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<\/p>\nThe Cleveland Cavaliers pushed out to a comfortable 2-0 lead with a 115-105 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday. James Harden used a mixed bag of a night to end the bout with 28 points and a game-leading five steals. Evan Mobley’s 2021 draft class partner in Scottie Barnes led Toronto with 26 points white tacking on five assists.<\/p>\n
Cleveland will move on to two trips on the road, where it has had mixed results in recent postseasons runs. The Cavs have gone 4-8 on the road in their previous three playoff campaigns, but earned a 3-1 record last season during their battles against the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers.<\/p>\n
Cleveland will tip off against the Raptors in Game 3 at 8:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday in Scotiabank Arena. The game can be streamed on Prime Video.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDavid Dermer-Imagn Images\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Stars Shine Again<\/p>\n
A star-driven night was highlighted by the trio of Harden, Mobley and Donovan Mitchell, who scored more than 70% of Cleveland’s points in the Monday matchup. Mitchell, whose long line of stellar postseason performances goes back to his rookie year with the Utah Jazz, used a mix of highlight jumpers to end the night with a team-high 30 points. <\/p>\n
Mobley only missed two shots as he proved to be a consistent interior outlet whenever he took up reps at the five. Harden worked with his back to the basket while fearlessly driving to the hoop to complement a few video-game makes from the 3-point line. <\/p>\n
The trio must continue to be much-needed anchors to keep their postseason run going, but their ability to carry a heavy load over their first two games is at least a positive sign before they move on to Game 3.<\/p>\n
Showing Up, But Not Showing Out<\/p>\n
The same can’t be said about Brandon Ingram, who the Cavs learned to read like a book after he scored 17 points in Game 1.<\/p>\n
Cleveland’s blindsiding pressure and mixed defenders held Ingram to just seven points, a career postseason low for the Toronto All-Star. Ingram wouldn’t score his first bucket until just over two minutes into the third quarter as the Cavs seemed to learn from the scoring moves that made him a leading scorer for Toronto<\/a> this season, from several pull-up jumpers to a fastbreak dunk that nearly rattled in before Mobley pulled off a coast-to-coast chase-down block. Dean Wade had his moments on defense in his fourth career playoff start, where he kept up with Ingram while using his time as a free-moving defender to force two steals.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSwitching Up And Switching Out<\/p>\n With plenty to learn from a Game 1 loss<\/a> that saw Cleveland’s star guard duo drop 54 points, Toronto proved it’s not always easy to read an open book as it threw everything it could at the wall and hoped something would stick. <\/p>\n The second half saw the pair of Collin Murray-Boyles and Sandro Mamukelashvili ultimately take the place of starting center Jakob Poeltl, who was benched<\/a> after about nine minutes of play. <\/p>\n The two fought hard inside when the Raptors went small as they finished with a combined 29 points and 17 rebounds, but it wouldn’t be enough to hold the Cavs off for good. <\/p>\n