CLEVELAND -- On a night when the Cleveland Cavaliers needed a win to hold onto their slim lead over the Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference and Central Division standings, they had to go through the No. 1 team in the East in order to do so.
And that is exactly what the Cavaliers (48-30) did when they fought their way to the a 112-106 victory over the Toronto Raptors (55-22) in front of a capacity crowd at Quicken Loans Arena Tuesday night.
PHOTOS: Cleveland Cavaliers battle Toronto Raptors in key Eastern Conference game at The Q
The Cavaliers’ second win over the Raptors in the last two weeks allowed them to maintain a half-game lead over the 76ers in the Eastern Conference and at least a one-game edge over the Pacers, who had a late-night matchup at the Denver Nuggets Tuesday night.
The 76ers cruised to a 121-95 win over the Brooklyn Nets.
With the bench scoring just 19 points, every one of the Cavaliers’ starters totaled double figures, led by 27 from small forward LeBron James, who sunk eight of his 14 attempts from the field, three of his six tries from three-point range and eight of his 11 shots from the free-throw line.
James pulled down 10 rebounds and handed out six assists in the win.
Early and-1 for LeBron James! 💪#AllForOne pic.twitter.com/4Xj4zHD9qr
With point guard George Hill still out of the lineup because of a sprained ankle, veteran ball-handler Jose Calderon remained in the starting lineup and matched a season high with 19 points in 26 minutes. Calderon converted three of his five attempts from three-point range to go along with four rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
Calderon finished the game plus-27, meaning the Cavaliers outscored the Raptors by 27 points when he was on the floor.
Spanish 🐐 sighting!
Jose Calderon with 11 points in the first quarter. #CavsRaptors pic.twitter.com/bOZUDCGJqk
In addition to James and Calderon, power forward Kevin Love gave the Cavaliers a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds, and on the way to the 18, he sunk four of his eight attempts from the field, and all four of those makes came from beyond the arc.
Why you gotta do 'em like that K. Love? 😱
Shooting guard Rodney Hood and small forward Jeff Green scored 17 and 12 points, respectively. Green added three blocks in just 25 minutes of action.
As a team, the Cavaliers knocked down 38 of their 77 attempts from the field (49.4 percent) and 13 of their 30 tries from three-point range (43.3 percent), as well as 23 of their 26 shots from the free-throw line (88.5 percent).
The Cavaliers held onto the victory with solid free-throw shooting, as they did not make a field goal over the final 1:45 of the fourth quarter, but sunk all four of their attempts from the charity stripe.
WATCH | Instant reaction from Dave "Dino" DeNatale after the Cavs win on WKYC's Facebook Live:
