TORONTO — It was only one bounce and it was to extend the series, not win it. And all of this is just the first round. But RJ Barrett, the Canadian National Team star from nearby Mississauga, Ont., had his Kawhi Leonard moment.
His top-of-the-arc triple with 1.2 seconds left hit the back of the rim, and bounced about three feet above the backboard before coming back to earth and through the net at the York street side of the Scotiabank Arena.
It gave the Toronto Raptors a 112-110 overtime win in Game 6 of their first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, surviving elimination and earning themselves a chance to advance to the second round with a win in Game 7 in Cleveland on Sunday.
It was an unlikely end to an unlikely comeback in a series the Raptors trailed 0-2 before sweeping all three of their games in Toronto. Neither team has won a road game in the series, and the Raptors will be striving to change that.
The Raptors led by 11 after three quarters and by as many as 15 after halftime, but, as was the case in Game 5, their offence dried up in the fourth. The Raptors held Cleveland to 23 points in the fourth quarter – a continuation of their top-level defence all game. But scoring just 12 points of their own in the fourth allowed Cleveland to come back, tying the game on an Evan Mobley drive with 11.6 seconds to go in the fourth. The Raptors had a chance to win in regulation, but a clunky possession ended in a contested Jamal Shead two that rimmed out.
The Raptors were down one with 25 seconds left when Collin Murray-Boyles forced a turnover that gave the Raptors the chance they needed.
The three by Barrett gave him 24 points in his 43 minutes. He added nine rebounds and was 8-of-21 from the floor. The Raptors – playing without Brandon Ingram (heel injury) – were led by Scottie Barnes, who had 25 points and 14 rebounds. Ja’Kobe Walter added 24 points and Murray Boyles 17 off the bench. The Cavaliers were led by Mobley, who had 26 points and 14 rebounds, while Donovan Mitchell had 24.
Early on in the series, before the Raptors were in position to win it, head coach Darko Rajakovic brushed off any notion of pressure or any concerns that, in the moment, his (mostly) young and very unproven team seemed overmatched against the Cavaliers.
“This is amazing for us, that there is so much to learn,” Rajakovic exclaimed after Game 1, which only feels like a month ago. “I told guys like, this one game that we played in the playoffs is the equivalent of 15 or 20 games in the regular season, how much you can learn, you know? So this is really, really beneficial for us, and this is gonna make us so much better.”
How much is an elimination game worth, you wonder? And elimination games decided in overtime? How about a Game 7 no one saw coming?
The Raptors have earned the chance to find out.
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