Dennis Schroder scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, Evan Mobley hit a pair of pivotal 3-pointers in the final period and finished with 23 points, and the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied for a 125-120 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night in Game 5 of their first-round series.
Cleveland leads the series 3-2. Game 6 is Friday night in Toronto.
James Harden scored 23 points and Donovan Mitchell added 19 for the Cavaliers.
“This was a step for us from a mental toughness point of view. I thought we showed good poise and resiliency,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “When you could have let your guard down, our guys kept with it.”
RJ Barrett led Toronto with 25 points while Ja’Kobe Walter added 20 and Jamal Shead had 18 off the bench.
The Raptors led 74-67 at halftime and scored the first five points of the third quarter. The Cavaliers slowly rallied but trailed 103-100 going into the final 12 minutes.
Cleveland seized control by scoring the first eight points of the fourth quarter. Jaylon Tyson hit a step-back 3-pointer to tie it at 103-all, and a 3 by Mobley gave the Cavaliers a 106-103 lead.
sports
