Jarrett Allen, Donovan Mitchell each have big nights as Cavaliers pull away to take Game 7 from Raptors

For the final 27 minutes of Game 7, the Cleveland Cavaliers that a lot of people expected to show up in Game 1 — the one with more talent than their Toronto opponents — finally showed up.

In the final three minutes of the second quarter through the end of the third quarter, the Cavaliers shot 51.5% from the floor, hit 38.5% of their 3-point attempts, grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and turned them into 14 points, and forced seven turnovers that became 14 points the other way. In that same stretch, Toronto shot 29.2% from the field and was 1-of-8 from 3.

By the end of that, the Cavaliers had turned a nine point deficit into a 19 point lead, and the game was all but over.
Toronto made a push in the fourth but never got the deficit down to single digits, and Cleveland cruised to a 114-102 Game 7 win.

With the victory, the Cavaliers advance and will travel to Detroit to take on the No. 1 seed Pistons on Tuesday night for the start of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The star of this game for Cleveland was big man Jarrett Allen, who stepped up with Evan Mobley in foul trouble and finished with 22 points, 19 rebounds (eight of those offensive), three blocks and a couple of steals.

Donovan Mitchell added 22 points for the Cavaliers and James Harden, after a slow start, scored 18.

Scottie Barnes had a strong game for the Raptors with 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting, plus nine rebounds. RJ Barrett added 23 points, but shot just 9-of-25 to get there. As a team, Toronto shot 29% from 3-point range for the game.

In the first half, it looked like the Cavaliers might be plagued by the things that slowed them all series. Cleveland had 13 turnovers leading to 14 Toronto points in the first half, and that, combined with the Cavaliers’ starting 4-of-15 from beyond the arc, had the Raptors leading the whole way, by as many as 10. It was only getting to the free-throw line that was keeping the Cavaliers within striking distance.

And they did strike — an 11-2 run to end the half tied the game up, and it was 49-49 at the break. That was where the Cavaliers started to turn everything around.

Cleveland started the third quarter with a 9-0 run, five of those from Mitchell. Toronto started the third 3-of-12 from the floor, but the bigger issue was the five quick turnovers that had the Cavaliers running the other way.

Suddenly, the Cavaliers were up by 15 and in control. That lead stretched out to 22, and after that, the game was never really in doubt.

This is the Cavaliers who need to show up in Detroit on Tuesday.