Orlando, FL— Thirteen years in the making, and the Orlando Magic have gotten their first Playoff win at home with a dominating 121-83 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

After dropping the first two games in Cleveland, the Orlando Magic came into this game three with their backs against the wall and they did not disappoint. A young and inexperienced Orlando team that struggled with their shot, got outrebounded on the boards, and looked lost at times in the first two matchups, responded in the biggest way tonight in front of the home crowd.

There are no words that can truly describe the intensity, buzz, and energy that was in the building tonight for this Magic squad. Head Coach of the Orlando Magic Jamahl Mosley did his best to describe the home-court advantage in the post-game presser as he stated,

“Big time. I said it during the year, I’ll say it again during the playoffs, our fan base is incredible. The energy in this building was absolutely spectacular. The way in which they came out and supported us from the beginning of the game, I think that’s what energized our group to get back on track.

A change not only happened in the final score for this Magic team, but it also did with the starting lineup as Wendell Carter Jr replaced Jonathan Issac who had previously started the first two games of this series. Coach Mosley was asked about the change in the post-game presser and he simply stated,

“You’ve got to try something new. You drop two, you’ve got to change up.”

Despite the Magic getting off to a slow start to begin the game as they shot the ball 0-8 from the field and missed on their first five three-point attempts, the team continued to stay the course as they put together a phenomenal first period of play.

Paolo Banchero, who finished with a game-high 31 points on 13 of 26 shooting from the floor and 4 of 7 from behind the arch, helped lead the way early on for the Magic. Banchero after one period of play had 10 points, seven rebounds, and knocked down two shots from long distance. Paolo Banchero at 21 years-165 days has now become the second youngest player in NBA history to begin his career with three straight 20+ point playoff games, as he now trails only LeBron James.

“I would say when I made my first basket. I just threw it up and it went in.” Paolo Banchero when he realized he had it going. “Because I missed the first like five or six and I knew that they were all pretty easy shots and that I was just too excited almost, too much energy— So, I would say when the first one went in, and it wasn’t even supposed to go in. I was really trying to get a foul but that’s when I was like ok, I’ve got it going from here.”

Former 2021 lottery picks Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner helped set the tone early on as well for this Magic squad. Suggs in the first quarter had six points, a big-time three on the right wing, and was playing incredible defense on the perimeter on both Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. Franz Wagner scored 10 first-quarter points, which featured one triple, and a big layup down the middle of the lane that set the crowd on fire as the Magic led the Cavaliers 31-21 after one.

The Magic continued to extend their lead in the second quarter as the second unit came in and played a complete game from start to finish. Cole Anthony, who had scored a combined zero points in the first two matchups flipped the script this evening as he finished the night with 10 points, three assists, and was a catalyst for the strong bench play tonight. Jonathan Issac made a huge impact off the bench in the second quarter and Issac finished the night with eight points, one steal, and two big triples that helped ignite the crowd. Orlando would lead Cleveland going into the halftime locker room 61-45.

After an emotional and incredible first half from this young Magic team, they could’ve very easily faltered and come out in the third period lackadaisical, but they continued to put their foot on the gas pedal and it led to a dominant victory.

Orlando punched Cleveland in the mouth in that third period of play, and the Cavs had zero shot of responding with such a large deficit looming over them heading into the final quarter. The Magic outscored the Cavs 35-16 in the third quarter that featured highlight-level reel plays all over the court. Both Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs helped put away this Cavs team in the third quarter as they combined for 25 points, on 10 of 14 shooting, and connected on three shots from deep.

Orlando would head into the final period of play up 96-61, and they would cruise to victory in that fourth quarter. Banchero was not only impactful with his scoring and rebounding tonight, he did a much better job of taking care of the basketball. Paolo had 15 combined turnovers in the first two matchups, and he had zero turnovers in game three. Coach Molsey talked about Paolo’s job taking care of the ball in game three and he stated,

“I think that’s very key in this game, whether that’s finishing possessions out with a rebound, taking care of the basketball, getting a shot up each possession down, offensive rebounds, all of those little things that we’re going to have to continue to do.”

Jalen Suggs would finish the evening with 24 points, on 9 of 11 shooting from the field, 3 of 5 from distance, and he chipped in two steals, all while playing incredible defense all night long. I asked Jalen Suggs post-game about how special it is for this core group of guys who have been intact for multiple years now to get their first playoff win together and he stated,

“I think it means a lot because of what you said, because of the character of the people that we have— It’s been around good people, you know, teams that are like families, and this is one of those ones. I wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else and share this moment with anybody else. So, yeah, just very proud of everybody from the staff down to the players, down to everybody that’s part of the organization.”

The Magic finished the evening with a much better offensive performance than they did in their first two showings. Orlando shot 47 of 92 from the floor (51.1%), 13 of 37 from three (35.1%), and hit their shots at the free throw line as they went 14 of 16 from the line (87.5%). Defensively this team was stout all night long limiting the Cavs to just 83 points, as the Magic have now held the Cavs under 100 points in three straight games. Donovan Mitchell was hounded all night long and he struggled as he only scored 13 points on 6 of 16 shooting and was 1 of 6 from behind the arch.

“I don’t think you can have words on it. I think they’ve done such a good job of continuously supporting this group, this organization, this franchise, and this is a group that enjoys all of that support.” Jamahl Mosley on the Magic getting their first home playoff win in 13 seasons. “For us to get that win, this win, is great, to be able to help them celebrate this moment.”

This Magic team has every reason to celebrate their first playoff win, and they should. But this young Orlando team will have to get prepared for their next matchup at home for the Cavaliers, as the Magic will look to even up the series two games a piece. The Magic will tip-off at the Kia Center on Saturday at 1 PM for game four of this series.