CLEVELAND — Wendell Carter Jr.’s return from a sprained left wrist Monday against the Cleveland Cavaliers wasn’t enough to give the Orlando Magic a victory to start their brief road trip.
The Magic fell to the Cavaliers 107-101 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to kick off their two-game road swing that’ll end with a matchup against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.
Carter finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists in 27 minutes.
“He understands the game so well and he’s willing to work and make the guys around him better,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said of Carter ahead of Monday’s game. “He’s going to make the right decision. You talk about the assists and finding things in our motion sets, but even in pick-and-rolls, he makes the right decisions.”
Franz Wagner finished with 10 points (4 of 8), 6 assists and 3 rebounds. Cole Anthony had 11 points (4 of 8) and 4 assists while Mo Bamba had 11 points (4 of 6) and 4 rebounds.
The Magic, who scored 62 points in the paint, held the Cavaliers to 40 paint points.
Cleveland has been one of the league’s top paint-scoring teams even with All-Star big man Jarrett Allen being sidelined since March 8 because of a fractured left finger.
“Coming out of the break, they’ve been really good on [the defensive] end of the floor,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of the Magic, who entered Monday allowing 43.9 points in the paint since the All-Star break for the league’s third-best mark. “Their understanding of how they’re using their big guys to protect the paint and one another has taken a big step.”
Darius Garland (25 points, 12 assists), Lauri Markkanen (20 points) and Kevin Love (19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) led the Cavaliers, who ruled out Rookie of the Year candidate Evan Mobley (6 points, 3 rebounds) at halftime after he sprained his left ankle in the second quarter.
The Magic trailed 45-25 in the second after the Cavaliers opened the period on an 18-3 run, but the lineup of Ignas Brazdeikis, Anthony, Wagner, Carter and Bamba got Orlando back in the game and its deficit to 7 at halftime.
Brazdeikis finished with 13 points (6 of 10) and 4 rebounds.
The Magic exchanged leads with the Cavaliers through the second half, taking a 92-90 advantage with 5:51 remaining but played a lineup of Brazdeikis, Jeff Dowtin, Chuma Okeke, Admiral Schofield and Moe Wagner for the final 9:50.
The Magic (20-56), who’ve been eliminated from playoff contention and entered Monday with a three-way tie for the league’s worst record along with the Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets, have more incentive to lose than to win because losses help their lottery odds.
