Sports

Three Factors That Explain Cavaliers' Game 7 Win Over Raptors

By Dan Lyons, SI Staff & Blake Silverman Sports Illustrated

Updated May 3, 2026 11:07 PM

After a pair of Game 7s on Sunday, the first round of the NBA playoffs has come to a close, and what a round it was. The Cavaliers punched the final ticket to the second round by grinding out a 114–102 win against the Raptors.

Cleveland did not play its sharpest offensive game, but managed to come out on top against the young Toronto squad. How did they do it? Here are three factors that helped define Game 7 between the Cavaliers and Raptors.

Jarrett Allen steps up in another game where the Cavaliers couldn't get it going from three

Jarrett Allen put together one of his best games, scoring 22 points with 19 rebounds in Sunday's Game 7 wins for the Cavaliers against the Raptors. | Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

The Donovan Mitchell/James Harden backcourt, put together at the trade deadline, is the face of this Cavaliers team-and for good reason. When they're on, there are few more talented duos in the entire NBA.

In many ways, however, it is center Jarrett Allen that is the heartbeat of this Cleveland team. And in Sunday's Game 7 win, he tied Mitchell for the team lead with 22 points, though he required just 11 shots to get there (to Mitchell's 20), while grabbing 19 rebounds (eight offensive), and notching a pair of steals and three blocks.

Allen has long been one of the NBA's more underrated big men but hadn't made his case through the first six games of this series, averaging less than 10 points per game against Toronto. In Game 7, when the the Cavs knocked down just 11-of-39 threes and Mitchell and Harden combined to shoot just 12-for-29 and 3-for-14 from deep, Allen put together one of the best games of his NBA career.

Raptors' magic runs out after incredible Game 6 finish

Raptors wing RJ Barrett was the hero in Game 6 but was not efficient in Game 7 against the Cavaliers. | Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

After the sting of this Game 7 loss lifts a bit, Toronto fans should be able to look back fondly on a campaign that saw the Raptors take a huge step forward in year three under Darko Rajaković. Game 6 provided one of the great moments of the postseason, when the hometown kid RJ Barrett did his best imitation of perhaps the greatest shot in franchise history-Kawhi Leonard's Game 7 buzzer beater against the 76ers in 2019-to extend this series.

Barrett's shot will cap any Toronto 2025–26 season highlight reel, but that was where the magic ended for this Raptors team. Barrett scored 23 points in Game 7 but needed 25 shots to get there. Scottie Barnes led all scorers with 24. But it was a struggle for the rest of the roster. While the Cavaliers didn't shoot the ball well, Toronto was no better, knocking down just 3-of-15 threes in the second half. Cleveland got a big lift from the bench, which chipped in 34 points led by Max Strus and Sam Merrill. The Raptors reserves scored just 19 points, and did not get the kind of unexpected performance out of any of their depth players necessary to flip the series, especially because…

Brandon Ingram's injury was too much for Toronto's struggling offense to overcome

Raptors leading scorer Brandon Ingram missed the final two games against the Cavaliers after exiting Game 5 early. | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Brandon Ingram struggled all series, but it's fair to wonder whether his ability could have swung Game 7 for the Raptors. He missed the second half of Game 5 then the final two games of the series with right heel inflammation. He averaged just 12 points per game and shot 32.8% from the field over the series, but Cleveland's defense couldn't ignore Ingram no matter how cold he was.

Ingram had 23 points in Toronto's Game 4 win, although he went just 6-for-23 shooting on the night. Despite the struggles, he averaged 21.5 points per game over the regular season which led the team. Barrett, Barnes and rookie Collin Murray-Boyles each had a strong series against Cleveland, but the 10-point disparity between what Ingram provided Toronto in the regular season compared to the playoffs was too much to overcome. If he was available, Game 7 could have been when he turned things around. But, that's only a "what if?" now as the Raptors look ahead to the offseason with Ingram on the books for two more seasons at $40 million per year.

Did you miss Sunday's game? Relive the biggest moments below:

Cavaliers vs. Raptors live updates, scores, highlights

How we got here ...

Early on, it looked like the Cavaliers, who retooled their roster at the trade deadline by acquiring future Hall of Famer James Harden, might run away with this one. Cleveland won Games 1 and 2 by double digits, and the Raptors' hot and cold offense seemed to be struggling to thaw out.

And that is why they play seven games.

Things completely flipped in Toronto. The Raptors dominated Game 3 and won a Game 4 slugfest to even things up. Games 5 and 6 again went to the home teams, but the margins continue to shrink, with the last game ending on a miraculous shot by RJ Barrett. This has become an incredibly competitive series, living up to its billing entering the postseason.

Cavaliers vs. Raptors game-by-game results

Game 1: Cavaliers 126, Raptors 113
Game 2: Cavaliers 115, Raptors 105
Game 3: Raptors 126, Cavaliers 104
Game 4: Raptors 93, Cavaliers 89
Game 5: Cavaliers 125, Raptors 120
Game 6: Raptors 112, Cavaliers 110 (OT)

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Three Factors That Explain Cavaliers' Game 7 Win Over Raptors.

This story was originally published May 3, 2026 at 6:50 PM.