Cavaliers hold off Raptors 122-108 to move to 17-1

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - On Sunday night the Cavaliers (16-1, 9-0 home) welcomed the Toronto Raptors (4-12, 0-8 road) to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The Cavs were coming off three days off, it was the longest break they had since training camp. The rest paid off as the Cavs improved to 17-1 and 10-0 at home with a 122-108 win.

The game was close early and with 8:31 left in the first quarter the Cavs took a 9-5 lead when Isaac Okoro hit Jarrett Allen in the paint. Then Allen played defense blocking a Raptors shot. The Cavs made them pay as Darius Garland hit Allen again in the paint and the Cavs went up 11-5 with 8:12 left. The Cavs then extended the lead to 17-7 on an Evan Mobley jumper in the paint with 7:02 left. Then with 4:37 left the Cavs lead was 25-9 after Ty Jerome scored five straight points after entering the game. Sam Merrill returned to action near the end of the and drained a three. As the first quarter buzzer sounded the Cavs lead was 38-22. Allen led everyone in scoring with 12 first quarter points. Jerom had 10 and Gradey Dick led the Raptors with seven. The Raptors outrebounded the Cavs 11-10.

The Raptors cut the Cleveland lead to 11 points after Evan Mobley fouled Chris Boucher with 9:39 left and Boucher hit both free throws. Toronto then cut the lead to nine points at 45-36 with 7:35 left when Mobley fouled Boucher for the second time in just over two minutes. Then with 7:06 left Donovan Mitchell picked up his first personal when he hacked Scotty Barnes. Barnes hit one of two and the Cavs lead was 45-37. The Cavs lead was back to double digits when Craig Porter, Jr. drove the lane for a layup and was fouled by Davion Mitchell, Porter hit the free throw. The Raptors came right back and cut the Cavs lead to 47-41 with 5:53 left, the Cavs were in the penalty when Jalen Tyson was charged with an offensive foul. Jonathan Mogbo both free throws. The Cavs lead was then five points at 49-44 when showboat Davion Mitchell drained a three and acted like he hit the game winning shot in the NBA finals after with 4:11 left on the second quarter clock. By the time the quarter ended the Cavs lead was back to double digits at 65-55. Allen led all scorers with 15 points. Dick led the Raptors with 12 points. The Raptors outrebounded the Cavs 16-11 in the second quarter and 26-22 in the first half.

The Cavs’ lead continued to grow early in the third when the Cavs took an 80-66 lead with 7:23 left on a Garland triple. After the Raptors cut the lead to 11 The Cavs took an 86-73 lead when Georges Niang hit a jumper. They then extended the lead to 88-75 when Allen scored in the paint. He was fouled but could not hit the free throw. As the quarter advanced the Raptors cut into the Cavs lead and with 1:27 left the Cavs lead was 92-86. It was cut even further with :57 when Jamal Shead hit a three and the lead was 94-89. Mobley then fouled RJ Barrett, and he hit one of two cutting the Cleveland lead to 94-90 with :31 left. As the quarter ended the Cavs led 96-90. Jerome led all scorers with 21 points. Barrett and Dick led the Raptors with 15 each.

The Cavs put some distance between them and the team from up north early in the fourth quarter outscoring the Raptors 10-1 in the first 2:37 to take a 106-91 lead. After Jerome hit a three, Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic took a timeout. The Cavs continued to build the lead. With 8:25 left Okoro dropped in a layup to give the Cavs 110-93. By the 3:16 mark of the game the Cavs led 118-103. The Cavs struggled from three point range in the third quarter shooting only 2 of 9 (22%). But defensively they responded by holding the Raptors to 18 points in the quarter securing the 122-108 win.

Jerome and Mitchell led all scorers with 26 points each. Allen had 23 and pulled down 13 rebounds to earn another double double. The Cavs had six players in double figures in scoring. Mobley had a double double scoring 14 points and pulled down 11 boards. Barnes and Dick led Raptors scoring 18 points each in the losing effort.

As a team the Cavs shot 50% (48 of 97) from the field while the Raptors shot 40% (37 of 92). The big difference was in the paint where the Cavs outscored the Raptors 64-42. The Raptors did outrebound the Cavs 55-49.

The Cavs will have a couple of days off and greet the Atlanta Hawks at RMFH on Wednesday night at 7 pm. The Hawks hold the all-time lead in the series 130-113. But the Cavs do hold the advantage in Cleveland (Cleveland Arena, Richfield Coliseum, RMFH) 72-52. The Cavs defeated the Hawks in three of four games in 2023-24 and were 2-0 in Cleveland.