On Wednesday evening, the Cleveland Cavs went up 3-2 in their first round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors with a narrow 125-120 win at home. After a defensive struggle in Game 4 between the two teams, this contest was a track meet, and the Cavs were ultimately able to make just enough plays down the stretch to earn the win.
One of the heroes of the game was Dennis Schroder, who scored 19 points off the bench, including 11 in the fourth quarter, and now, Donovan Mitchell has revealed the selfless decision he made to allow Schroder to keep cooking the Raptors down the stretch of the game, declining a substitution from head coach Kenny Atkinson so the reserve guard could stay in the contest.
“It’s about the group,” Mitchell said. “This is working. We’re getting stops. And I think the biggest thing about this group is, it’s about the collective. It isn’t about one person or two people. We know who we are, and we know what Dennis is bringing. You ride the hot hand.”
The Cavs didn’t get a ton of stops for the first three quarters of the game on Wednesday, but they ended up holding the Raptors to just 17 points in the fourth quarter, thanks in large part to an injury suffered by Brandon Ingram. That, combined with the surge from Schroder down the stretch of the game, gave the Cavs just enough momentum to get over the finish line and finish the game.
The Cavs are now just one win away from punching their ticket to the second round for a third consecutive season, and will look to finish the job when the two teams hit the floor for Game 6 on Friday evening back in Toronto.