CLEVELAND — 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.
“He’s ready for those moments. He wants those moments. He works relentlessly on the 3-ball. Those were big shots for us for sure,” Mitchell said of Mobley.
Toronto missed its first 11 shots and was 7 of 28 from the field in the fourth while Cleveland made 7 of its first 11 and was 9 of 19.
“I would not just blame the fourth quarter. We cannot allow this team to score 125 points,” coach Darko Rajakovic said.
The Raptors were hobbled in the final period. Forward Brandon Ingram left the game in the second quarter with right heel inflammation. Fellow All-Star Scottie Barnes also was not at full strength after getting kneed in the quadriceps by Thomas Bryant while driving to the basket in the first half.
Barnes scored just 3 of his 17 points in the second half.
“For the most part, I thought we had this game. We played good enough to win. Just in the fourth quarter, they played a little better,” Barrett said. “What can you do? It’s the playoffs. Now, it’s do or die. Give them credit. We’ll be ready Friday.”
The Cavaliers won despite committing 15 turnovers that resulted in 28 Toronto points. They had 10 in the first half which the Raptors converted into 23 points.
“In the second half, I think ball-handling and Dennis helped relieve some of the pressure off (Mitchell) and (Harden) so I think that was part of it. If we are going to win on the road, we’ve got to find a way to clean that up,” Atkinson said.
