Bounce goes against Cavaliers, who fall to Raptors in OT; Game 7 is Sunday

TORONTO — The ball hit the heel of the rim and bounced high above the backboard. Gravity, and plenty of luck, took it right through the net. The Cavaliers will need to win Game 7 on Sunday to keep alive their championship hopes. RJ Barrett hit the fortunate 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining in overtime and the Toronto Raptors pushed their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series to a seventh game by beating the Cavaliers 112-110 on Friday night. Evan Mobley had a chance to win it for Cleveland but his 3-pointer bounced off the front of the rim. Scottie Barnes had 25 points and 14 assists, Barrett and Ja'Kobe Walter both scored 24 points and Collin Murray-Boyles added 17 as Toronto held on after blowing an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter. Game 7 is in Cleveland on Sunday. The time was to be determined. The home team has won all six games in the series. "This is why you fight so hard to get home-court advantage," Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. "We knew this wasn't going to be easy. This is the playoffs, this is what it's about. We've got to recover and get ready for Sunday's game." The sellout crowd of 19,919 roared when Barrett's shot finally went through the rim. "Sometimes the basketball gods aren't with you," Atkinson said. The high bounce on Barrett's winning basket kept Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic on edge. "It was only half a second, but it felt like an eternity," Rajakovic said. "I was happy for him, for this team, for this city, that the shot went down." Barrett felt good about his chances as he watched the ball bounce high. "I thought it was still good because it went straight up," Barrett said. "When it goes straight up, you have a chance." The friendly bounce was reminiscent of an even bigger playoff basket north of the border: Kawhi Leonard's four-bounce buzzer-beating winner against Philadelphia in Game 7 of the 2019 Eastern Conference semifinals. Rajakovic said he had a feeling before the game that Barrett was going to come up big "Call me crazy, call me psychic, but I saw this one coming tonight," Rajakovic said. "It's surreal." Mobley had 26 points and 14 rebounds, Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points and James Harden had 16 for the Cavaliers. Jarrett Allen scored 14 points and Dean Wade had 10. Harden shot 5-for-14 and went 1-for-4 from 3-point range. He finished with nine rebounds and nine assists, but also had four turnovers. Cleveland finished with 18 turnovers, leading to 25 points for Toronto. That included one with a one-point lead that preceded Barrett's winner. The Raptors also held a big edge in fast-break points, outscoring the Cavaliers 20-6. Barnes had 14 points and 10 assists by halftime, making him the eighth NBA player since 1997 with 14 or more points and 10 or more assists in one half of a playoff game. Raptors forward Brandon Ingram did not play because of a sore right heel. Ingram left in the second quarter of Wednesday's 125-120 loss at Cleveland.