Nets coach Steve Nash was a rookie head coach last season, but when asked at the Monday morning shootaround how tough it was to send back Allen as part of the Harden trade, Nash said, “For sure. We loved him and wish him a lot of success and are happy for him to get a contract. The reality is he was probably out, we couldn’t probably have re-signed him anyway. Looking at the marketplace, he probably would have gotten a lot of money, and it would’ve been a huge gap compared to some of the other priorities.
“So that was part of the decision in being able to let something like that go. Obviously, the other part is James Harden is a special, special player. But no question we still root for [Allen] and support him.”
DATE: NOVEMBER 5, 2021 ATTENDANCE: 19,800 (Sellout)
FINAL SCORE
RECORD
HIGH POINTS
HIGH REBOUNDS
HIGH ASSISTS
Cleveland
102
6-4
Garland – 21
Allen – 15
Garland – 8
Toronto
101
6-4
Anunoby – 23
Barnes – 9
VanVleet – 6
KEY RUN
Cleveland entered the fourth quarter down six points (80-74) but went on a 13-5 run midway through the quarter tie the game at 94 with 4:42 remaining.
KEY STAT
The Cavaliers outscored the Raptors 28-19 in the fourth quarter … Darius Garland tallied 12 of his team-high 21 points in the final frame, including a pair of free-throws that put Cleveland ahead 102-101 with 4.8 seconds remaining in the game.
RAPTORS NOTES:
With the loss, Toronto falls to 6-4 this season and 2-4 at home … The Raptors will continue a two-game homestand Sunday afternoon against the Brooklyn Nets.
Gary Trent Jr. tallied 17 points and a career-high six steals in the loss … Trent Jr. entered tonight ranked second in the NBA in steals per game (2.78).
OG Anunoby scored a game-high 23 points tonight on 10-for-21 shooting … Anunoby has scored 20+ points in the last six of eight games (Oct. 23 – Nov. 5), and has scored 15+ points in eight straight games (Oct. 23 – Nov. 5) … He has now led the Raptors in scoring four times.
Dalano Banton scored a career-best 11 points in 10 minutes off the bench … Banton scored in double digits for the third time this season … He entered tonight second in field-goal percentage among rookies (.548), behind only Scottie Barnes.
Khem Birch recorded a season-high seven offensive rebounds in the loss … Birch leads Toronto with 35 offensive rebounds off the bench this season.
Scottie Barnes returned to the lineup after sitting out the last two games (Nov. 1-3) with a sprained right thumb and finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.
CAVALIERS NOTES:
With the win Cleveland improves to 6-4, including 4-3 on the road … The Cavaliers have now won three consecutive games and snap a six-game winless streak in Toronto dating back to the 2017-2018 season … Cleveland will now travel to New York to play the Knicks on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
Darius Garland scored a season-best 21 points and added a game-high eight assists in the win … Garland shot 8-for-12 from the field.
Jarrett Allen scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for his fifth double-double this season … Allen shot 5-for-6 from the field.
James (26 points) returns to the lineup, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis shake off the OKC loss and Carmelo Anthony (24 points) helps shoot them across the finish line in a 113-101 win.
The view from left field 