The early execution mess and the scoring drought 
The start time of the game seemed to throw both teams out of rhythm. The first half was a mess. Between them, the two sides managed just 74 points. There were 19 combined turnovers. Shooting was brutal: 28% for the Canadian side, including 3 made threes from 20 attempts, and 33% for the Ohio outfit, who hit 4 of 19 from deep. The main scorers – Donovan Mitchell, Brandon Ingram, Evan Mobley and RJ Barrett – were all dragged off script.
The swing in the margin and the late finish 
The second half did little to clean things up. Real control only arrived in the final quarter. Donovan Mitchell took charge. Cleveland strung together a 15-2 run and pushed its lead to 84-76 with five minutes left.
Toronto answered by cleaning up the offensive glass.
The rookie Collin Murray-Boyles kept the second chances coming, while Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes drove hard to the rim and finished through contact. Cleveland’s attack then started to shrink.
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The visitors go cold and the numbers even out 
Cleveland’s main unit – Mitchell, James Harden, Mobley and Jarrett Allen – finished with a worrying conversion rate. They made just 17 of 54 shots. Mitchell’s last-gasp attempt to tie it from the wing missed, and a loss of balance sent him beyond the boundary line.
RJ Barrett then iced it at the free-throw line. A late burst from Sam Merrill came up short. The buzzer made it official: 93-89. NBA commissioner Adam Silver was in attendance.
The series is now back on level terms at 2-2. It heads to Ohio next. The numbers in the paint tell the story too: Mobley and Allen were outmuscled by the Canadian big men, with Collin Murray-Boyles, Barnes, Jakob Poeltl and Sandro Mamukelashvili doing the damage inside.
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