TORONTO — Kyle Lowry scored 35 points, including a driving layup in the final minute, and DeMar DeRozan had 32 as the Toronto Raptors evened the Eastern Conference Finals by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-99 in Game 4 on Monday night.
DeMarre Carroll scored 11 points and Bismack Biyombo had 14 rebounds as Toronto improved to 8-2 at home this postseason.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Cleveland.
Cleveland lost consecutive playoff games to an Eastern Conference opponent for the first time since dropping the final three games of the conference semifinals to Boston in 2010.
LeBron James scored 29 points and Kyrie Irving had 26 for the Cavaliers. Channing Frye scored nine of his 12 points in the fourth quarter.
The Raptors led by nine points to begin the fourth but Frye made consecutive 3-pointers as Cleveland opened the final quarter with an 8-0 run, cutting it to 78-77. The Cavaliers made their first 11 shots of the fourth quarter. Frye’s errant 3-point attempt at 4:12 was their first miss.
DeRozan made two free throws at the other end and, after another miss by Frye, Carroll made one of two to put Toronto up 99-96 with 3:23 to go.
A long 3 by Irving made it 101-99 with 2:00 left, but DeRozan answered with a driving bank shot at 1:33. Toronto got the ball back after Biyombo blocked J.R. Smith’s 3, and Biyombo kept the offensive possession alive by rebounding Lowry’s missed shot. After a timeout, Lowry let the shot clock wind down before driving for the decisive layup, making it 105-99 with 22 seconds to go.
Toronto jumped to a 13-5 lead as Cleveland missed eight of its first 10 shots. Following a timeout, the Cavs made five of their next six to cut the deficit but the Raptors led 27-24 after one quarter.
Lowry scored 15 points in the second, making three of Toronto’s four 3-pointers, as the Raptors opened a 57-41 halftime lead despite not shooting a single free throw in the first two quarters. It marked the first time a team led by 15 or more at halftime in a conference finals game without shooting a free throw since Game 2 of the 2001 East Finals between Milwaukee and Philadelphia. The Bucks made 2 of 6 from the line, the fewest ever made in an NBA playoff game at the time.
DeRozan shot Toronto’s first free throws at 6:13 of the third after being tackled by Smith on a drive. The foul drought came after Raptors Coach Dwane Casey was fined $25,000 for criticizing the officials following Toronto’s Game 3 win.
After shooting 3 for 22 from 3-point range in the first half, the Cavaliers made their first three long-range shots in the third quarter. Cleveland connected on 6 of 8 3s in the third but DeRozan and Lowry combined for 16 points as Toronto took a 78-69 lead into the fourth.
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