NBA: Cavs use third-quarter surge to best Raptors in Game 7

Jarrett Allen scored 14 of his career playoff-tying 22 points in the third quarter and grabbed 19 rebounds to power the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 114-102 victory over the visiting Toronto Raptors on Sunday night in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Fourth-seeded Cleveland, which trailed by double digits in the first and second quarters, advances to face top-seeded Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference semifinals beginning Tuesday in Detroit. The home team won every game in the Cavaliers-Pistons regular-season series.

Donovan Mitchell also finished with 22 points, while James Harden added 18 points and six rebounds for the Cavaliers, who built a commanding 94-72 lead early in the fourth quarter. Allen collected 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive end, in a dominant third quarter when Cleveland outscored Toronto 38-19.

“Emotions were high and the crowd was into it,” Allen said, adding with a laugh, “I just had to let them know. I was playing hard, trying to get us ahead.”

Mitchell praised Allen’s impact on both the game and the atmosphere.

“The crowd brought the same energy as Jarrett Allen,” Mitchell said. “He took over. He was doing everything—getting steals, rebounds, scoring points.”

Scottie Barnes led Toronto with 24 points, nine rebounds, and six assists for the fifth-seeded Raptors. RJ Barrett scored 23 points on 9-of-25 shooting, while Jamal Shead added 14 points and seven assists.

“For the stage of his career, Scottie gave it everything,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but this is not the best version of Scottie we’re going to see. He’s going to be even better next season.”

Barnes, however, pointed to Toronto’s struggles on the boards as a key factor in the loss.

“They worked harder than us in this game,” Barnes said. “They had 20 offensive rebounds. They had four guys crashing every play.”

Cleveland improved to 5-0 all-time at home in Game 7s and has never lost a playoff series to Toronto on its home court, winning all 11 such matchups. The Cavaliers have also taken all four postseason series between the teams.

Evan Mobley finished with 13 points and opened the second half with a basket that gave Cleveland its first lead since early in the game at 51-49. That sparked a 20-2 run stretching across the second and third quarters, capped by a Mitchell basket with 9:28 left in the third that made it 58-49.

“Jarrett really took us over the top with that third-quarter performance,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “That’s the best I’ve ever seen him. He was absolutely incredible tonight.”

Cleveland closed the first half on an 11-2 run to tie the game at 49-all, highlighted by a Jaylon Tyson three-pointer. Shead and Barnes led all scorers at halftime with 14 points each, while Harden had 10 points and Sam Merrill added eight off the bench.

“It felt like we had them,” Barrett said. “That’s what’s going to hurt. We definitely could have won this game and this series.”

The Cavaliers committed 13 first-half turnovers, which Toronto converted into 14 points. Cleveland had six turnovers in the first quarter and seven in the second.

Barnes scored the first five points of the game after Allen missed a dunk on Cleveland’s opening possession. Shead added a runner to give Toronto a 22-12 lead, but Merrill scored five points in the final three minutes to trim the deficit to 26-24.

Shead finished the quarter with seven points, while Barnes added five points and four assists as Toronto shot 55% (11 of 20) from the field.

The Raptors were without two starters: small forward Brandon Ingram (right heel soreness) and point guard Immanuel Quickley (right hamstring strain).

“We gave everything we had today,” Rajakovic said. “Our guys were awesome. We made it hard on Cleveland.” -Field Level Media/Reuters