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Cleveland • LeBron James scored 23 points then grabbed a seat, Kevin Love scored 25, and the Cleveland Cavaliers unleashed tenacious defense on Toronto to regain control of the Eastern Conference finals with a 116-78 rout of the Raptors in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Back on their home court following two straight losses in Canada, the Cavs opened a 34-point lead in the first half and never slowed while taking a 3-2 series lead.
They can clinch their second straight conference title and trip to the NBA Finals with a win in Game 6 on Friday night in Toronto.
The Raptors, who came in with momentum and confidence after winning Games 3 and 4, left Quicken Loans Arena shaken and one loss from having their deepest playoff run stopped.
James had eight assists and six rebounds in 31 minutes before checking out late in the third quarter with the Cavs up 37. He spent the fourth quarter resting on the bench while Cleveland's reserves finished the romp.
Kyrie Irving added 23 points and he, James and Love outscored the Raptors 43-34 in the first half.
DeMar DeRozan scored 14 points and Kyle Lowry had 13 for the Raptors, who were overwhelmed from the start. Bismack Biyombo had just four rebounds after getting 40 the past two games. The only positive for Toronto was center Jonas Valanciunas, who returned after missing eight games with a sprained right ankle. He scored nine points in 18 minutes.
Playing defense as if every possession was the game's last, Cleveland held Toronto to just 34 points in the opening half while building a 31-point halftime lead. —
Eastern finals
x-if necessary
Cleveland 3, Toronto 2
Game 1 • Cleveland 115, Toronto 84
Game 2 • Cleveland 108, Toronto 89
Game 3 • Toronto 99, Cleveland 84
Game 4 • Toronto 105, Cleveland 99
Game 5 • Cleveland 116, Toronto 78
Friday • at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.
x-Sunday • at Cleveland, 6:30 p.m.
Cavaliers 116, Raptors 78
Toronto 19 15 26 18 — 78 Cleveland 37 28 35 16 — 116
TORONTO (78)
Carroll 2-7 1-1 5, Scola 3-4 0-0 7, Biyombo 2-3 3-3 7, Lowry 5-12 2-6 13, DeRozan 2-8 10-12 14, Ross 1-5 1-2 3, Patterson 1-4 0-0 3, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Valanciunas 4-4 1-2 9, J.Thompson 1-3 0-2 2, Wright 2-3 2-5 6, Joseph 1-5 1-2 3, Powell 3-9 0-0 6. Totals 27-69 21-35 78.
CLEVELAND (116)
James 10-17 1-3 23, T.Thompson 2-2 5-8 9, Love 8-10 6-6 25, Irving 9-17 4-5 23, Smith 3-5 0-0 7, J.Jones 2-3 0-0 5, Jefferson 4-9 2-2 11, Frye 3-4 0-0 7, Mozgov 2-2 0-0 4, Williams 0-4 0-0 0, Dellavedova 0-0 0-0 0, D.Jones 1-3 0-0 2, Shumpert 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 44-77 18-24 116.
3-Point Goals—Toronto 3-17 (Scola 1-2, Patterson 1-3, Lowry 1-4, Joseph 0-1, Ross 0-3, Carroll 0-4), Cleveland 10-21 (Love 3-4, James 2-4, Irving 1-2, Frye 1-2, J.Jones 1-2, Jefferson 1-2, Smith 1-3, Williams 0-1, Shumpert 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Toronto 27 (J.Thompson 5), Cleveland 48 (T.Thompson 10). Assists—Toronto 19 (Lowry 6), Cleveland 23 (James 8). Total Fouls—Toronto 25, Cleveland 26. Technicals—DeRozan, Joseph. A—20,562 (20,562).