The Toronto Raptors are not shown on National TV often in the NBA season, but there are a handful of times where the Raptors are seen by more than the Canadian public. This was one of those times due to the opponent they were facing. The Cleveland Cavaliers coming into this game were not only missing four of their top 8 players in their rotation, but also their head coach Tyronn Lue due to personal reasons. The two teams that experts say will meet in the Eastern Conference Finals were going head-to-head tonight. The Raptors have won the previous match-up where the Raptors blew out the pre-trade deadline Cavaliers by 34. Key injuries for both sides include Kyle Korver, Rodney Hood, Larry Nance Jr., Tristan Thompson, and CJ Miles.
The Raptors battled the Cavaliers on a Wednesday evening at the Quicken Loans Arena.
As soon as the ball was tipped-off, the pace was off the roof. Both sides were unstoppable on offense and every shot was hitting the bottom of the basket. OG Anunoby given the task of keeping up with LeBron who has been on a tear lately. LeBron took the rookie to school early and often in the first quarter. The Cavs went with 4 shooters and LeBron James running the show, which is very hard to defend especially when the entire team was hitting their shots from the outside with relative ease. The Raptors struggled to keep the Cavs from scoring in transition which led to high percentage shots for the home team. Both sides offered very little resistance on the defensive end and the first quarter ended 38-42 with the Cavs taking the early lead.
The Raptors bench started the second quarter and Norman Powell was replacing the injured CJ Miles. The bench played strong defense in the second quarter but were unable to convert on the other end. The Raptors made a run and took back the lead using their ball movement, but every time the Raptors tried to separate themselves, Cleveland would always hit a three. Pascal Siakam was playing great defense on Kevin Love who was on fire in the first quarter. Jakob Poeltl was active defensively and on the offensive glass. This was more of a typical game we expect of Poeltl who has been struggling lately. Both teams put in their starters midway through the second quarter. Dwane Casey brought Lowry to mesh with the bench and it was working. The starters came back in and picked up where the bench left off. VanVleet was on the court and was lights out from outside. DeMar ends the half with a basket and then an assist to VV in the corner to close the half out. Raptors took a 79-64 lead going into the second half.
All signs were looking good for the Toronto Raptors in the first half.
The 79 points tied the Raptors franchise high for most points in a half. The Raptors shot 11/17 from three in the first half and were on pace to beat down the Cavaliers if they kept up this focus and determination. The second half started and the Raptors started to come down to Earth in terms of their shooting. The outside looks that were falling in the first half were clanking off the rim in the third. Kyle Lowry’s timely shooting kept the Raptors afloat amidst the terrible shooting. Raptors were up 93-80 with 5:07 left in the third quarter. The Cavaliers adjusted their defense and were slacking off of Ibaka and were forcing the ball out of Lowry’s and DeMar’s hands. Ibaka was having an off-shooting night and the Cavs turned every missed basket into an opportunity to run. The Cavaliers led by LeBron started to pick up the pace and run after every missed basket by the Raptors. In a matter of minutes that 13-point lead was cut down to a 1-point lead going into the fourth. LeBron found his shooters all game long. Calderon, Love, Hill, and Green began to knock them down with consistency. Toronto could not slow down the Cavaliers offense in the third quarter especially since they could not score themselves. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense, but the inability to make shots gave Cleveland the confidence they needed to come back in this game.
Into the fourth where LeBron James is 2nd in the NBA in fourth quarter scoring. The Bench Mob started the fourth quarter strong and were swinging the ball around well. A few mental lapses kept the Cavs in the game. Norman Powell allowed JR Smith to get open off a made basket by the Raptors when all 5 players were back on their side of the court. JR Smith ends up hitting the three in the corner with a trailing Norman Powell trying to make up for his mental lapse. JR scored 1 vs 5 and Casey was livid. Casey immediately benches Norman Powell for his lack of focus in a dire game where every point counts. Both teams started to trade baskets and Toronto struggled to hit their outside shots with consistency. LeBron got free for a couple slams off the pick-and-rolls and ignited the Cavs arena.
Kevin Love's return has filled up a big hole in the offense for the Cavs and he added 23 points and 12 rebounds in this one.
Casey had to call timeout to calm down the crowd and the momentum. Jakob Poeltl, Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, Lowry and DeRozan were the five on the court in the fourth. All three members of the bench were playing great. Siakam was playing tough defense on LeBron and was the only effective one to guard him due to his length. LeBron was able to get to the line frequently in the fourth and was hitting his free throws at an above average rate. Casey elected to go with JV and Ibaka with about 2:44 left in the game. Strange move especially late in the game when both Siakam and Poeltl played most of the fourth already. The Raptors found themselves down 120-125 before DeMar draws a foul and hits two free throws to cut it down to an one possession game. Ibaka struggled and was subbed out after missing his shots again. Siakam back in. Siakam gets a great stop on LeBron and gets open for the dunk on the other end. 124-125 with less than two minutes to go in this nail-biter. VanVleet gets called for a touch foul on Hill who was trying to set the screen for LeBron. They run the same play again, but VanVleet decides to stick with Hill on the pick-and-roll instead of hedging which allows LeBron the brief opening he needed to run into the heart of the defense. LeBron reads the help coming and shoots a diagonal bullet to the corner where Kevin Love was spotting up. Siakam lunges at Love but was half a second late as Love lets the shot fly. Bang. 4-point lead for the Cavs.
Both teams traded baskets down the stretch and the Raptors were unable to climb back. Raptors defense wasn’t strong in this one and Toronto’s fatigue showed up in the second half predominately. LeBron and company collect a good win over the Eastern Conference leader and send a statement to the rest of the league that they still have the best player in the league which will always give them a chance to win any game. On a day where Cleveland was missing a bunch of players and their head coach, they were resilient and battled back to steal this one from Toronto.
Toronto Raptors Cleveland Cavaliers
129 132
Player of the Game
Kyle Lowry
33 minutes, 24 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 7-10 shooting, 6-9 3PT, 4-4 FT, 0 turnovers
Kyle came out of the gate on fire and was the heart and soul of this team in the game. This game would have been a blowout in the second half if not for his shot-making and play-making. Lowry showed up and showed out. The All-Star was leading the charge but came up one possession short of winning this one. On a day where the Cavs were red hot from the outside, Lowry’s shooting was able to cancel some of that to an extent. Lowry and co. will need to look at their defensive coverages in this game and determine how all the Cleveland shooters were able to get shots off.
Things To Take Away From The Game
1. Outside Shooting
In one of the marquee games of the season, the Raptors lack of shooting was evident especially without their best sniper, CJ Miles. Toronto started off the game hot with a 11/17 mark from the outside, but finished the game with a dismal 3/14 effort. The Raptors did get open looks from the outside with their excellent ball movement but were not able to convert. Serge ibaka and DeMar DeRozan were open several times and if one of them knocked down one of their 7 misses on the evening, this game could have completely different. The Cleveland Cavaliers shot 15/24 from 3-point land which is abnormal and is hard to beat a team shooting at that clip.
2. LeBron James
The greatest player of the decade showed off his dominance once again. LeBron has been said to own the Toronto Raptors whenever he faces our roster since he has dominated the Raptors in the playoffs the past two years. LeBron James had an astronomical line of 35 points, 17 assists, 7 rebounds, 11-19 shooting, 1-3 3PT, 12-14 FT, 1 steal and 0 turnovers. The 35 point, 15+ assist, and zero turnover line has never been done in NBA history. This remarkable stat line was contributed to the fact that the Raptors did not put enough pressure on LeBron. LeBron has turned the ball over 18 times in the last three games yet did not turn the ball over once again the Raptors. Hopefully the Raptors will not face this LeBron James in the playoffs who has been on a tear lately.
LeBron James dominated and was huge in this marquee win for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
3. Two Ends of the Court
The Raptors were amazing offensively and were able to expose this Cleveland defense for what it is, a poor defensive team. However, Cleveland did limit this Toronto team to 50 points in the second half. The Raptors allowed 68 in the second half. This team is known for being one of the elite defensive teams in the NBA but over the past week, they have been terrible on that end. The rotations are a step slow, too many straight line drives, and the ability to close out shooters which they were doing for the early part of this season has disappeared. Casey will need to get on the players to regain that focus and bring back that energy to fly around on the defensive end. The disruption they cause on the defensive end will lead to easier offensive opportunities as well. Defense wins championships and allowing a team to score 132 points is not going to cut it.
Pictures courtesy of:
http://www.nba.com/raptors/gallery/rapscavs-032118