Donovan Mitchell scored nine of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and James Harden had 28 points, lifting the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 115-105 win — and a 2-0 series lead — over the visiting Toronto Raptors in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Monday night.
“They’re one of the greatest (backcourts),” teammate Evan Mobley said of Mitchell and Harden. “It’s hard to stop them because of their offensive prowess, and they can make any shot.”
The Cavaliers beat Toronto for the 12th straight time in the playoffs, tying the NBA record for consecutive playoff wins over a single opponent. Cleveland also has active streaks of 12 in a row over the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons, matching the mark established by the Los Angeles Lakers over the Seattle SuperSonics from 1980-1995.
Mitchell added seven boards and five assists, while Harden also had five steals and four assists, moving into seventh place all-time in the latter category with 1,139 in his playoff career.
“To be honest, they’re a problem,” Raptors shooting guard RJ Barrett said. “They’re a problem and we’ve got to figure out how to fix that. Now going home, we’ve got to get these next two.”
Mobley had 25 points and eight rebounds, making 11 of 13 field goal attempts for the fourth-seeded Cavaliers. Jarrett Allen added 10 points and three blocks for the Cavaliers in the wire-to-wire victory.
Scottie Barnes scored a playoff career-high 26 points for the fifth-seeded Raptors. Game 3 is Thursday in Toronto.
Barrett had 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Collin Murray-Boyles scored 17 and Sandro Mamukelashvili chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Toronto. Starting center Jakob Poeltl had two points in the first quarter and did not play the rest of the game.
Toronto is 0-9 all-time at Cleveland in the postseason. Brandon Ingram, who was limited to nine shots in Game 1, had seven points on 3-of-15 shooting from the field and went scoreless in the opening half.
Raptors point guard Immanuel Quickley (right hamstring strain) practiced Sunday, but missed his second straight game. Coach Darko Rajakovic said he “is progressing,” but did not speculate on his status for the remainder of the series.
Cleveland didn’t put the game away until four minutes were left, going up 104-90 when Mitchell drained a 3-pointer and scored in transition off a Harden steal.
“They gave us a lot of different looks and got close, but we kept our poise on both ends,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “This is a real playoff win, what the playoffs are about. They came at us hard.”
Dean Wade made a 3-pointer midway through the third, giving the Cavaliers the largest lead to that point at 71-55, but Toronto ended the period on a 22-13 run to get back within seven. Barnes scored eight points in the surge and Ja’Kobe Walter had six.
Cleveland held a 54-48 advantage at intermission, but the Raptors kept it close as Barnes scored nine points and Barrett had eight in the second quarter. Harden was the high man in the half with 16 points and Mitchell had 15.
Cleveland won the opener 126-113.
“Obviously, losing sucks and we hate to lose, but this is not impossible,” Barrett said. “If we get both games at home, then we’re right back in this thing.”
–Field Level Media
