Dennis Schröder led the Cavaliers’ charge in the final period, scoring 11 of his 19 points.
It’s been said that every game in a playoff series is different. And indeed, Game 5 of the first round series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors was a totally different experience than Game 4.
By the end of the third quarter on Wednesday, the two teams had combined to score 21 more points than they totaled over 48 minutes just two nights earlier. The 3s were falling, transition opportunities were abundant, and neither team could get stops.
But the Raptors went cold in the final period, the Cavs finally took care of the ball, and Cleveland escaped with a 125-120 victory to take a 3-2 series lead.
James Harden and Evan Mobley led the Cavs with 23 points apiece, while Donovan Mitchell and
each finished with 19. The Raptors lost Brandon Ingram to a heel injury, but they still had six guys in double-figures.
Here are some notes, quotes, numbers and film as the home team improved to 5-0 in this series:
1. Cavs finally take care of the ball down the stretch
This has been a lopsided series in regard to the transition game. According to Synergy tracking, the Raptors have outscored the Cavs by 79 points (139-60) in transition over the five games.
The Raptors were pushing off rebounds and even getting some early offense after made shots on the other end of the floor on Wednesday.
But what really fueled their transition game were live-ball turnovers, and the Cavs had nine of them through the third quarter. Each of those nine live-ball turnovers led directly to a Toronto layup or 3-pointer in transition, 22 points total …
The Cavs’ final live-ball turnover of the night came with 7:03 left in the third quarter. It led directly to a wide-open corner 3-pointer for Jamal Shead. Cleveland had three more turnovers after that, but they were all dead balls.
The Raptors got a couple of half-court scores after the Shead 3, and at that point, they had scored 92 points on just 66 possessions (1.39 per). But when the Cavs’ live-ball turnovers stopped, the Toronto offense slowed down. The Raptors missed some open 3s in the fourth quarter, but they had just five transition points in the final period and scored only 28 points over their final 35 possessions (0.80 per).
“It gets their momentum going,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said about the live-ball turnovers. “We still haven’t figured out a way to clean that up. If we want to win on the road, we gotta find a way.”
2. Schröder and Strus make big plays
Harden and Mitchell combined to score only one of the Cavs’ 25 points in the fourth quarter. Instead, other guys made the big plays and big shots on that end of the floor.
One reason the Cavs traded for Schröder at the deadline was his big-game experience, both in the NBA and for the German National Team.
“When we were talking about trading for him, that’s one of the things that came up,” Atkinson said. “This type of game fits him.”
Schröder led the charge in the final period, when he scored 11 of his 19 points.
The first bucket was the most impressive. It was late in the shot clock and Schröder was matchup up one-on-one with Scottie Barnes, one of the best defenders in the league.
But he beat him going right and unfurled a scoop shot just out or Barnes’ reach that put the Cavs up five …
After another drive past Ja’Kobe Walter, Schröder had the Raptors on their heels.
And they then gave him space to hit a pair of pull-up jumpers before finishing his night with a tough floater over Barnes.
Through the first four games, the Cavs had scored an anemic 82 points on 93 possessions (0.88 per) with Schröder on the floor. But he’s always capable of giving them some juice off the dribble, and he was critical to their fourth-quarter offense in Game 5.
Schröder remains a reserve, but Max Strus was in the starting lineup in Game 5, replacing Dean Wade. Atkinson said afterward that it wasn’t about any issues with Wade, but that Strus gave them better spacing and additional playmaking.
Indeed, Strus made a couple of huge plays off the dribble in the fourth quarter. First, he attacked a Walter close-out, drew help, and dropped off a pass to Jarrett Allen …
And on the very next possession, he attacked another Walter close-out and drew a foul in the paint.
Neither Schröder nor Strus had any of the Cavs’ 15 turnovers on Wednesday. And if they can continue to provide secondary playmaking, they can relieve some of the pressure on Harden and Mitchell.
3. Mobley hits timely 3s
Last season, Mobley seemed to have found his jumper, shooting 37% from beyond the arc and making more 3-pointers in 2024-25 (85) than he had in his first three seasons combined (67). But this season, he dropped back down below 30%, and his long-distance shot often looked uncomfortable.
Through the first four games of this series, Mobley was 2-for-11 from beyond the arc. And through the first 35 minutes on Wednesday, he hadn’t attempted a 3-pointer.
And then, as the Raptors went cold on the other end of the floor, Mobley shot 3-for-3 from 3-point range over the final 13 minutes. After three scoreless possessions, he gave the Cavs some life with a wide-open 3 from the left wing off a baseline out-of-bounds play in the final minute of the third.
Early in the fourth, Collin Murray-Boyles helped off of Mobley in the strong-side corner, and Mobley made him pay. A few minutes later, Mobley was seemingly just trying to get out of the way of a Schröder-Harden ball-screen. But Schröder passed him the ball as he cleared out to the left wing. Jakob Poeltl closed out slow and Mobley let it fly …
“We needed them,” Atkinson said of Mobley’s three 3s. “I know that’s not his bread and butter, but he hit ’em with confidence. I thought those 3s were really timely.”
It’s more important that Mobley plays big and finds ways to score inside. But it’s very likely that the Raptors will keep daring him to shoot, and sometimes, that will be the best option.
4. Raptors lose Ingram, lose the bench minutes
Ingram left midway through the second quarter after re-aggravating a heel issue that’s been bothering him.
A.J. Lawson started the second half in his place but played just two minutes.
Both in the regular season and in this series, the Raptors have been much better with Barnes on the floor without Ingram, who is now shooting just 19-for-58 (33%) in the playoffs. But his absence obviously compromises the Raptors’ ability to creates shots in their half-court offense.
With Toronto also missing Immanuel Quickley, its depth is also being tested. And in a little less than 19 minutes with either Barnes or RJ Barrett on the bench on Wednesday, the Raptors were outscored by 14 points.
The biggest benefit of the Cavs having both Harden and Mitchell is that they can have at least one on the floor for all 48 minutes, and the same goes for Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
They should continue to have the advantage when both teams have reserves on the floor, and they’ll look to close out the series when it moves back to Toronto for Game 6 on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, Prime Video).
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John Schuhmann has covered the NBA for more than 20 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Bluesky.
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