Cavaliers finally pull away from Raptors in Game 7 to close out series, set up battle with Pistons

That capped a long 25-10 run to start the period.

But Strus was called for a flagrant foul, too, after he appeared to go out of his way to headbutt Barnes. While it could have easily led to his ejection, officials only hit him with a flagrant one foul and let him remain in the contest.

Despite Strus’ blunder, the Cavaliers still pushed their lead to 19 points by the end of the period all while holding Toronto to just five made field goals in the quarter.

By then, there was nothing the Raptors could do. Cleveland held pace the rest of the way and picked up the 12-point win easily to end the series.

Allen dominated for the Cavaliers in the win. He finished with 22 points, 19 rebounds and three blocks while shooting 7-of-11 from the field. Eight of his rebounds were on the offensive glass. He’s now just the second player in team history to put up at least 20 points and 15 rebounds in a Game 7, too.

Mitchell added 22 points, and James Harden finished with 18 points and six rebounds.

Barnes led Toronto with 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists. R.J. Barrett added 21 points, and Jamal Shead finished with 14 points. Toronto went just 8-of-28 from the 3-point line, and was out-rebounded by 27.

While Cleveland has now made it to the Eastern Conference semifinals three years in a row, the franchise hasn’t made it past that round since 2018. That was the fourth straight time they reached the NBA Finals in the LeBron James era. They’ll have to knock off the top seed in the East to avoid the same fate as the last two years, but the Pistons are in the same spot — as they had to fight to even make it out of the first round.

The two sides will have to turn around quickly, too. Cleveland will head to Detroit for Game 1 on Tuesday night. But Sunday night’s team win was the first step for the Cavaliers. They aren’t done just yet.