Merkel Fultz of the Orlando Magic drives # 20 Isaac Okoro of the Cleveland Cavaliers during a game at the Amway Center on April 05, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. Mike Ehrman / Getty Images / AFP
Merkel Fultz has 16 points and six assists in her first start in almost 15 months, with a 120-115 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night helping host Orlando Magic break the six-game losing streak.
Mo Bamba posted his third consecutive double-double. He scored 15 of his 21 points in the first quarter and finished with a team-high 12 rebound and a career-high tie with six blocks.
জিনিস Things you love to see
└📂 Fulz to Bamba: Https://t.co/dNWizcpZz9 pic.twitter.com/76bgZoYzzO
– Orlando Magic (rOrlandoMagic) April 6, 2022
Ignas Brajdekis contributed season-high 20 points – 14 in the first half – and Mo Wagner scored 15 in 6-for-8 in the 20th minute.
Fultz, who scored 8 of 12 field goals in 24 minutes, last started an NBA game on January 6, 2021. He has played a limited number of minutes off the bench since returning from a torn ACL in late February.
Kell is feeling it
📺: https://t.co/dNWizcpZz9 | MerkelF pic.twitter.com/Ovsv9dYNiX
– Orlando Magic (rOrlandoMagic) April 6, 2022
Orlando beat the Cavaliers 32-25 for a 91-86 lead in the third quarter. 6:40 Remaining RJ pushes Hampton’s basket magic advantage to 105-95, but Cleveland continues to lead as 16.2 seconds left Darius Garland’s 3-pointer leads the Cavs to 117-115.
Hampton’s two free throws gave Orlando (21-59) a four-point lead in 10.6 seconds. Garland missed a competitive 3 at the other end, and Devin Kennedy’s free throw with 5.2 seconds left sealed Cleveland’s seventh defeat in nine games.
Orlando, which finished at 16 for 35 from a 3-point range and had just seven turnovers, had a score of eight players in double figures. Robin Lopez and Chuma OK scored 11 points each while Hampton (seven assists) and Kennedy scored 10 each.
Garland (10 assists) scored 13 of his games in the fourth quarter উচ্চ a high of 27 points and Laurie Markkanen chipped in 25 points, six of the Cavaliers ’16 3-pointers.
Cleveland (43-37) got double-doubles from Kevin Love (17 points and 13 rebounds) and Moses Brown (10 points and 12 rebounds). Caris Levert has 11 points.
Orlando’s Franz Wagner, who started 78 games until his left ankle sprain against Toronto on April 1, played just over six minutes before returning to the lineup. Wagner left 5:12 in the first quarter and did not return after his other ankle sprained.
Cleveland and Orlando shot 54 percent (20 for 37) from outside the arc in the first half.
Bamba made five of his 3-point efforts in the first quarter and Magic made 10 in 17 3 seconds in the first half. Markkanen went 4-for-7 from the long range in the first two terms, and Seddy Osman came off the bench to score his 11 points in the second quarter, including three of the Cavaliers’ 10 first-half triplets.
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