Cavs defeat Raptors, advance to conference semifinals
Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen dunks over Toronto Raptors forward Sandro Mamukelashvili during the first round of the NBA Playoffs. (AP Photo)
CLEVELAND (AP) — Jarrett Allen tied his playoff career high with 22 points and grabbed 19 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 114-102 victory over the Toronto Raptors in Game 7 of their series Sunday night. Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 22 points and James Harden added 18 in a series in which the home team won all seven games. Cleveland, the No. 4 seed, will visit top-seeded Detroit on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the second round. The Central Division rivals split their four regular-season meetings. “I think we’ve already moved on (to focusing on Detroit),” Mitchell said on the court immediately after the final buzzer. “We understand we won this game, but we play in a couple days.,” Scottie Barnes had 24 points and nine rebounds and RJ Barrett scored 23 for the Raptors, who were in the playoffs for the first time since 2022. All-Star forward Brandon Ingram missed his second straight game with a bruised right heel. “We gave it all, everything we had today,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “Our guys were awesome. We made it hard on them.” Allen had 14 points and 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive end, as Cleveland went on a 49-21 run during a 15-minute span over the second and third quarters where it turned a nine-point deficit into an 19-point advantage. One of Allen’s baskets during the third quarter was a fast-break dunk after Max Strus stole the ball from Barnes to make it 74-59. Cleveland was 17 of 33 from the field, including five 3-pointers, during the run while converting seven of Toronto’s turnovers into 14 points. The Raptors shot 6 of 23 and were 1 of 8 behind the arc. The Cavaliers also had a 25-8 rebounding advantage during the spurt, and converted 10 offensive boards into 14 points. “They were scoring in transition, getting some offensive rebounds,” Barnes said. “The offensive rebounds were giving them extra possessions. That really hurt us, giving them momentum.” Toronto led for most of the first half and had a 10-point lead midway through the second quarter before Cleveland began its comeback. The Cavaliers were down 47-38 with 2:58 remaining before going on a 11-2 run to close the half and tie it at 49. The Cavs were 4 of 17 on 3-pointers before Harden, Strus and Jaylon Tyson connected from beyond the arc. “Sam (Merrill) said this whole series, we haven’t closed out the second quarter. We all took that to heart. We all looked at ourselves and decided that now was the time to do it,” said Allen, who had his 11th double-double in a playoff game. “I think the defensive stops, rebounds and the offense is still shaky in some areas, but I think when we rebound the ball and get stops, that just translates to the offense so much better and transition and open shots for everybody.” Cleveland took the lead with nine straight points to open the third quarter as Mitchell scored five and Mobley added four. “In the first half, we were forcing it too much, driving down tunnels and forcing it to the basket,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Sometimes you have to move the defense. We just kept hammering that message.” The Cavaliers are 6-5 in Game 7s, including unbeaten in five home games. Toronto fell to 3-4 in Game 7 and 0-2 on the road. PISTONS 116, MAGIC 94 DETROIT (AP) — Cade Cunningham had 32 points and 12 assists, Tobias Harris added 30 points and the Detroit Pistons beat the Orlando Magic 116-94 in Game 7 on Sunday to win a playoff series for the first time in 18 years. Cunningham averaged 32.4 points for Detroit, which last won a postseason series by beating Orlando in the second round in 2008. The Pistons advance to play the winner of Sunday night’s Game 7 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors. Game 1 will be Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena. “We were pushed to the limit,” Cunningham said. “And it made us really reflect on how we were playing, what got us to this position and what made us win as many games as we won in the regular season. And it got us back to playing the basketball that we knew we were capable of.” The Pistons became the 15th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit and the second in the last two nights, after the Philadelphia 76ers came back to eliminate Boston. “I mean, it’s expected,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of his team’s resiliency. “And that’s the amount of belief that we have in this group. This is a special group. And you can’t count us out. No matter the circumstances, no matter the situation, I like our chances to fight our way back.” They trailed by 24 points in Game 6 in Orlando before rallying to take the series at home. Orlando only scored 113 points in the final six quarters of the series — an average of 18.8 per period. Cunningham and Harris became the first Pistons teammates to score 30 points in a playoff game since Bob Lanier (33) and Howard Porter (30) against the Golden State Warriors on April 17, 1977. “We really bonded this season,” Cunningham said. “This group is super tight. We think we can do anything. We’ve had our backs against the wall at times in the regular season, but we stuck together and we found our way out of it.” Paolo Banchero scored 38 for the Magic. Each team needed a second scoring option in Game 7. Cunningham had carried the Pistons while Banchero was Orlando’s only weapon after Franz Wagner was injured in Game 4. Harris filled that role for Detroit, but Orlando only had one other player reach double figures in the first three quarters, as Desmond Bane had 10. “We just couldn’t find the basket,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We were playing well on defense, but we couldn’t put the ball in the hole.” The Pistons also got a big game from All-Star center Jalen Duren. He was outplayed by Wendell Carter Jr. in the first six games, but put up his first double-double of the series with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Harris scored 17 points in the second quarter as the Pistons finished the half on a 9-2 run to take a 60-49 lead. The Pistons’ surge continued into the second half, as they opened the third quarter with a 11-2 run to go up 71-51. Nine of the points came from Cunningham and Harris. The Magic finished the third quarter with 15 points — the third time in their last five periods they couldn’t reach 20 points. Daniss Jenkins hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give Detroit a 83-64 lead going into the fourth, and the Magic never threatened down the stretch. “They fought and battled the whole way,” Mosley said. “We just didn’t get the job done.”