By Field Level Media
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Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes each scored 23 points Sunday afternoon and the Toronto Raptors held off the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers, 93-89, to even the best-of-seven first-round playoff series at 2-2.

Game 5 of the series is Wednesday at Cleveland.

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RJ Barrett added 18 points for the Raptors, and Collin Murray-Boyles scored 15 with 10 rebounds. Jakob Poeltl contributed 10 points.

Donovan Mitchell scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for Cleveland. James Harden added 19 points but had seven turnovers. Jarrett Allen had three points and a game-high 15 rebounds, while Sam Merrill contributed 14 points.

Toronto led by two points entering the fourth quarter. Barrett’s 10-foot floater gave Toronto a six-point lead with 9:28 to play. But Mitchell drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 74 and he made another 3-pointer that gave Cleveland a six-point lead with 5:14 left.

The lead reached eight on Mitchell’s two made free throws with 4:55 left. Ingram’s 3-pointer cut the lead to two with 2:36 to play but Merrill answered with a 3-pointer.

Barrett’s bank shot cut the margin to one with 49 seconds to go. After a Cleveland turnover, Barnes made two free throws to give Toronto a one-point lead. Mitchell missed a floater and Ingram grabbed the rebound with 23 seconds left. Barnes made two free throws before Mitchell missed a would-be game-tying 3-pointer.

Barrett made one free throw to bump the lead to four and Merrill hit a 22-foot jumper to cut the lead to two before Barnes sealed the game with 3.8 seconds left on two free throws.

Barnes added nine rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots to his stat line. He scored 10 fourth-quarter points, knocking down all six free throw attempts in the final 34.6 seconds.

“Scottie is going to be one of the best players in the league,” said coach Darko Rajakovic. “He’s already one of the best players in the league. But how much he cares about winning, it’s pushing him forward to whatever it takes to win a game. That’s what makes him so special, so I expect to see him continue to get better.”

Barnes was more focused on the team concept than any individual aspect of his own game.

“I think that’s what makes our bond just so tight, we’re just focusing on how we can grow,” he said after the game. “And we’re trying to do it together and finding ways of how we can communicate with each other each and every single day while we’re on the court, off the court, and just keep growing our bond.”

Cleveland led 17-14 after a sloppy first quarter.

Toronto was 0-for-14 from 3-point range before Barrett hit one with 8:31 remaining in the second quarter to cut the deficit to four. After Cleveland took an eight-point lead on Mitchell’s 3-pointer, Toronto finished the first half on a 10-0 run capped by Ingram’s 3-pointer to take a 38-36 lead into the break.

The first half featured poor shooting from both teams. Cleveland shot 33.3% (15 of 45) from the field and Toronto shot 27.8% (15 of 54).

“We had trouble scoring all game, but so did they,” said Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson. “So it was one of those types of games where it was tough to score the ball. Typical playoff game. I love our guys’ fight. We fought like crazy. They won the possession battle by 15. If you do the math, that’s really tough to overcome. We’ve got to turn that around in Game Five.”

Harden converted two free throws to give Cleveland an eight-point lead with 4:38 remaining in the third quarter. Toronto chipped away and took a one-point lead on Sandro Mamukelashvili’s layup with 45 seconds left. The Raptors led 60-58 after three quarters.

Payton Pritchard, Celtics down Sixers, lead 3-1

Payton Pritchard scored a career-playoff-high 32 points off the bench and the Boston Celtics took a 3-1 series lead with a convincing 128-96 road victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night.

Jayson Tatum made five treys and recorded 30 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds and Jaylen Brown added 20 points and seven rebounds as the second-seeded Celtics moved one victory away from winning the Eastern Conference first-round series. Game 5 is Tuesday in Boston.

Pritchard made six 3-pointers and was 12-of-21 from the field while Boston knocked down a franchise-playoff-record 24 treys to help finish off a second straight victory in Philadelphia.

Joel Embiid played for the first time in the series for the seventh-seeded 76ers after undergoing an appendectomy two-plus weeks ago. He scored 26 points on 9-of-21 shooting and collected 10 rebounds and six assists while playing 34 minutes.

Tyrese Maxey scored 22 points and Paul George added 16 for the 76ers. The Celtics made more 3-pointers than 2-point baskets (18) for the second straight game. Boston shot 48.3% overall and 45.3% from 3-point range.

Embiid was cleared shortly before tipoff and was aggressive at the outset by scoring the 76ers’ first eight points. He wore a brace underneath his jersey to protect his midsection.

Philadelphia made 41.2% of its field-goal attempts, including 9 of 30 (30%) from behind the arc. Quentin Grimes scored 12 points off the bench.

Pritchard began making an impact with 13 first-quarter points, including a quarter-ending 3-pointer to give Boston a 34-18 lead. Pritchard knocked down another trey to make it 40-19 with 8:51 left in the half. He had 18 at the break as the Celtics led 56-38.

Boston kept the assault going in the third quarter when Brown scored six straight points and Tatum added a trey as Boston’s lead grew to 69-43 with 7:57 left in the third quarter.

Pritchard scored the final four points of the period as the lead sat at 95-74 entering the fourth quarter.

Tatum’s four-point play capped a 9-0 run to start the fourth and pushed the lead to 30. Boston’s advantage topped out at 32 as it cruised to the finish.

Spurs dominate 2nd half to go up 3-1 on Trail Blazers

De’Aaron Fox scored 28 points and Victor Wembanyama had 27 in his return from concussion protocol, helping the visiting San Antonio Spurs to a 114-93 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round series on Sunday.

Fox sank 11 of 17 shots from the floor and drained four 3-pointers to aid the Spurs in overcoming a 19-point deficit to seize a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 5 is Tuesday in San Antonio.

After sitting out Game 3, Wembanyama showed why he was the NBA’s first-ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year by recording 11 rebounds, seven blocks and four steals.

“I had lots of emotions in me before the game, obviously excitement. Frustration,” Wembanyama told ESPN. “I let it all out tonight.”

Stephon Castle collected 16 points and eight assists while dealing with both an injured left hand and foul trouble.

Devin Vassell added 11 points for the Spurs, who outscored the Trail Blazers by a 73-35 margin in the second half.

Deni Avdija scored 26 points, Jrue Holiday had 20 and Jerami Grant added 17 off the bench for the Trail Blazers.