The combination of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden helped propel the Cavs past the Raptors 115-105 in Game 2 of their first round series at Rocket Arena on Monday night.
Game 3 is Thursday night in Toronto.
Mitchell and Harden combined to score to 58 of the Cleveland’s 115 points. Mitchell led the way with a game-high 30 points to go along with seven rebounds, and five assists, while Harden had 28 points, five rebounds, four assists, and five steals.
The Cavs, who never trailed in this one, led 54-48 at halftime. Cleveland used a 17-7 run to push their lead to 71-55 in third, which was their largest lead of the game. In the fourth, Toronto would cut the lead to 92-86 with just under seven minutes to go, but the Cavs would go on a 14-4 run to close the show.
Evan Mobley added 25 points and eight rebounds for the Cavs. This was the fourth time in Cavs’ playoff history that three players had 25 points or more in a postseason game.
Toronto, who had five players in double figures, were led by Scottie Barnes, who had 26 points, and R.J. Barrett added 22.
The Raptors were again without Immanuel Quickley(hamstring) in Game 2.
Bottom Line:
Cavs now have a commanding 2-0 lead as they head to Toronto for Games’ 3 & 4. Obviously, Toronto having a difficult time slowing down Mitchell and Harden. In addition, the Raptors are having a difficult time of taking care of the ball. After forcing 18 turnovers in Game 1, the Cavs forced 22 turnovers in Game 2.
While it’s hard to argue with the results, the Cavs could play a little better on defense as Toronto shot over 50% in both games in Cleveland, so that has to improve for the Cavs when they head north of the border.
In addition, Cleveland has to protect the ball a little better as they had 17 turnovers in Game 1, and 14 on Monday night.
You know Toronto is going to come out swinging in Game 3, and how the Cavs handle that flurry, will determine whether or not we have a short series.
Leave a Reply