Darius Garland’s 21 factors throughout the primary three quarters helped the Cavaliers construct a nine-point lead in Sport 6, however the level guard made one vital mistake within the last minutes that harm Cleveland’s possibilities of clinching their first-round collection Friday.
With simply over three minutes remaining within the fourth quarter, Garland dribbled towards the again nook close to his bench after the Cavaliers collected a rebound, starting to slowly advance the ball.
Garland then began towards the left aspect of the courtroom.
Then, his path shifted — horizontally — towards the middle.
And by the point he was one step away from crossing over the mid-court line, a referee blew the whistle and signaled for an eight-second violation.
The Magic didn’t find yourself scoring on their subsequent sequence after getting the ball again, however the Cavaliers trailed by 5 factors on the time and misplaced a possession to chop into Orlando’s lead — ultimately leading to a 103-96 loss that despatched the collection again to Cleveland for a Sport 7 and wasted Donovan Mitchell’s 50-point masterpiece.
“… Our seven turnovers are alternatives that we don’t get a take a look at,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff informed reporters concerning the Cavaliers’ turnovers within the last body. “So we deal with the basketball, we rebound the basketball, we’ll give ourselves probability.”
Garland, who additionally completed with six rebounds, 5 assists and two steals, appeared shocked after the eight-second violation was known as, stretching each of his arms out whereas Franz Wagner pumped his fist.
Max Strus had initially grabbed the rebound following a missed Magic free throw.
![Darius Garland scored 21 points for the Cavaliers during their Game 6 loss to the Magic on Friday.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/garland-inset-1-usa-today-sports.jpg?w=1024)
That appeared to have reset the shot clock, though Garland didn’t choose up the free ball till a second or two later — as soon as Orlando star Paolo Banchero had poked possession away from Strus.
“So Garland’s like, ‘OK, I simply obtained the ball,’ however that clock is already three deep,” ESPN analyst Richard Jefferson stated on the printed. “That clock is already three seconds deep. So there, he’s not conscious of it.”
The Cavaliers minimize their deficit to 3 factors when Mitchell — who tried 36 pictures, made 22 of them and accounted for each Cleveland level within the fourth — hit a shot on their subsequent offensive possession, however they had been by no means in a position to inch nearer than that throughout the ultimate three minutes.
So after a slim one-point win gave Cleveland — crushed twice by the Magic in Video games 3 and 4 and needing a last-second Evan Mobley block to outlive in Sport 5 — the possibility to shut out its first playoff collection win because the run to the 2018 Finals, the Cavaliers might want to win Sport 7 on Sunday to arrange a second-round matchup with the Celtics.