Cavs cover in Game 7 win over Raptors

Cavs cover in Game 7 win over Raptors

Cleveland (56-33 straight up, 36-52-1 against the spread) captured a 114-102 win over Toronto as an 8.5-point home favorite in Sunday’s Game 7 of their first-round series. The 216 combined points went ‘over’ the 209.5-point total.

Jarrett Allen led the way with 22 points, 19 rebounds, three blocked shots, two steals and a pair of assists. Donovan Mitchell added 22 points, while James Harden finished with 18 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Evan Mobley (13 points), Sam Merrill (13) and Max Strus (12) also scored in double figures.

The Cavaliers don’t have any time to celebrate, though, as they play at top-seeded Detroit in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Tuesday.

“I think we’ve already moved on (to Detroit),” Mitchell said on the court immediately after last night’s victory. “We understand we won this game, but we play in a couple days.”

Scottie Barnes led the Raptors with 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the losing effort. RJ Barrett contributed 23 points, six assists, four boards and three steals, while Jamal Shead and Ja’Kobe Walker were also in double figures with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Toronto played without its leading scorer, forward Brandon Ingram, in Games 6 and 7 due to a bruised heel.

“We gave it all, everything we had today,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “Our guys were awesome. We made it hard on them.”

Trailing by nine points in the second quarter, Cleveland exploded for a 49-21 run to take a 19-point lead in the third quarter. The Cavs dominated the boards by a 25-8 margin during this span, turning 10 offensive rebounds into 14 points.

“They were scoring in transition, getting some offensive rebounds,” Barnes said. “The offensive rebounds were giving them extra possessions. That really hurt us, giving them momentum.”

As of early Monday afternoon, most books had Detroit (64-25 SU, 47-47-1 ATS) installed as a three-point home favorite with a total of 215.5. The Cavs were +130 on the money line.

FanDuel had the Pistons as -118 ‘chalk’ to win the series, leaving Cleveland as a +100 underdog.

The Cavs won 116-95 at Detroit in the first of four head-to-head meetings during the regular season. They easily took the cash as two-point road favorites, while the 211 combined points dipped ‘under’ the 231.5-point total.

When they played at Cleveland on Jan. 4, Detroit won a 114-110 decision as a 3.5-point road underdog. The 224 combined points dropped ‘under’ the 239.5-point total.

On Feb. 27, Detroit beat Cleveland 122-119 in overtime, but the Cavs covered the number as eight-point road underdogs despite the absences of Mitchell and Harden due to injuries. The 241 combined points went ‘over’ the 226.5-point total.

Playing without Mitchell again, Cleveland knocked off the Pistons 113-109 as a 2.5-point home underdog on March 3. The 222 combined points stayed ‘under’ the 228.5-point total.