CLEVELAND – Over the past year, the Cavaliers’ Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse has been an inhospitable place for the Orlando Magic.

Four defeats in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs ended the 2023-24 season in May.

The Magic faced the Cavs on Friday night for the first time since last year’s playoffs. In the match broadcast nationwide on ESPN, Cleveland suffered another unforgettable loss to Orlando: 120-109.

Magic’s leading scorer Paolo Banchero and their center Wendell Carter Jr. Facing a depleted roster missing forwards (right knee tendinitis) and Goga Bitadze (left foot tendon strain), the Cavaliers took an 18-point lead after 12 minutes.

Magic missed all nine 3-pointers in the first quarter. Jett Howard’s corner triple ended Chicago’s streak of 23 consecutive misses since Wednesday night, but Orlando couldn’t get any closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

The Magic, who expect to be without Banchero for at least four to six weeks, are currently 3-3 overall and 0-2 in this five-game road trip.

“I think we didn’t see the shots coming early,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said Friday night. “We got a lot of open looks and early looks. That led to a lot of fast breaks, long rebounds, and they were able to come out at halftime and score a bunch of easy baskets. Now they got some tough baskets early. Appreciate how they’re playing now and how they’re handling the ball, But we have to do better.”

Winning in Cleveland was always going to be a difficult task. Orlando’s fifty was short, and obviously Banchero, Carter Jr., each 6-foot-4. and without Bitadze it was too short.

In place of Banchero, sophomore guard Anthony Black made his debut this season with 7 points and 6 assists. Jonathan Isaac and Moritz Wagner were Orlando’s only big men who competed with Cleveland’s size.

Still, Mosley appreciated his team’s fight. After a first quarter blitz, the Magic outscored the Cavs by seven points.

“Keeping their heads down and understanding Cleveland was playing very good basketball,” Mosley said. “(We) got it down to 13, got back on top in the near future with a few turnovers. But still, these guys never stop fighting and they never will. That’s the way this group is.

“It was great to come out in the second half and show that resilience, but we need to get 48 minutes into the game.”

“I thought we played great after that quarter,” said Jalen Suggs, who scored a career-high 28 points with eight rebounds and seven assists. “I have to keep getting better.”

The contributions of Suggs and Franz Wagner (17) were not enough for the Cavaliers to catch up with the trio of Darius Garland (25), Donovan Mitchell (22) and Evan Mobley (14, 12 rebounds). But Orlando got a nice boost from Tristan da Silva, who logged his first real rotational minutes, scored his first official NBA basket and finished the night with 17 points. On a night spent with a few people he was positive and comfortableAs he stated after the game.

“Honestly, I didn’t want to lose here again,” Suggs said. “I didn’t want to quit the game because I didn’t even want to face that fact. It hurts. You know I don’t like losing in general. Anyone who knows me knows, you know me, you know I’m competitive.”

The Magic couldn’t shake the bad taste brought on by this building, but the Magic did offer a glimpse of how they could compete without Banchero.

“The great thing about the league is we come back (Sunday), then we come back (Monday),” Suggs said. “So there’s no time to worry about it. Get through the night and move on to the next one when the clock strikes midnight.”

The Magic’s five-game road trip continues Sunday night when they face the Dallas Mavericks, the Western Conference Finalists from a season ago. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM ET at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

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