TORONTO — Pascal Siakam scored 36 points, Jakob Poeltl had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and the new-look Toronto Raptors recovered after squandering a 19-point lead and held on to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-121 on Monday night.
RJ Barrett had 19 points and nine rebounds and Immanuel Quickley added 14 in the players’ first start for the Raptors. Barrett and Quickley were sent to Toronto from the Knicks on Saturday in a trade that sent OG Anunoby to New York.
The sellout crowd of 19,800 roared for the Toronto-born Barrett when he was introduced before tipoff. Barrett assisted on Quickley’s 3-pointer to open the scoring for the Raptors.
Scottie Barnes scored 20 points and Dennis Schroder added 12 points off the bench as Toronto bounced back after falling at Detroit on Saturday, when the Pistons snapped an NBA-record-tying 28-game losing streak.
Caris LeVert scored 31 points and Donovan Mitchell had 26 for the Cavaliers, who have lost two straight and three of five. Isaac Okoro, Jarrett Allen and Sam Merrill each had 16 points for Cleveland.
Okoro and Mitchell missed 3-point shots with the Cavaliers trailing by two in the final minute of the fourth quarter.
The Cavaliers fell to 5-3 since learning that forward Evan Mobley (left knee surgery) and point guard Darius Garland (fractured jaw) will be sidelined until February.
Mitchell went to the free throw line with less than three seconds remaining and made the first, cutting Cleveland’s deficit to 123-121. But a lane violation by the Cavaliers on Mitchell’s second attempt gave the ball back to Toronto.
Barnes split a pair of free throws with 1.3 seconds to go and then sealed the win by picking off Cleveland’s long inbounds pass.
Toronto built a 59-40 advantage midway through the second quarter before the Cavaliers battled back. Mitchell’s tiebreaking 3-pointer with 6:48 left in the fourth put Cleveland up 111-108 and gave the Cavaliers their first lead since the opening period.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.