Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry, right, fouls Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) during the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals in Toronto on Saturday, May 21, 2016.
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LeBron James scored 24 points during a 99-84 loss to the Raptors in Game 3 on Saturday, adding eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and one 3-pointer in 39 minutes.
Aside from early foul trouble for Lowry that kept him on the bench for much of the first half, the All-Star backcourt duo was clicking on all cylinders for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Cleveland Cavaliers. DeMar DeRozan is averaging 20.7 points and 4.4 rebounds while Kyle Lowry is averaging 17.6 points and 6.2 assists.
LeBron James scored 24 points, and J.R. Smith had 22 for the Cavaliers. Golden State finished with 15 offensive rebounds and 15 second-chance points.
Rebounds: The Cavaliers have been out rebounding the Raptors in the series, but Toronto had a 31-22 advantage in the first half. The Cavs also lost their first postseason game with LeBron, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. May. “He was able to get back in the game, and I think he feels good”.
As the numbers suggest DeRozan and Biyombo were the reason why Toronto came away with the win.
But back in front of an ACC crowd of 20,207 fans – including country singer Shania Twain and retired National Football League star Terrell Owens – Toronto shrugged off the fatigue of what’s been a gruelling post-season schedule and painstakingly put together an 18-point lead by the second quarter.
While the Raptors won two-of-three games versus Cleveland in the regular season, the Cavaliers are the overwhelming favourites to win a series that Charles Barkley described as “guppies versus sharks”.
Cleveland couldn’t miss down the stretch and when James threaded a bounce pass to Channing Frye with six minutes to play, the Cavs led by 18. “Without him we probably wouldn’t have this win”. “We’ve got to go back to the drawing board, not fix everything, just a few things, and be much better on Monday”.
Lowry and DeRozan seem to take turns in shooting poorly – Lowry had one of eight from beyond the arc during Game 2 in a horrific performance. But he didn’t make a three-pointer in Game 1 against Cleveland, and went 1-for-8 from long distance in Game 2. Biyombo had just nine boards in the first two games.
Online.Tv//#.Cavaliers vs Raptors Live s-t.r.e.a-m Game-3 21/May | G… They easily could have folded after the way they were humiliated in the first two games in Cleveland, but they played with pride and desperation to extend the series to at least five games.
Game 4 will be played at the Air Canada Center in Toronto on Monday.
Still James made a point of complimenting Toronto for its play in his post-game news conference.
While Toronto hit 50 percent from three-point land in the first half, that cooled inside the third quarter.
The Cavaliers pulled within 70-65 late in the third period, but the Raptors extended their margin to 80-70 entering the fourth quarter on a 3-point buzzer beater by Joseph and stayed in command to the end. Meanwhile, James and Kyrie Irving combined for 51 and the team as a whole beat up the Raptors.
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Cleveland’s Australian guard Matthew Dellavedova tweaked his ankle in the second half, but Lue said he should be OK. “He and Cory Joseph use the bathroom more than any two human beings than I know during the game”.
