Cavaliers Claim Victory Over Raptors in Game 1

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers emerged victorious against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday, winning 126-113 in the opening game of their Eastern Conference playoff series. Donovan Mitchell led the way with 32 points, while Max Strus contributed 24 points off the bench, marking a career playoff high for him.

James Harden added 22 points and 10 assists, with Evan Mobley chipping in 17 points and seven rebounds for the fourth-seeded Cavaliers. They are set to play Game 2 on Monday evening.

Strus’ performance is particularly noteworthy as he had missed the first 67 games this season due to a broken left foot incurred during offseason training.

“You know, seeing him put in the work all season really brings it all together at this moment, right?” Mitchell said, who has scored at least 30 points in an impressive nine consecutive series-opening games. “I think his journey is commendable, but it might be quite the mental challenge to keep pushing like this.”

For Toronto, RJ Barrett matched Strus with 24 points, while Scottie Barnes added 21 points. It was their first playoff appearance since 2022, although they were without point guard Immanuel Quickley due to a minor hamstring strain.

Jamal Shihed stepped in for Quickley, scoring 17 points, including five 3-pointers. After Barrett’s shot cut the Raptors’ deficit to 45-41, the Cavaliers responded with a 27-9 run that spanned late in the second quarter and continued through the first seven minutes of the third.

During this run, Strus scored 11 points, successfully sinking all three of his attempts from beyond the arc, as the Cavaliers shot 10 for 16 from the field in that stretch.

“We kept emphasizing during the timeout that this was a crucial moment for us,” said Cavaliers manager Kenny Atkinson. “We needed to build some confidence, especially heading into halftime.”

Cleveland’s largest lead reached 24 points, thanks to a 3-pointer by Sam Merrill just seconds into the fourth quarter.

Toronto had entered the game averaging a remarkable 18.9 points per game, but against Cleveland, their execution faltered. “Letting our opponent score 126 points makes it hard to win,” Raptors manager Darko Rajkovic noted. “We started off poorly in the third quarter and became stagnant throughout the game.”