James lead Cavs to incredible rally win past Raptors, 132-129

After trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, the undermanned Cleveland Cavaliers completed an incredible comeback to beat the first-place Toronto Raptors 132-129 at Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday night.

The Raptors scored 79 in the first half, not only setting a new season high for a Cavs opponent, but it was the most anyone has ever scored in a half against a James team (according to ESPN). Toronto got 35 points on 14-of-26 shooting from their bench in the first half.

The Cavs, who were playing without five rotation players, came all the way back from its 15-point deficit at halftime and started the massive second-half comeback.

Lebron James, who posted his fourth consecutive game of 30 or more points, finished with 35 points, seven rebounds, and 17 assists in 39 minutes. It was his sixth 15-assist game this season, a career high. He entered the game with his team trailing by three and nine minutes left, and closed with 14 points and five assists in the final frame. He also finished with no turnovers for the first time since Nov. 20.

Kevin Love also came up huge in his second game back from a hand injury with 23 points and 12 rebounds, including a clutch three with 27 seconds left to put the Cavs up by four.

George Hill finally showed up and had 22 points on 10-of-11 shooting. He was shut out in Monday's win. His back court mate, Jose Calderon, was brilliant with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Jeff Green added 15 points and JR Smith scored 10 off the bench.

The Cavs, who ended Toronto's nine-game road winning streak, were missing Kyle Korver (bereavement), Tristan Thompson (sprained right ankle), Rodney Hood (lower back issue), Larry Nance Jr. (right hamstring), Cedi Osman (left hip flexor strain), and coach Tyronn Lue (leave for illness).

The Cavs trailed by as many 15 points in their win, and only led by as many as five points. Currently, the Cavs trail the Raptors by 10.5 games in the Eastern Conference and would have to win out with the Raptors losing the rest of their games for the Cavs to take the No. 1 seed. With the Cavs currently slotted in as the No. 3, the two teams would not meet until possibly the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Raptors were led by their two All-Stars, guards Kyle Lowry (24 points) and DeMar DeRozan (21 points). They entered tonight's game third in the league in defense, but the Cavs were too much for the Raptors in the second-half. The Cavs were 15-of-24 from 3-point range (.625) and shot an outstanding .603 from the field. Both percentages were season highs.

COMING UP NEXT FOR THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: The Cleveland Cavaliers (42-29) finish this three-game home stand at 7:30 Friday night against the Phoenix Suns (19-53).