Game ID: 42500135
Toronto Raptors @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at 7:30 PM ET
Rocket Arena, Cleveland, OH
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CLE 38 29 33 25 125TOR 34 40 29 17 120
CLE vs TOR ScoutingCLE vs TOR Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
CLE availability going into 4/18 · 5 days' restOUT Mitchell missed 2 since 4/10, returns tonight: 31 min (91% of 34)
OUT Allen missed 2 since 4/10, returns tonight: 28 min (103% of 28)
OUT Merrill missed 2 since 4/10, returns tonight: 21 min (83% of 25)
OUT Bryant missed 4 since 4/06, out tonight
BACK Tyson back 4/10 after 10, 25 min since (105% of 24)
BACK Wade back 4/08 after 7, 19 min since (86% of 22)
NEW Ellis 20 to 25 min over the last 4
NEW Porter Jr. 16 to 23 min over the last 4
NEW Tomlin 14 to 23 min over the last 4
NEW Nance Jr. 12 to 20 min over the last 4
NEW Proctor 10 to 18 min over the last 4
CLE availability going into 4/20 · 1 day's restOUT Bryant missed 5 since 4/06, out tonight
BACK Mitchell back 4/18 after 2, 31 min since (91% of 34)
BACK Allen back 4/18 after 2, 28 min since (103% of 28)
BACK Merrill back 4/18 after 2, 21 min since (83% of 25)
BACK Tyson back 4/10 after 10, 21 min since (89% of 24)
BACK Wade back 4/08 after 7, 20 min since (91% of 22)
NEW Tomlin 14 to 20 min over the last 4
NEW Proctor 10 to 23 min over the last 3
CLE availability going into 4/23 · 2 days' restOUT Bryant missed 6 since 4/06, returns tonight: 3 min (23% of 11)
OUT Proctor missed 2 since 4/18, returns tonight: 3 min (25% of 10)
BACK Mitchell back 4/18 after 2, 34 min since (100% of 34)
BACK Allen back 4/18 after 2, 27 min since (97% of 28)
BACK Merrill back 4/18 after 2, 20 min since (82% of 25)
BACK Tyson back 4/10 after 10, 19 min since (79% of 24)
BACK Wade back 4/08 after 7, 22 min since (100% of 22)
CLE availability going into 4/26 · 2 days' restBACK Mitchell back 4/18 after 2, 34 min since (99% of 34)
BACK Allen back 4/18 after 2, 27 min since (97% of 28)
BACK Merrill back 4/18 after 2, 20 min since (79% of 25)
BACK Tyson back 4/10 after 10, 18 min since (76% of 24)
BACK Bryant back 4/23 after 6, 3 min since (23% of 11)
BACK Proctor back 4/23 after 2, 3 min since (25% of 10)
CLE availability going into 4/29 · 2 days' restBACK Mitchell back 4/18 after 2, 34 min since (101% of 34)
BACK Allen back 4/18 after 2, 27 min since (97% of 28)
BACK Merrill back 4/18 after 2, 19 min since (78% of 25)
BACK Bryant back 4/23 after 6, 3 min since (23% of 11)
BACK Proctor back 4/23 after 2, 3 min since (25% of 10)
CLE availability going into 5/01 · 1 day's restOUT Porter Jr. missed 2 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Tomlin missed 2 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Nance Jr. missed 2 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Proctor missed 2 since 4/26, out tonight
BACK Mitchell back 4/18 after 2, 34 min since (100% of 34)
BACK Allen back 4/18 after 2, 26 min since (95% of 28)
BACK Merrill back 4/18 after 2, 20 min since (81% of 25)
BACK Bryant back 4/23 after 6, 4 min since (33% of 11)
CLE availability going into 5/03 · 1 day's restOUT Ellis missed 2 since 4/29, out tonight
OUT Porter Jr. missed 3 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Tomlin missed 3 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Nance Jr. missed 3 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Proctor missed 3 since 4/26, out tonight
BACK Bryant back 4/23 after 6, 5 min since (44% of 11)
CLE availability going into 5/05 · 1 day's restOUT Ellis missed 3 since 4/29, returns tonight: 11 min (55% of 20)
OUT Porter Jr. missed 4 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Tomlin missed 4 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Nance Jr. missed 4 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Proctor missed 4 since 4/26, out tonight
BACK Bryant back 4/23 after 6, 5 min since (44% of 11)
CLE availability going into 5/07 · 1 day's restOUT Porter Jr. missed 5 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Tomlin missed 5 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Nance Jr. missed 5 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Proctor missed 5 since 4/26, out tonight
BACK Ellis back 5/05 after 3, 11 min since (55% of 20)
TOR availability going into 4/18 · 5 days' restBACK Quickley back 4/07 after 8, 19 min since (60% of 32)
NEW Walter 22 to 27 min over the last 5
TOR availability going into 4/20 · 1 day's restBACK Quickley back 4/07 after 8, 19 min since (60% of 32)
NEW Walter 22 to 27 min over the last 5
TOR availability going into 4/23 · 2 days' restNEW Walter 22 to 27 min over the last 5
TOR availability going into 4/26 · 2 days' restNEW Shead 23 to 29 min over the last 5
NEW Walter 22 to 27 min over the last 5
TOR availability going into 4/29 · 2 days' restNEW Shead 23 to 28 min over the last 5
NEW Walter 22 to 27 min over the last 5
TOR availability going into 5/01 · 1 day's restOUT Dick missed 2 since 4/26, out tonight
NEW Barrett 31 to 37 min over the last 5
NEW Shead 23 to 31 min over the last 5
NEW Walter 22 to 29 min over the last 5
TOR availability going into 5/03 · 1 day's restOUT Dick missed 3 since 4/26, returns tonight: 0 min (3% of 14)
NEW Barnes 34 to 41 min over the last 5
NEW Barrett 31 to 39 min over the last 5
NEW Shead 23 to 32 min over the last 5
NEW Murray-Boyles 22 to 29 min over the last 5
NEW Walter 22 to 32 min over the last 5
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Cleveland comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 111, shooting 48 percent and 36 from three, 23 free throws a game; Mitchell at 24 and Harden at 22 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. 2 days' rest. Toronto comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 107, shooting 50 percent and 38 from three, 28 free throws a game; Barrett at 25 and Barnes at 24 a game. 2 days' rest.
So: Cleveland wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Cleveland has been plus-5 a night and Toronto plus-0. Call it Cleveland 114, Toronto 112, Toronto keeping it close.
4/18 vs TOR 126-113 — CLE notes
CLE won 126-113. CLE shot 54% (44 of 81) to TOR's 52%, 16 of 32 from three, and got to the line 28 times to TOR's 35. Mitchell led with 32 (11 of 20, 4 of 7 from three, 6 of 7 at the line); Strus added 24, Harden 22. The hinge was Q3, 36-22: a lead of 7 became 21, and the lead reached 24. Wade was the night's best plus/minus at +20.
4/20 vs TOR 115-105 — CLE notes
CLE won 115-105. CLE shot 53% (44 of 83) to TOR's 51%, 13 of 40 from three. CLE turned it over 12 times to TOR's 22. Mitchell led with 30 (13 of 23, 4 of 10 from three); Harden added 28, Mobley 25. The hinge was Q1, 26-19: from level to 7 ahead, and the lead reached 16. Allen was the night's best plus/minus at +18.
4/23 @ TOR 104-126 — CLE notes
CLE lost 104-126. CLE shot 44% (36 of 81) to TOR's 57%, 14 of 45 from three. CLE turned it over 20 times to TOR's 11, and TOR turned those into 11 steals. Harden led with 18 (5 of 13, 3 of 10 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Mobley added 15, Mitchell 15. Q2 was theirs, 29-23, the deficit cut from 6 to 0, but the other 3 periods went 103-75 against them. Allen's -22 in 26 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/26 @ TOR 89-93 — CLE notes
CLE lost 89-93. CLE shot 37% (32 of 87) to TOR's 32%, 10 of 40 from three, and got to the line 23 times to TOR's 36. CLE turned it over 17 times to TOR's 11, and TOR turned those into 11 steals. Mitchell led with 20 (6 of 24, 4 of 12 from three); Harden added 19, Merrill 14. Q1 was theirs, 17-14, but the other 3 periods went 79-72 against them.
4/29 vs TOR 125-120 — CLE notes
CLE won 125-120. CLE shot 53% (43 of 81) to TOR's 46%, 18 of 36 from three. The glass went 35-48 against them. Harden led with 23 (7 of 13, 4 of 8 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Mobley added 23, Mitchell 19. The hinge was Q4, 25-17: CLE came in trailing by 3 and left it ahead by 5. CLE trailed 67-74 at the half and won the second half 58-46. Merrill was the night's best plus/minus at +19.
5/01 @ TOR — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Toronto comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 112, shooting 47 percent and 37 from three, 27 free throws a game; Barrett at 24 and Barnes at 24 a game. One day's rest. Cleveland comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 112 a night and allowing 111, shooting 48 percent and 37 from three, 25 free throws a game; Mitchell at 23 and Harden at 22 a game. Without Porter Jr. (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: Toronto wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Toronto has been plus-2 a night and Cleveland minus-2. Call it Toronto 114, Cleveland 113, Cleveland keeping it close.
5/03 vs TOR — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Cleveland comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 111, shooting 46 percent and 33 from three, 25 free throws a game; Mitchell at 22 and Harden at 21 a game. Without Ellis (2 straight), Porter Jr. (3 straight). One day's rest. Toronto comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 109, shooting 46 percent and 35 from three, 24 free throws a game; Barnes at 25 and Barrett at 24 a game. One day's rest.
So: Cleveland wins, in a game with no one edge to lean on. Call it Cleveland 113, Toronto 112, Toronto keeping it close.
5/05 @ DET — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Detroit comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 104 a night and allowing 98, shooting 44 percent and 35 from three, 27 free throws a game; Cunningham at 32 and Harris at 24 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has won the glass by 6 a night. Without Huerter (3 straight). One day's rest. Cleveland comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 108 a night and allowing 111, shooting 44 percent and 32 from three, 28 free throws a game; Mitchell at 20 and Harden at 19 a game. It has won the glass by 6 a night. Without Ellis (3 straight), Porter Jr. (4 straight). One day's rest.
So: Detroit wins, and the game turns on the defense, Detroit allowing 98 a night to Cleveland's 111. Call it Detroit 113, Cleveland 107.
5/07 @ DET — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Detroit comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 105 a night and allowing 95, shooting 44 percent and 35 from three, 29 free throws a game; Cunningham at 31 and Harris at 23 a game. That is 4 straight wins. It has won the glass by 8 a night. Without Huerter (4 straight). One day's rest. Cleveland comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 108 a night and allowing 108, shooting 44 percent and 33 from three, 26 free throws a game; Mitchell at 22 and Harden at 20 a game. It has won the glass by 4 a night. Without Porter Jr. (5 straight). One day's rest.
So: Detroit wins, and the game turns on the defense, Detroit allowing 95 a night to Cleveland's 108. Call it Detroit 112, Cleveland 107.
4/18 @ CLE 113-126 — TOR notes
TOR lost 113-126. TOR shot 52% (37 of 71) to CLE's 54%, 13 of 27 from three, and went to the line 35 times to CLE's 28 — 26 points from the stripe to their 22. Barrett led with 24 (7 of 13, 3 of 6 from three, 7 of 9 at the line); Barnes added 21, Ingram 17. Q4 was theirs, 37-29, the deficit cut from 21 to 13, but the other 3 periods went 97-76 against them. Barnes's -22 in 32 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/20 @ CLE 105-115 — TOR notes
TOR lost 105-115. TOR shot 51% (42 of 83) to CLE's 53%, 7 of 26 from three. TOR turned it over 22 times to CLE's 12, and CLE turned those into 13 steals. Barnes led with 26 (11 of 19, 1 of 4 from three); Barrett added 22, Murray-Boyles 17. Q2 was theirs, 29-28, the deficit cut from 7 to 6, but the other 3 periods went 87-76 against them. Barnes's -17 in 40 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/23 vs CLE 126-104 — TOR notes
TOR won 126-104. TOR shot 57% (50 of 87) to CLE's 44%, 14 of 23 from three. TOR turned it over 11 times to CLE's 20. Barrett led with 33 (12 of 19, 6 of 8 from three, 3 of 7 at the line); Barnes added 33, Murray-Boyles 22. The hinge was Q4, 43-23: a lead of 2 became 22, and the lead reached 25. Barrett was the night's best plus/minus at +24.
4/26 vs CLE 93-89 — TOR notes
TOR won 93-89. TOR shot 32% (31 of 97) to CLE's 37%, 4 of 30 from three, and went to the line 36 times to CLE's 23 — 27 points from the stripe to their 15. TOR turned it over 11 times to CLE's 17. Barnes led with 23 (6 of 15, 11 of 14 at the line); Ingram added 23, Barrett 18. The hinge was Q2, 24-19: TOR came in trailing by 3 and left it ahead by 2. Shead was the night's best plus/minus at +15.
4/29 @ CLE 120-125 — TOR notes
TOR lost 120-125. TOR took 14 more shots (95 to 81), fed by 15 offensive rebounds, but shot 46% to CLE's 53%, 15 of 38 from three. The glass went 48-35 for them. Barrett led with 25 (9 of 19, 2 of 5 from three, 5 of 9 at the line); Walter added 20, Shead 18. Q2 was theirs, 40-29, turning a 4-point deficit into a 7-point lead, but the other 3 periods went 96-80 against them. They led by as many as 12. Battle's -13 in 19 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/01 vs CLE — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Toronto comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 112, shooting 47 percent and 37 from three, 27 free throws a game; Barrett at 24 and Barnes at 24 a game. One day's rest. Cleveland comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 112 a night and allowing 111, shooting 48 percent and 37 from three, 25 free throws a game; Mitchell at 23 and Harden at 22 a game. Without Porter Jr. (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: Toronto wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Toronto has been plus-2 a night and Cleveland minus-2. Call it Toronto 114, Cleveland 113, Cleveland keeping it close.
5/03 @ CLE — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Cleveland comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 111, shooting 46 percent and 33 from three, 25 free throws a game; Mitchell at 22 and Harden at 21 a game. Without Ellis (2 straight), Porter Jr. (3 straight). One day's rest. Toronto comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 109, shooting 46 percent and 35 from three, 24 free throws a game; Barnes at 25 and Barrett at 24 a game. One day's rest.
So: Cleveland wins, in a game with no one edge to lean on. Call it Cleveland 113, Toronto 112, Toronto keeping it close.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
CLEDM D. Mitchell
DS D. Schröder
DW D. Wade
EM E. Mobley
JA J. Allen
JH J. Harden
JT J. Tyson
MS M. Strus
SM S. Merrill
SC Schroder
TB T. Bryant
TORAL A. Lawson
BI B. Ingram
CM C. Murray-Boyles
JB J. Battle
JP J. Poeltl
JS J. Shead
JW J. Walter
RB R. Barrett
SB S. Barnes
SM S. Mamukelashvili
CLE/TOR the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Schroder, Mobley rally Cavaliers in 4th quarter for 125-120 win over Raptors to take 3-2 series lead
CLEVELAND -- — Dennis Schroder scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, Evan Mobley hit a pair of pivotal 3-pointers in the final period and finished with 23 points, and the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied for a 125-120 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night in Game 5 of their first-round series.
Cleveland leads the series 3-2. Game 6 is Friday night in Toronto.
James Harden scored 23 points and Donovan Mitchell added 19 for the Cavaliers.
“This was a step for us from a mental toughness point of view. I thought we showed good poise and resiliency,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “When you could have let your guard down, our guys kept with it.”
RJ Barrett led Toronto with 25 points while Ja’Kobe Walter added 20 and Jamal Shead had 18 off the bench.
The Raptors led 74-67 at halftime and scored the first five points of the third quarter. The Cavaliers slowly rallied but trailed 103-100 going into the final 12 minutes.
Cleveland seized control by scoring the first eight points of the fourth quarter. Jaylon Tyson hit a step-back 3-pointer to tie it at 103-all, and a 3 by Mobley gave the Cavaliers a 106-103 lead.
“He’s ready for those moments. He wants those moments. He works relentlessly on the 3-ball. Those were big shots for us for sure,” Mitchell said of Mobley.
Toronto missed its first 11 shots and was 7 of 28 from the field in the fourth while Cleveland made 7 of its first 11 and was 9 of 19.
“I would not just blame the fourth quarter. We cannot allow this team to score 125 points,” coach Darko Rajakovic said.
The Raptors were hobbled in the final period. Forward Brandon Ingram left the game in the second quarter with right heel inflammation. Fellow All-Star Scottie Barnes also was not at full strength after getting kneed in the quadriceps by Thomas Bryant while driving to the basket in the first half.
Barnes scored just 3 of his 17 points in the second half.
“For the most part, I thought we had this game. We played good enough to win. Just in the fourth quarter, they played a little better,” Barrett said. “What can you do? It’s the playoffs. Now, it’s do or die. Give them credit. We’ll be ready Friday.”
The Cavaliers won despite committing 15 turnovers that resulted in 28 Toronto points. They had 10 in the first half which the Raptors converted into 23 points.
“In the second half, I think ball-handling and Dennis helped relieve some of the pressure off (Mitchell) and (Harden) so I think that was part of it. If we are going to win on the road, we've got to find a way to clean that up,” Atkinson said.