Dennis Schroder scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and James Harden finished with 23 points, rallying the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 125-120 victory over the visiting Toronto Raptors in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Wednesday night.
Fourth-seeded Cleveland, which trailed by 12 points on multiple occasions, has won all three of its home games so far. It can eliminate the fifth-seeded Raptors in Game 6 on Friday in Toronto.
The Cavaliers used a 27-8 run that began late in the third to seize a 122-111 lead on two Max Strus free throws with 4:19 remaining. Schroder was the catalyst, igniting the sellout crowd with a midrange jumper and 3-pointer midway through the fourth.
“He was ‘Dennis the Menace’ tonight,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said of Schroder. “The guy has played in a lot of big games and this type of game fits him.
“I said this before the game. It’s going to come down to, ‘Are we going to win the scrums? Are we going to get the tough rebounds?’ We did that tonight,” the coach added.
Evan Mobley had 23 points and nine rebounds, and Donovan Mitchell scored 19 for Cleveland. Harden also had nine rebounds, five assists and six turnovers in a series-high 39:45 minutes.
Schroder said that team chemistry was great on Wednesday night.
“It was a team effort and everybody stuck with it,” he said. “On the offensive end, everyone was touching it and making the right decisions.”
Mitchell said the Cavaliers stood up to a challenge.
“This is a test, the same test we’ve talked about it all season, and we passed it tonight,” Mitchell said. “It’s like I said before, we’ve got to protect home court, then we’ve got to get one on the road.”
RJ Barrett paced the Raptors with 25 points and Ja’Kobe Walter scored a career-playoff-high 20 points and made 6-of-14 3-point attempts. Jamal Shead added 18 points off the bench and Scottie Barnes had 17 points and 11 assists for Toronto.
Raptors small forward Brandon Ingram injured his right heel in the second quarter and did not return, leaving them without two starters as point guard Immanuel Quickley will miss the entire series with a right hamstring strain.
Point guards Walter and Shead combined to make 10 3-pointers after going 0-for-17 in the previous two games.
Mobley made a 3-pointer and Schroder hit a layup to complete a 13-0 run that gave the Cavaliers a 108-103 advantage early in the fourth. Toronto missed 10 shots and went 4 1/2 minutes without a point until Barrett made a free throw with 7:55 left.
“Dennis (Schroder) played well for them in the second half,” Barnes said. “He gave them that spark. That was the difference-maker right there.”
Barrett made a floater and three free throws to open the third, allowing the Raptors to equal their largest lead at 79-67. After Barnes and Harden were separated on a jump ball by the officials, Mitchell had eight points and cut Cleveland’s deficit to 103-100.
“It just came down to a couple of shots that they knocked down. They had a couple of players step up for them in the second half,” Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said. “That’s the beauty of the playoffs. Because in each game, someone else steps up. They’re a deep team. We cannot take possessions off and not guard Dennis or (Max) Strus or Sam Merrill.”
Walter scored 17 points and five 3-pointers, and Barnes had 14 points and eight rebounds as Toronto shot 64.4% (29 of 45) in leading 74-67 at the half. Harden had 19 points at the break, committing four turnovers in the second alone.
Harden scored 14 points and played the entire first quarter, which saw Toronto jump ahead 22-10 behind eight points from Barnes before the Cavaliers rallied to go in front 38-34. Mitchell drained a 38-footer at the buzzer.
–Field Level Media
