Orlando's Franz Wagner moves against Cleveland's Darius Garland durng Saturday's NBA Playoff game (AP photo)

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — By the time Franz Wagner finished outscoring Cleveland by himself in the third quarter, what had been a competitive game turned into another rout in this series between the Orlando Magic and Cavaliers.

Wagner had 34 points and 13 rebounds, and the Magic held the Cavaliers scoreless for a second-half stretch of almost seven minutes, cruising to a 112-89 victory Saturday that tied the Eastern Conference first-round series at 2-2.

After putting up 60 points in the first half, Cleveland was outscored 37-10 in the third quarter and managed only 29 points in the second half.

Asked if he had ever seen a more dominant defensive quarter, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said: “I’d have to look that one up.”

Wagner had 10 points inthe first five minutes of the third quarter and finished with 12 in the period, when the Cavaliers missed 14 of their 18 shots.

“Once we came back from that nine-point deficit starting the third, and they took that timeout, I felt like OK, the momentum is swinging in our direction,” Magic big man Jonathan Isaac said.

It never swung back.

Game 4 of the series will be Tuesday night in Cleveland, where the No. 4-seeded Cavaliers won the first two by double digits before getting blown out twice in Florida.

Isaac (14 points, seven rebounds, two blocks) and Markelle Fultz (12 points, four rebounds) gave the Magic major help off the bench. Paolo Banchero, who had 35 points in Orlando’s 121-83 win in Game 3 on Thursday night, finished with nine points and five assists in his first single-digit scoring game since Nov. 29.

Jarrett Allen had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers. Donovan Mitchell had 18 points, all in the first half.

“Ten points (in a quarter) is outrageous,” Donovan said. “We have to be better. I have to be better. I’m disappointed in myself, so it’s on me. You can’t have 18 points in the first half and zero in the second, and only four shots.”

Including the games in this series, the Magic have won six straight at home while losing six straight on the road.

“We’re not satisfied at all,” Wagner said. “We just got two wins. We need two more against them so we’ve got to stay locked in and try to get the next one in Cleveland.”

Wagner opened the second half by converting a Cleveland turnover into a layup and hitting a jump shot from the free throw line. He added a 3-pointer and a three-point play on a five-minute, 17-6 run that put Orlando up 68-67.

The Magic finished the quarter with 14 straight points, and three straight baskets by Franz Wagner stretched their lead to 24 early in the fourth quarter.

Max Strus’ 3-pointer with 5:26 left in the third quarter accounted for the Cavs’ final points of the period. They did not score again until Caris LeVert’s jumper with 10:40 left in the fourth.

THUNDER 106, PELICANS 85

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New Orleans Pelicans in New Orleans to take a 3-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey each scored 21 for the Thunder, who escaped Game 1 with a two-point victory before posting victory margins of 32 in Game 2 and 21 in Game 3.

Top-seeded Oklahoma City hit 17 of 36 (47.2%) from 3-point range and held a lead of 10 points or more throughout the second half, going up by as many as 24 in the fourth quarter.

The eighth-seeded Pelicans, who’ve been without star forward Zion Williamson during the series because of his hamstring injury, will try to avoid elimination at home in Game 4 on Monday night. But even if they do, history is not on their side. No team in NBA history has come back from a 3-0 series deficit.

Brandon Ingram scored 19 points and CJ McCollum had 16 for New Orleans, which struggled to hit from the perimeter and to take care of the ball.

The Pelicans, who shot just 27.7% from 3-point range during the series’ first two games combined, improved only marginally in their return home, hitting 28.1% (9 of 32). New Orleans also turned the ball over 21 times, leading to 23 Thunder points.

The game began ominously for the Thunder when Williams took a forearm to the face from Ingram while attempting a driving floater and fell to his hands and knees.

No foul was called on the collision, which sent Williams to the locker room for much of the first quarter before he checked back in late in the period.

The game was competitive until the Thunder went on a 14-0 run in the second quarter that gave Oklahoma City a 54-39 lead.

LAKERS 119, DENVER 108

The Los Angeles Lakers finally cracked the Denver Nuggets’ mastery of this rivalry and extended their playoff lives for at least another game.

To absolutely nobody’s surprise, LeBron James led the way.

James scored 30 points, Anthony Davis added 25 points and 23 rebounds, and the Lakers avoided postseason elimination in Game 4 of their first-round series Saturday night.

D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves scored 21 points apiece for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who snapped their 11-game losing streak against the defending NBA champions with their first win over the Nuggets since December 2022.

“We get another opportunity to go play one more game, and if we win, come back and play another one and keep moving from there,” Reaves said. “Odds aren’t stacked in our favor, but anytime we can keep ourselves floating above water and give ourselves an opportunity to do something special, we’re up for the challenge.”

Denver swept Los Angeles out of the Western Conference finals last season, but the current Lakers responded to this 0-3 deficit with a performance more worthy of a team that rolled into the postseason with 12 wins in 15 games. James scored 14 points in the fourth quarter on 6-of-8 shooting, again carrying the Lakers late in his 21st NBA season.

Game 5 is Monday night in Denver.

Nikola Jokic had 33 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists for his 18th career triple-double and second in this series, but the two-time MVP and his teammates couldn’t reassert their usual late-game dominance over the Lakers.

After blowing a double-digit lead in each of the first three games of the series, Los Angeles again took a healthy lead early in the second half of Game 4, but never fell behind again despite the Nuggets’ unsurprising late rally.

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