Big fourth quarter from Dennis Schroder gives Cavs 125-120 Game 3 win over Raptors

Anything bought from the links helps support *Fear the Sword*. You can buy the *Let ‘Em Know* shirt HERE. You can also shop all of Homage’s Cavs gear HERE. Brandon Ingram left the game in the second quarter with a heel injury that kept him out the rest of the game. He scored just one point on 0-2 shooting in 11 minutes. The Raptors pushed their advantage to 12 at the start of the third quarter. The Cavs fought back to keep the game within reach, and then cut the deficit to just three at the end of the quarter, thanks to a three and dunk by Evan Mobley just before the clock expired. A Jaylon Tyson three-pointer at the start of the fourth quarter tied the game. The Cavs took their first lead since midway through the second quarter with a Mobley triple. Dennis Schroder took over from there. After being an afterthought for the first four games of the series, Schroder made his presence felt. He ran the offense in the fourth quarter and carried the team over the finish line. He scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter on an efficient 5-8 shooting. Schroder’s emergence came at the expense of Donovan Mitchell’s minutes. Mitchell was held to just six and a half minutes in the final frame and didn’t re-enter the fourth quarter until under three minutes left in the game. It was a weird game for Mitchell. There were spurts — particularly in the third quarter — where he was his usual aggressive self. Still, this wasn’t typical playoff form. He finished just four of his 10 shots in the paint. Mitchell had 19 points on 7-17 shooting with three assists. Harden and Mobley led the Cavs with 23 points apiece. Harden went 7-13 from the field with nine rebounds and five assists. Mobley had six points in the fourth quarter. RJ Barrett led the Raptors with 25 points on 9-19 shooting with 12 rebounds and five assists. Walter had 20 points on 7-16 shooting. Scottie Barnes had 17 points on 6-16 shooting with 11 assists and eight boards. It’s been a hard-fought series that hasn’t necessarily been pretty throughout. The same warts that have plagued the Cavs throughout this era of basketball have cropped up at the worst times. Still, they have a chance to close out this first-round series as it shifts back to Canada. Game 6 is on Friday evening.