But this was more than just the Raptors “showing up” on their home court.
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And as the teams prepared for Game 5 on Wednesday night, the pressure has swung back on superstar LeBron James and the Cavs, who spent Tuesday in film sessions breaking down went wrong during their visit to Toronto. We had a great film session today.
Unable to contain Toronto All-Star guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan from scoring or keep Raptors super sub Bismack Biyombo off the boards, the Cavs have put themselves in a predicament.
“I’m ready to go”, he said. “It’s up to us to try to take them out of their rhythm and make it as hard as possible on them”.
In the first two games of the series, the Cavaliers buried seven three-pointers per game, forcing the Canadians to improve their perimetre defence. Love also did not play in the fourth quarter of that game. The Toronto Raptors average fewer possessions with 94.7, as well as fewer points per possession with 1.069.
DeMarre Carroll chipped in with 11 points, while Bismack Biyombo hauled down a game-high 14 rebounds. Toronto is 10-1 in the playoffs when holding opponents below 100 points. In the previous meetings between these two teams, each game has been decided by the home crowd – will that change in Game 5? “Now we’ve protected home”.
Now we know why LeBron James rejected the idea that the Cleveland Cavaliers are a three-point shooting team. The Cavaliers made their first 11 shots of the fourth, with their first miss Frye’s errant 3-point attempt with 4 minutes 12 seconds remaining.
“We’ve got to find a way to be more consistent”, Lowry said. “We had a chance to win the ballgame but we can’t dig ourselves a hole like we did in the first half”. “That’s part of what they’re doing as well, but it’s part of us being a little bit more conscious about, ‘Okay, if it’s not going down, then we’ve got to get into the paint a little bit more, and then, kick out for threes as well'”. The Raptors were 14-for-19 at the line in the second half after none in the first. Lowry’s drive and basket coming out of a timeout following Biyombo’s rebound gave the Raptors a 105-99 lead with 22.5 seconds left after a furious Cavs rally in the second half set up a close finish.
Aaron Guthrie of Thunder Bay, Ont., seen here cheering at an early round playoff game between the Indiana Pacers and the Toronto Raptors.
Now compare that to where the Cavaliers are on this wide-open look – and subsequent miss – from J.R. Smith.
The Raptors hung on however to lead 78-69 at the end of the third. Now the Cavs are hitting 33.3 percent of their three-point shots it’s causing all sorts of offensive problems, starting with fewer offensive rebounds.
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Cleveland didn’t shoot any free throws in the third quarter and had just two in the fourth. Following a timeout, the Cavs made five of their next six to cut the deficit but the Raptors led 27-24 after one quarter. DeRozan’s short jumper got the lead up to four. Jones said it was unintentional….
