Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers deliver Game 7 magic to defeat Orlando, advance to

CLEVELAND — Whether or not Donovan Mitchell’s long-term future with the Cavaliers is in doubt, the city belongs to him right now.

Mitchell, successor to LeBron James in Cleveland in so many ways, led the franchise to its first playoff series victory without The King since 1993 in a 106-94 win over the Orlando Magic in Game 7 of their first-round series.

Mitchell, following his 50 points in a Game 6 loss, would not be denied Sunday with 24 of his 39 points in the second half, serenaded by deafening “MVP” chants from a raucous, frothing crowd at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

“I told you at the beginning of the series, like, this is why I’m here. It’s my job. It’s why there’s the expectation on myself,” said Mitchell, who has a four-year, $200 million contract extension offer coming his way this summer.

“It’s an honor, obviously, to be part of history in that regard,” Mitchell added, when asked about leading the Cavs to their first series win without LeBron in 31 years. “But the biggest thing is, and I told everybody in the locker room… it doesn’t really mean much. We didn’t make the (team) we made just to come in and win the first round.”

The Cavs will face the top-seeded Boston Celtics in an Eastern Conference semifinal. Game 1 is at Boston’s TD Garden at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Paolo Banchero finished a tremendous first playoff series for the Magic with 38 points and 16 rebounds. The 21-year-old became the youngest player to score 30-plus points in three games in the same playoff series.

Cleveland, winners of four consecutive Game 7s (dating to Game 7 of the 2016 Finals), trailed by as many as 18 in the first half and by 10 at halftime. The Cavs’ comeback was the largest in a Game 7 since at least 1998, according to Elias Sports.

“They went on a heck of a run,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “I think they did a great job of forcing tough shots. Those tough shots and long shots led to runouts. We got stagnant a little bit. We found something that worked, and we missed a couple of shots and they were able to get out and run. Donovan got downhill quite a bit.”

Cleveland tanked the fourth quarter of its last regular-season game to make sure it finished fourth in the Eastern Conference and drew Orlando in the first round. On Sunday, the Cavs were 24 game minutes from rueing that decision.

Mitchell, who was just 3-of-13 in the first half, stormed from the locker room to pour in 17 points in the third. His push through Jalen Suggs’ foul in the lane for a short jumper with 4:09 left in the third quarter tied the score at 64, and subjectively speaking, Cleveland’s arena may not have been that loud after Mitchell’s play since all those Finals runs with James.

“Gotta give a shoutout to those Cleveland fans, that was crazy,” Mitchell said. “I (found) myself standing in the middle of the arena just kind of enjoying the moment.”

Orlando forward Jonathan Isaac said: “He was tough tonight. He…