With the Cavs stepping on the court with its starters mainly Irving, Smith, James, Love and Thompson; the Toronto Raptors matched the line up with their equally strong starters composed of DeRozan, Carroll, Lowry, Scola and Biyombo. When he returned in the second half, the magic was gone. It would be game over for Toronto by then.
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That theory is being tested – perhaps refuted – in the Eastern Conference finals between the Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers.
“What’s the old saying?” Casey played down any suggestion Lowry had abandoned the bench. “The first game was ugly, tonight was not pretty”. “We’re not quitting. Everybody can bury us, but we’re not quitting”. Rod Black, Jack Armstrong and Leo Rautins discuss.
“It was nothing more than just kind of to decompress, breathe, get back out”. Lowry texted Lue on Wednesday night and said he wanted to get together and watch the Golden State-Oklahoma City game. Therefore, Kyle Lowry is not clutch.
The Detroit Pistons had nothing in round one, the Atlanta Hawks had nothing in round two, and it doesn’t look like the Toronto Raptors have anything in round three.
On the other side, the Cavs brightest star, James, delivered a triple-double with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists 34 minutes.
Terrence Ross, Cory Joseph and James Johnson chipped in 11 points apiece. With Lowry now 1 of 15 from beyond the arc in the first two games, the Raptors are in…um…considerable difficulty.
Be proactive – Use the “Flag as Inappropriate” link at the upper right corner of each comment to let us know of abusive posts. “Kyrie and Kevin are in such a great rhythm that it gives me more space to make some plays”. I think we’ll make shots tomorrow. “These teams have beaten a lot of West Coast teams throughout the regular season, so I don’t care what they say”.
“This is the highest level of basketball I’ve been waiting to play for a while”, Irving said, referring to postseason injuries suffered by him and Love last season.
James was once again the defining factor.
Everything continues to go the Cavs’ way this post season.
Lowry notched only 10 points and was 1-for-8 from three-point land. Raptors coach Dwane Casey noted that his team has been able to do well on Lowry’s off days, but they will need him playing back to his potential in order to take on the Cavaliers.
“We can’t just be satisfied to be here”, Casey said. I don’t think that’s physical, though. Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue also gets his name in the record books, passing Pat Riley (9-0) for the best playoff record to begin a coaching career. The Raptors now only have three players who have a positive plus/minus in the playoffs, only one of which is a current regular. Game 3 is Saturday in Toronto.
“This is what you work for, is to get to this, there’s only four teams left and we’re one of the four”, Casey said.
Down 0-2 in their first visit to the Eastern Conference Finals is a sticky situation, but the Toronto Raptors return home and get to play in front of their crazed fans, and maybe Drake, to heal their stinging wounds.
The Quicken Loans Arena, painted in gold “All In” T-shirts, included New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., and six-time NBA MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Raptors missed their last nine shots of the half while each member of the Cavs’ Big Three took turns extending the lead. This happened with 2:35 remaining in the first half with the outcome of the contest still very much up for grabs.
The wheels fell off midway through the second, as the Cavs ended the quarter on a 20-5 run.
James added a layup and free throw before the halftime horn and the Cavs led 62-48.
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Game 3 is Saturday while Game 4 is Monday at Air Canada Centre.
