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TORONTO — RJ Barrett drilled a 29-foot three-pointer in the dying seconds of overtime as the undermanned Toronto Raptors staved off playoff elimination with a 112-110 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
Barrett released the shot with three seconds left on the clock but after a high bounce it swished through the net with 1.2 seconds left.
The best-of-seven series is now tied 3-3.
Game 7 will be at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena on Sunday, a venue where the Raptors have never won a post-season game in 10 tries.
Scottie Barnes had a double-double with 25 points and 14 assists, adding seven rebounds. Barrett, from Mississauga, Ont., had 24 points and nearly had a double-double of his own with nine rebounds.
Evan Mobley had his best performance of the series with a double-double, scoring 26 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
Donovan Mitchell overcame a slow start to finish with 24 points and James Harden flirted with a triple-double with 16 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Toronto was without two of its regular starters: point guard Immanuel Quickley and all-star forward Brandon Ingram, who was the team’s scoring leader in the regular season.
Second-year guards Ja’Kobe Walter and Jamal Shead started in their stead. Walter finished with 24 points.
Ingram was ruled out by the Raptors less than two hours before opening tipoff. He had been listed as questionable after leaving early in Wednesday’s 125-120 road loss in Game 5.
The two-time all-star aggravated inflammation in his right heel and the Raptors said it has not improved despite a day of rest.
Quickley has missed the entire series with a strained right hamstring.
Sandro Mamukelashvili stole the ball from Cavaliers point guard Dennis Schroder with 35.5 seconds left in the first quarter. Mamukelashvili sprinted down the court and laid it in to tie the game 32-32.
Barnes had a slam dunk with 7:02 left in the first half and then blocked Harden on the ensuing Cleveland possession, screaming and giving a fan in the front row a high five to celebrate the defensive play.
Both Barnes and Barrett had six points in the second quarter but Walter led the period with eight as the Raptors built a 61-51 lead by intermission.
Cleveland’s dominance in the paint — and its inability to capitalize on second chances — was apparent in the final minute of the third quarter.
Michell missed a 27-foot three-point attempt but Jaylon Tyson rebounded it, allowing Schroder to get take another three-point shot that he missed. Thomas Bryant rebounded that shot and fed Mitchell who went for a driving floater, but he also missed.
A 12-2 Cavaliers run, capped by Mobley’s dunk with 5:48 left to play, cut Toronto’s lead to one.
The two teams stayed neck-and-neck for the next few minutes of play with the Raptors holding on to their narrow lead but Cleveland’s offence firing right back.
Barnes was sent to the free-throw line with 1:17 left to play, but he only made one of his shots to give Toronto a 104-102 lead. Mitchell missed a three-pointer with 42.4 seconds on the clock and Barrett gathered the rebound.
The Canadian swingman put up a three-point attempt with 15.8 seconds to go, but the referees called a 24-second shot clock violation on the Raptors, giving Cleveland one last possession.
After a Cavaliers timeout, Mobley scored on a simple layup to tie the game 104-104. Although Shead got an awkward jumper off at the other end of the court before time expired, he didn’t make the basket and the game went to overtime.
Cleveland outscored Toronto 23-12 in the fourth, the first period that the visitors had outscored the Raptors.
The two teams traded field goals through overtime, with Mitchell seemingly sealing the Cavaliers comeback when he made a layup with 33.7 seconds left.
Shead made one of two free throws on the next possession. After Mobley put the ball out of bounds with 10.9 seconds left, Toronto got one last possession to set up Barrett’s heroics.
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