05/03/26 11:15:00
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05/03 23:13 CDT Allen ties playoff career high with 22 points as Cavaliers beat
Raptors 114-102 to advance
Allen ties playoff career high with 22 points as Cavaliers beat Raptors 114-102
to advance
By JOE REEDY
AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP) --- Jarrett Allen tied his playoff career high with 22 points
and grabbed 19 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers advanced to the Eastern
Conference semifinals with a 114-102 victory over the Toronto Raptors in Game 7
of their series Sunday night.
Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 22 points and James Harden added 18 in
a series in which the home team won all seven games.
Cleveland, the No. 4 seed, will visit top-seeded Detroit on Tuesday night in
Game 1 of the second round. The Central Division rivals split their four
regular-season meetings.
"I think we've already moved on (to focusing on Detroit)," Mitchell said on the
court immediately after the final buzzer. "We understand we won this game, but
we play in a couple days.,"
Scottie Barnes had 24 points and nine rebounds and RJ Barrett scored 23 for the
Raptors, who were in the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
All-Star forward Brandon Ingram missed his second straight game with a bruised
right heel.
"We gave it all, everything we had today," Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said.
"Our guys were awesome. We made it hard on them."
Allen had 14 points and 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive end, as
Cleveland went on a 49-21 run during a 15-minute span over the second and third
quarters where it turned a nine-point deficit into an 19-point advantage.
One of Allen's baskets during the third quarter was a fast-break dunk after Max
Strus stole the ball from Barnes to make it 74-59.
Cleveland was 17 of 33 from the field, including five 3-pointers, during the
run while converting seven of Toronto's turnovers into 14 points. The Raptors
shot 6 of 23 and were 1 of 8 behind the arc.
The Cavaliers also had a 25-8 rebounding advantage during the spurt, and
converted 10 offensive boards into 14 points.
"They were scoring in transition, getting some offensive rebounds," Barnes
said. "The offensive rebounds were giving them extra possessions. That really
hurt us, giving them momentum."
Toronto led for most of the first half and had a 10-point lead midway through
the second quarter before Cleveland began its comeback.
The Cavaliers were down 47-38 with 2:58 remaining before going on a 11-2 run to
close the half and tie it at 49. The Cavs were 4 of 17 on 3-pointers before
Harden, Strus and Jaylon Tyson connected from beyond the arc.
"Sam (Merrill) said this whole series, we haven't closed out the second
quarter. We all took that to heart. We all looked at ourselves and decided that
now was the time to do it," said Allen, who had his 11th double-double in a
playoff game. "I think the defensive stops, rebounds and the offense is still
shaky in some areas, but I think when we rebound the ball and get stops, that
just translates to the offense so much better and transition and open shots for
everybody."
Cleveland took the lead with nine straight points to open the third quarter as
Mitchell scored five and Mobley added four.
"In the first half, we were forcing it too much, driving down tunnels and
forcing it to the basket," coach Kenny Atkinson said. "Sometimes you have to
move the defense. We just kept hammering that message."
The Cavaliers are 6-5 in Game 7s, including unbeaten in five home games.
Toronto fell to 3-4 in Game 7 and 0-2 on the road.
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