The Cleveland Cavaliers are just a win away from advancing to the second round of the playoffs after escaping the Toronto Raptors, 125-120, in a hard-fought Game 5 at Rocket Arena on Wednesday.
The Cavaliers clamped down on defense in the fourth quarter, limiting the Raptors to 7-of-28 shooting, to complete the come-from-behind victory. Evan Mobley and Dennis Schroder also hit timely buckets to douse cold water on the Raptors’ rallies.
In the postgame conference, Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson lauded their defense and pointed out their aggressiveness in crashing the boards in the second half.
“I think we limited them to one shot (per possession). I don’t know what their offense was, but it felt like, in the first half, in a quarter, we gave up four (offensive rebounds). It’s like the key to the series for us, being able to rebound the ball, and I felt like we were holding them to one shot,” said Atkinson.
The Raptors had 15 offensive rebounds. They had 21 offensive rebounds in Game 4.
Toronto led Cleveland in almost every statistical category, but the Wine and Gold made the plays that mattered in the final quarter.
The Cavaliers also survived another woeful shooting night from Donovan Mitchell, who scored 19 points on 17 attempts. He was held scoreless in the fourth period. Mitchell, however, downplayed it after the game.
Atkinson has repeatedly espoused the importance of extra effort, and his guys in the frontline, Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Dean Wade, and Thomas Bryant, will continue to play a pivotal role trying to eliminate the Raptors in Game 6 on Friday.