-26.

With the win, Cleveland advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where it will meet the Boston Celtics.

US Sports News

Magic’s Paolo Banchero Quickly Breaks Scoring Record Held by LeBron James in Game 7 vs. Cavaliers

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Jimm Sallivan