Wine & Gold Takes the Game and the Series

*** The first six games of the white-knuckle First Round series between the Cavs and Raptors were primarily settled in the fourth quarter. Sunday’s Game 7 was decided right through the middle. 

After Toronto led through the first two quarters, Cleveland closed the first half on an 11-2 run to tie the game and started the second half on a 9-0 burst to blow the contest open. When the smoke cleared, the Wine & Gold had run away with the game and the series – taking the 114-102 decision, ending the Raptors season and advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals to face a familiar playoff nemesis beginning on Tuesday night in Detroit.

“We were really struggling until then,” said Coach Kenny Atkinson of the midgame surge. “When we went into that locker room, you could hear the chatter. Everyone had become more enthusiastic and more attuned to what we needed to do better. Sometimes you go into half six or eight points down, your sternum’s down, the spirit’s down. But that run made our halftime mojo better. The conversations were better, more positive. It was huge.”

With Sunday’s victory, the Cavs have now beaten the Raptors in all four postseason matchups since 2016 and have still never lost a home game. 

Jarrett Allen had been stellar on the defensive end throughout the series, but he was absolutely dominant on both ends on Sunday, setting the tone for the one-sided win in front of a raucous, sold-out Rocket Arena crowd. 

The 9^th-year big man played like a man possessed and was the key to Cleveland’s third-quarter surge – going off for 14 points and 10 rebounds in a period in which the Cavs outscored Toronto, 38-19. The Cavaliers would eventually increase their advantage to 21 points early in the fourth and barely looked back from there.

Overall, Allen finished with 22 points and a game-high 19 boards – eight of those off the offensive glass – going 7-of-11 from the floor and 8-of-14 from the stripe, adding two steals and a game-high three blocks. In the series, Allen blocked 16 shots in the final six games of the series, with multiple swats in each of those contests. 

“I had a great time doing it,” smiled Allen following the win. “That was the first Game 7 that I’ve ever played in. It was a unique experience. Driving here from my house, I was like: Wow, I’m going to a Game 7, everything’s on the line. It’s just a different feeling that I’ve never experienced before. The crowd was into it. I was into it. I had a great time doing it.”

Including Sunday night’s win, the Cavaliers are now 17-4 this season when Allen registers a double-double. They’re 7-2 when he’s doubled-up in the playoffs and 144-51 over the course of his Cavs career. 

After dropping Friday night’s game in dramatic fashion in Toronto, the Cavs trailed by 10 points early on Sunday. In the first half, Cleveland had turned the ball over 13 times, had been outscored, 20-8, in the paint and saw Evan Mobley saddled with three fouls. 

But after closing the gap at intermission, the Cavs were a different team in the second stanza. Led by Allen, Cleveland held Toronto to 25 percent shooting, forced five turnovers and outrebounded the Raptors, 22-8. 

Donovan Mitchell tallied 22 points of his own, going 9-for-20 from the floor, and James Harden pitched in with 18 points, six boards, three assists and a team-high three steals. Between the backcourt duo, they committed just four combined turnovers on the night. 

Evan Mobley rounded out the Cavs starters in double-figures with 13 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot. 

As energized as Jarrett Allen was on Sunday night, Max Strus had just as much juice – finishing with 12 points, eight boards, a team-high five assists, two steals and a block in 31 electric minutes off the bench, leading Cleveland with a plus/minus mark of +20. 

“(Max) is a maniac,” said Donovan Mitchell. “You can’t really describe all the stuff that he does. It’s just the energy level. He comes out and sets the tone for us. A lot of the things he does on the court don’t show up on the stat sheet. He’s a gamer. When the big moments come, he’s a guy you want to go to war with. You want a crazy dude on your side, and he’s one of those for sure.”

Sam Merrill added 13 points on Sunday, going 4-of-8 from the floor, including 3-of-7 from long-distance, adding three boards and a pair of assists. Jaylon Tyson also pitched in with some productive minutes off the bench, chipping in with seven points, nine rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes of work. 

Overall, Cleveland’s second unit outscored Toronto’s, 34-19. The Cavaliers dominated on the boards, 60-33, and especially on the offensive glass, 23-7. The 60 rebounds marked a franchise postseason record. 

The Raptors, as they had been throughout the series, were led by Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett. Barnes finished with a game-high 24 points to go with nine boards and six assists; Barrett, 23 points, six assists and three steals. Jamal Shead finished with 14 points and seven dimes and Ja’Kobe Walter added 13 points and three steals as the only other Raptors to notch double-figures as their season came to an end. 

*** After vanquishing the Raptors on Sunday night, the Cavaliers will hit the road for Games 1 and 2 in Motown on Tuesday and Thursday nights, respectively. The East-leading Pistons won their Game 7 matchup over Orlando earlier in the afternoon. The semifinal matchup will mark the fifth time Cleveland and Detroit will square off in the postseason, the first time since 2015-16, when they swept the Pistons in the First Round en route to the NBA title.