by Jarrett Allen had one of the best games of his career at the perfect time as the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied to defeat Toronto 114-102 to advance to the next round of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Detroit Pistons. Allen took over when he needed to and finished with a 22 point, 19 rebound evening as he had to cover up for Mobley who was in foul trouble all night. Allen came up with one monster rebound after another.
As for Mobley, despite only playing 27 minutes, he still managed to finish with 13 points and seven boards. Mobley and Allen proved again tonight that when they make a difference and chip in with significant effort, it maxims what the Cavaliers want to do with Harden and Mitchell and created a well rounded attack. When this occurs and then you mix in the hot shooting of max Strus and Sam Merrill off the bench, the Cavaliers become one of the most dangerous teams in basketball.
Down 47-38 late in the second, the Cavaliers went on a run to tie it up at 49 by halftime. They came out hot in the third and not only took their first lead of the game but went on a 9-0 run to open the half. By the time the third quarter was over, they had outscored the Raptors by a crazy 19-point margin in a wild 38 point quarter, to lead 87-68.
A big part of those runs in the second quarter were thanks in part to Max Strus and Sam Merrill off the bench. The two men combined for 25 huge points tonight with most of them coming in that stretch. Strus had clutch steals in the second quarter comeback along with the third quarter pull away. 15 of their 25 points come from long distance as the men seem to hit clutch shots every time they needed it.
Donovan Mitchell had one of the quietest 22 point nights you’re going to find, but it was enough to get the win. James Harden shot a miserable 3 of 9, but hit 11 from the charity stripe on his way to a 18 point night. Sadly, the dynamic duo only combined for 4 rebounds as they never seemed to get rolling tonight, despite the win.
The Raptors were paced with 24 by Scottie Barnes while RJ Barrett had 23 and Jamael Shead had 14. They were three of four Raptors who finished with double digit scoring as Walter closed out the series with 13 points tonight. The Raptors only went 8 of 28 from deep and when they fell behind big late, that killed them.
The Cavaliers advance to take on a familiar playoff series foe when they travel to Detroit on Tuesday night to tip off the series.
