As the Cleveland Cavaliers had a pivotal Game 5 win over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night, 125-120, to take a 3-2 series lead, the much-needed win was helped by a key outing from veteran Dennis Schroder. While Schroder had a great performance for the Cavs against the Raptors, it was also a halftime message that sparked the team to come into the second half with a different energy.
Cleveland was trailing 74-67 at halftime, trying to shut down the narrative of flaming out early in the postseason, especially since Toronto had won the past two games going into Game 5. Schroder had enough and reminded the team of the urgency of Wednesday night.
“We needed to win this game,” Schroder said, via ESPN. “It’s all about momentum. They had the momentum going into Game 5…We played in front of our fans, and we didn’t play how we should play. I felt like I had to say something to the group, so we can rise and go play Cavs basketball.”
One of the things the veteran guard told the team was to play through its talented big men, like Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
Cavs’ Kenny Atkinson on Dennis Schroder
It wasn’t just as a leader that Schroder stepped up; he did so on the court too, playing the entire fourth quarter and recording 11 of his 19 points, shooting 5-for-8 from the field, helping them to victory. Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson would speak on how that was an outing that the team envisioned for Schroder since trading for him in February.
“When we were talking about trading for [Schroder], that was one of the things that came up: This guy has played in huge games in the NBA and then on the international scene,” Atkinson said. “This type of game fits him. He was, as we like to call him, Dennis the menace tonight.”
It was on both sides of the ball that Cleveland excelled in the end, outscoring the Raptors in the final frame, 25-17. The Cavs look to close out the series in Game 6 on Wednesday night, though the game will be in Toronto.