The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Orlando Magic on Wednesday by a final of 121-111. It was a legitimately earned victory over a top-three team in the Eastern Conference, something that once again showed what the team is capable of. Repeating the effort and consistently doing it will be a separator.
But, when you look at how the Cavs won last night’s game, it’s all the more encouraging. We’ve seen in the past how Cleveland loses its way with a sizable lead. Careless possessions, hurtful turnovers and leaky defense have haunted the wine-and-gold in those moments.
On Wednesday, it looked like it was going the same direction. After being up by as much as 23 points, the Magic got back into the game starting at the tail end of the second quarter and in the beginning of the third, cutting the deficit down to six.
A lot of fouling, a lot of stoppages.
But this time, the Cavs stayed locked in and didn’t relent.
“It was huge because we’ve been in a lot of games like that where we’re up and just give up the lead,” Darius Garland said after the win. “So it was good just trying to sustain it and keep our foot on their neck for the whole 48.
“And it was a good learning experience because like I said, we’ve been in situations like that, and we just let the rope loose. So it was good just to keep the rope and keep pushing the lead a little bit more. So it was good to see that.”
Orlando didn’t stop fighting either. As the Cavs wouldn’t let them get over the hump and continually separated themselves, the Magic made two more runs late that made Cleveland need to execute in big moments.
“I think that’s another step in the right direction for us,” Max Strus said. “We’ve had times where we’ve kind of let those games get out of hand and tonight we kind of grew up a little bit and figured it out and came together as a team.
“And I think that’s another thing that we could build off of and remember a moment like this for future games.”
Laser-focused on the next task following Wednesday’s victory, Mitchell’s attitude was a little more stern.
“We shouldn’t even get to those points. We hold ourselves to a high standard in that regard,” Mitchell said. “I don’t think we’re happy with some of them, but obviously it’s we’re not going to be perfect. We’re going to have those instances throughout the game — especially because a team like this, they don’t quit. They’ve been playing well the entire year.
“For us just to continue to build on that I think is the biggest thing. We did it tonight. Now we’ve got to do it again on Friday and then do it again on Monday. Keep going from there.”
Being able to dig down deep when you’re behind is important, but upholding a high level of play when you’re in front is arguably even more crucial. Hopefully, the Cavs can find a way to do both on a nightly basis.
