Winners and Losers from Cavs Game 5 Win Against Raptors

Cleveland picked an immense win on Wednesday night, here's the takeaways.

Apr 29, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden (1) celebrates against the Toronto Raptors in the third quarter of game five of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

Wednesday night set up to be a pivotal game five for the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the team was unable to win games three or four. With the series all evened up at two, the Cavs coming back to Rocket Arena was do or die. 

The Cavaliers did, and with a huge offensive output. Cleveland outscored their 89 points in game four with just under four minutes to go in the third quarter. Their shooting percentage from three doubled from 25% in game four to 50% in game five. Cleveland pulled away from Toronto in the fourth quarter, winning the biggest game yet of the season 125-120.

There were many impact plays and players for both teams, let’s go over them.

Winner: Dennis Schroder

Through the first four games of this first round, Schroder had scored 18 points on 7-18 shooting and 1-8 on threes. In 21 minutes tonight, he poured in 19 points, was 7-11 from the field, and 3-6 behind the arc.

Schroder took over the offense at times, beating the first defender and finishing at the rim with the lack of help from the Raptors’ defense. He also knocked down his open shots by nailing multiple 3-point FGs, and maybe most importantly, did not turn the ball over. 

Loser: James Harden playoff doubters

A common regard of Harden is that he will disappear when the games get more important, but not tonight.

Harden was phenomenal tonight, scoring 23 points, shooting 7-13 from the floor, 4-8 from three, grabbing nine rebounds, and two steals. When Harden was on the court tonight, the Cavs were +10, the thing he might need to clean up is the turnovers. He had six tonight, but he did not have any in the fourth quarter.

Winner: Cleveland’s Bigs

The main detail most people noticed as Cleveland lost the two games in Toronto was Donovan Mitchell and James Harden’s play slowing down, but Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen had not played up to standards either. 

That changed in game five as Evan Mobley started feeling it from deep, finishing a perfect 3-3 from deep, capping off a 23 point night. Mobley and Allen also combined for six blocks; tonight gave Allen a third game of at least three blocks in these playoffs.

Loser: Cleveland’s Fast Break Defense

Coming into tonight, Toronto led Cleveland in the series in fast break points 43-19, which did not change. The Raptors outscored the Cavs 24-6 on the break, led by Scottie Barnes, who dished out 11 assists. Cleveland will have to find a way to try to limit the Raptors’ quick attacks in game six.