Cavaliers Facing Defining Playoff Moment Against Raptors in Game 7

A clean slate awaits the Cleveland Cavaliers no matter the outcome of Sunday’s Game 7 against the Toronto Raptors.

Beat the visiting Raps to escape the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs and it’s on to the East semis against a fellow tired foe coming off an improbable deciding game, Detroit or Orlando.

Lose and it’s a date with the drawing board. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert surely couldn’t run it back with the same core after another early postseason exit, right?

How this series got pushed to the brink is the stuff of facepalms in Northeast Ohio and of fist bumps in “We the North” Country.

Even with everything that went south for Cleveland during Friday’s Game 6, a surge that forced overtime and provided a late lead in the extra session still had the Cavs in position to advance.

Instead, a head-shaking turnover gave host Toronto new life, and the guard playing before his hometown crowd capitalized. RJ Barrett’s game-winning 3-pointer hit the back of the rim and bounced high above the backboard before dropping through the basket with 1.2 seconds left.

Moments later, Cleveland settled for an Evan Mobley 3-point attempt at the other end. The shot harmlessly caromed off the front of the rim, preserving a 112-110 Raptors victory.

“Sometimes, the basketball gods aren’t with you,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said.

Atkinson likely wouldn’t have delivered that lament if Donovan Mitchell and James Harden had performed up to par.

With respect to Mobley, who scored a game-high 26 points, how did either of the Cavaliers’ two leading scorers not take the last shot? Atkinson said Cleveland was looking for Mitchell to come off a curl screen, a sequence that obviously didn’t materialize. Harden similarly seemed to be stuck in quicksand.

Outscoring Toronto 23-12 in the fourth quarter aside, the Cavaliers succumbed to too many stagnant possessions down the stretch. Can they bank on an overdue star turn to move on?

While building balance is important, a heroic effort from Mitchell on Sunday would go a long way toward a positive outcome. After contributing 32 points to begin the series — his league-record ninth straight effort of at least 30 in a postseason Game 1 — Mitchell has been uneven at best since another 30-burger in Game 2.

Mitchell is shooting 24-for-67 (35.8 percent) in the past three games, but he’s ostensibly the same guy who was a combined 55.8 percent in the first two games.

As with their counterparts, the Raptors also envision an open canvas as Game 7 looms. Things are arguably less precarious for Toronto, however, as Scottie Barnes and Barrett have stabilized a team that’s without point guard Immanuel Quickley and is uncertain about the status of forward Brandon Ingram (sore right heel).

“Forget everything that’s happened so far,” Barrett said. “We’ve got one game to decide it all. This group has been tough and resilient, and we’ve fought through the toughest of tasks all year long. Going to Cleveland, Game 7, is going to be a tough task, but that’s what we’re built for.”

The Cavs would like to think the same. So far, history agrees.

The home team has won each game in the series, while the Raptors are 0-10 all-time in playoff games in Cleveland.

“Protect home court,” Mitchell said. “It doesn’t matter if we lost by 30 or two, protect home court. That’s all you can do.”