Magic hand Cavaliers worst playoff loss in franchise history, win 121-83 to cut their deficit to 2-1

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — After never even having a lead in Cleveland, the Orlando Magic came back with the biggest postseason victory ever over the Cavaliers.

Paolo Banchero had 31 points and 14 rebounds, Jalen Suggs added 24 points and the Magic rolled to a 121-83 rout on Thursday night, cutting the Cavaliers' lead to 2-1 in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Franz Wagner finished with 16 points and eight assists for the Magic, who led by 43 points on the way to the third-largest margin of victory in a playoff game. They earned their first playoff victory since 2020 and the first on their home floor since April 26, 2011.

They can even the series with a victory at home Saturday afternoon.

“Nobody’s partying,” said Banchero, who had no turnovers in 29 minutes after committing 15 in the first two games. “We know we have to do the same thing on Saturday. Obviously we’re proud of the win tonight. It is big for this group to get your first playoff win but we want the whole series.”

Jarrett Allen had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who shot 39% from the field and 23.5% from 3-point range. Caris LeVert added 15 points and Donovan Mitchell had 13 points and seven assists.

The Cavs' previous worst playoff loss was a 36-point defeat against Washington on April 24, 2008.

“We knew they were going to come out with a punch but we’ve got to find a way to score and it starts with me,” said Mitchell, who had his left knee packed in ice after falling into Banchero early in the game. “You don’t get two wins for winning by more than 20, so you’ve got to keep it in that perspective.

"At the end of he day we could have lost by 20 or 40, it doesn’t matter. It’s one win.”

Orlando finally took its first lead of the series in the first quarter and blew the game open in the third. Mitchell, Allen, and Cleveland starters Evan Mobley and Max Strus were taken out of the game with 3:16 left in the period and the Cavaliers down 92-58.

“I feel like it was reverse roles,” Allen said. “When we were at home we came out with a lot of energy, a lot of physicality, and they did the same thing to us and we just didn’t respond right away.”

After missing 10 of their first 11 shots and falling behind by seven, the Magic made 34 of their next 52 field-goal attempts and finished the game at 51.1% (47 for 92).

A 3-pointer by Banchero with 5:27 left in the first quarter gave them their first lead of the series and they closed the period on a 13-0 run. Cole Anthony's 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer, his first basket of the series, made it 31-21.

Banchero scored twice and Suggs and Jonathan Isaac hit 3-pointers in a 10-0 run late in the first half that left Orlando with a 55-34 lead.

Banchero and Suggs took over the third quarter, combining for 21 of Orlando's first 27 points.

Their only playoff victories larger than this one were by 47 over Boston in 1995, and by 43 against Atlanta in 2010.

The Magic made one lineup change after losing the first two games by 14 and 10 points and shooting just 34.3%. Wendell Carter Jr. returned to the starting lineup at center after being replaced by Isaac in Games 1 and 2 and the regular-season finale.

“A lot of his stuff doesn’t show up in the stat sheet but I thought he did a great job of keeping Jarrett off the glass a little bit,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said of Carter, who had two points and five rebounds.

Considering the results of all thee games, Carter is likely to start again in Game 4.

“It’s a lesson learned about the importance of the start of the game, and setting the tone,” said Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “They came out and set the tone, we tried to respond and we struggled in doing so.”

Ashley Moyer-Gleich was part of the officiating crew for the game, her first NBA playoff assignment. Moyer-Gleich became the second woman to be part of a referee crew in the playoffs, joining Violet Palmer, who last worked a playoff game in 2012.

This story has been corrected to show that Orlando's previous playoff victory was in 2020. A previous version said that it was in 2019.

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero, top, fouls Cleveland Cavaliers guard Caris LeVert (3) on a shot attempt during the first half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Caris LeVert (3) shoots in front of Orlando Magic guard Markelle Fultz during the first half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley, right, shoots over Orlando Magic center Moritz Wagner during the first half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Georges Niang, left, tries to block a pass by Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) during the first half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Caris LeVert, right, drives past Orlando Magic guard Markelle Fultz (20) during the first half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) celebrates after making a 3-point shot against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

The Orlando Magic bench reacts as guard Jalen Suggs (4) celebrates his 3-point shot against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel ordered the local offices of Qatar's Al Jazeera satellite news network to close Sunday, escalating a long-running feud between the broadcaster and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line government as Doha-mediated cease-fire negotiations with Hamas hang in the balance.

The extraordinary order, which includes confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channel’s reports and blocking its websites, is believed to be the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet.

Al Jazeera went off Israel’s main cable provider in the hours after the order. However, its website and streaming links across multiple online platforms still operated Sunday.

The network has reported the Israeli-Hamas war nonstop since the militants' initial cross-border attack Oct. 7 and has maintained 24-hour coverage in the Gaza Strip amid Israel's grinding ground offensive that has killed and wounded members of its own staff. While including on-the-ground reporting of the war's casualties, its Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and other militant groups in the region, drawing Netanyahu's ire.

“Al Jazeera reporters harmed Israel’s security and incited against soldiers,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “It’s time to remove the Hamas mouthpiece from our country.”

Al Jazeera issued a statement vowing it will “pursue all available legal channels through international legal institutions in its quest to protect both its rights and journalists, as well as the public’s right to information.”

“Israel’s ongoing suppression of the free press, seen as an effort to conceal its actions in the Gaza Strip, stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law,” the network said. “Israel’s direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera from its commitment to cover, whilst more than 140 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war on Gaza.”

Israeli media said the order allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days.

The Israeli government has taken action against individual reporters over the decades since its founding in 1948, but broadly allows for a rambunctious media scene that includes foreign bureaus from around the world, even from Arab nations. That changed with a law passed last month, which Netanyahu's office says allows the government to take action against a foreign channel seen as “harming the country.”

Immediately after the announcement, Al Jazeera's English arm began broadcasting a prerecorded message from one of its correspondents from a hotel the channel has used for months in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to one day have for their future state.

“They're also banning any devices — that includes my mobile phone,” correspondent Imran Khan said. "If I use that to do any kind of newsgathering, then the Israelis can simply confiscate it.”

The ban did not appear to affect the channel’s operations in the occupied West Bank or Gaza Strip, where Israel wields control but which are not sovereign Israeli territory.

The decision threatens to heighten tensions with Qatar at a time when the Doha government is playing a key role in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza, along with Egypt and the United States.

Qatar has had strained ties with Netanyahu in particular since he made comments suggesting that Qatar is not exerting enough pressure on Hamas to prompt it to relent in its terms for a truce deal. Qatar hosts Hamas leaders in exile at a political office in Doha.

The sides appear to be close to striking a deal, but multiple previous rounds of talks have ended with no agreement.

In a statement Sunday, Hamas condemned the Israeli government order, calling on international organizations to take measures against Israel.

Shortly after the government's decision, Cabinet members from the National Unity party criticized its timing, saying it “may sabotage the efforts to finalize the negotiations and stems from political considerations.” The party said that in general, it supported the decision.

Israel has long had a rocky relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias. Relations took a major downturn nearly two years ago when Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.

Those relations further deteriorated following the outbreak of Israel’s war against Hamas on Oct. 7, when the militant group carried out a cross-border attack in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Since then, the Israeli military campaign in Gaza has killed over 34,000 people, according to local health officials there, who don't break figures down into civilians and combatants.

In December, an Israeli strike killed an Al Jazeera cameraman as he reported on the war in southern Gaza. The channel’s bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Dahdouh, was wounded in the same attack. Dahdouh, a correspondent well-known to Palestinians during many wars, later evacuated Gaza but only after Israeli strikes killed his wife, three of his children and a grandson.

Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets to remain in Gaza throughout the war, broadcasting bloody scenes of airstrikes and overcrowded hospitals and accusing Israel of massacres.

Israel accuses Al Jazeera, funded by Qatar's government, of collaborating with Hamas. Criticism of the channel is not new, however. The U.S. government singled out the broadcaster during America’s occupation of Iraq after its 2003 invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein and over airing videos of the late al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.

Al Jazeera has been closed or blocked by other Mideast governments. Those include Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain during a yearslong boycott of Doha by the countries amid a yearslong political dispute that ended in 2021.

In 2013, Egyptian authorities raided a luxury hotel used by Al Jazeera as an operating base after the military takeover that followed mass protests against President Mohammed Morsi. The channel was apparently targeted over its constant coverage of Muslim Brotherhood protests over Morsi’s ouster.

Three Al-Jazeera staff members, Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed received 10-year prison sentences, but were released in 2015 following widespread international criticism.

Gambrell reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Jack Jeffrey in Jerusalem contributed.

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel on Oct. 28, 2023. Netanyahu pledged Tuesday, April 30 to launch an incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering from the almost 7-month-long war, just as cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas appear to be gaining steam. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)