Varejao’s slam helps Cavs edge Raptors

Varejao finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who have won five of six . Larry Hughes scored 14 points for Cleveland, and Aleksandar Pavlovic added 10 points off the bench. Drew Gooden also grabbed 13 boards for the Cavs.

Chris Bosh scored 24 points and pulled down 10 boards for the Raptors, who had won 10 of 12 entering the game. Andrea Bargnani finished with 18 points and seven rebounds, and Jose Calderon added 10 points for Toronto.

Trailing 85-84 late in regulation, the Cavs called a play to work an open shot from the corner for Pavlovic, whose look was clean, but he could not make the three. Fortunately for the Cavs, Varejao made an incredibly athletic play, leaping over Bosh, grabbing the rebound high off the glass with his right hand, and slamming it through the net in one swift motion, giving the Cavs a one-point lead with 16 seconds left.

After a T.J. Ford missed layup the ball was tipped out of bounds, but the officials did not know off of who, and so a jump ball was called. Bosh won the tip for Toronto, but tapped the ball a little too strong, leaving a foot race between Cleveland’s Eric Snow and Ford for the ball. Ford grabbed the ball and called timeout, leaving two seconds on the clock.

The ensuing play worked to perfection, with Peterson coming wide open off of a screen, but he rushed his shot, took it off-balance, and the ball rimmed out as the buzzer sounded, preserving the Cleveland win.

The Cavs had led the even-matched contest, 71-70, entering the fourth quarter.

Toronto led after one quarter of play, 25-23, and 48-44 at the half.

Game Notes

The loss snapped Toronto’s eight-game winning streak at home...The Cavs have won 8 of 10 against Toronto...Cleveland shot 3-of-15 from behind the arc.