It is the first of four meetings between two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
Advertisement
Making matters worse, Cleveland’s defense allowed three and-1 buckets to occur in the fourth quarter (and six in the second half), failing to stop the Raptors’ attempts from going in even while giving a foul.
Kyle Lowry found Bismack Biyombo for easy dunks on the next two Toronto possessions and the Raptors walked off the floor with a 103-99 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Cleveland is ready to play RIGHT NOW. “They went to Kevin and Kev just delivered time after time (by) doing what he knows how to do with a very good mix of inside-outside play”.
Rudy Gay scored a game-high 36 points to help the Sacramento Kings hold on late to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 129-118, the Memphis Grizzlies were 102-93 winners over the Houston Rockets, the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Phoenix Suns 120-114 and the Orlando Magic trumped the NY Knicks 100-91. Valanciunas will miss about six weeks after deciding to rehab the injury rather than undergoing surgery. When the opponent is LeBron James, that happens far more often.
When asked if fatigue was a factor, James said, “No. It’s not an excuse”.
The Raptors scored the first 10 points of the second quarter, but the Cavs J.R. Smith, LeBron James and Tristan Thompson returned to the game at the same time and the Cavs responded by scoring 19 of the game’s next 21 to take the lead. Biyombo played 33 minutes on Wednesday and he finished with 12 rebounds and 11 points (on 4-for-5 field goals).
It was the Cavs’ fourth loss of the season – all on the road. Tip-off starts at 7:30 p.m. ET and you can catch it on National Basketball Association League Pass. “If he contested a shot at the rim we tried to make him pay, and if he wanted to stay with me then we got a clear paint to get layups”. “We haven’t been playing to the level of physicality and with the sense of urgency that we need to, that we set out to maintain”.
It’s been three years since the first annual instalment of “Drake Night” at Air Canada Centre, but the Canadian rapper behind the event still can’t believe it’s happening.
“(James) is a great player.
“I didn’t play well”, James said afterward. “We did a good job keeping ourselves focused”. You saw it past year in the playoffs and he’s carried it over into helping us. INJURY REPORT:Cavaliers – PG M. Williams (questionable Wednesday, leg), C T. Mozgov (early Decemeber, shoulder), SG I. Shumpert (mid February, wrist), PG K. Irving (out indefinitely, knee). Cunningham started at point guard because Dellavedova wasn’t available and Blatt wanted to ease Mo Williams back into the lineup.
Advertisement
The Raptors are on the road next, facing the Washington Wizards on Saturday.
