“I don’t know”, James said on the court.
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Thanks to the 113-87 win over the feisty Toronto Raptors in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the two-time, back-to-back defending Eastern conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers are hitting their proverbial stride at the ideal time. Later, a confrontation between Richard Jefferson and Jonas Valanciunas resulted in technical fouls for three players.
Dellavedova emerged as a cult hero in last year’s finals, stepping up to be James’ sidekick before losing the title to the Warriors, who boast Melbourne-born centre Andrew Bogut. The other seven were all part of the ’50s-60s Celtics dynasty.
And perhaps no one is enjoying this more than James, whose Cavaliers are here again despite a coaching change from David Blatt to Tyronn Lue during the season. “He’s a proven victor”.
“To go to six straight finals is unbelievable”. He puts the work in. “And he deserves it”.
Toronto has two first round picks in next month’s draft, including the ninth overall selection. With a ragtag starting lineup, the Raptors were still able to win their fourth in a row and downed the Brooklyn Nets 103-96, giving them a franchise-best 56th win of the season.
The Cavaliers made 10 of 15 3-point attempts in the first half, while Toronto was 2-of-12. It’s clear the Cavs are most effective when he’s engaged offensively and scoring. The Cavs are back for the second straight year. With six minutes left, it was 22.
Unfortunately for the fantastic fans of the North, Cleveland was able to continue their impressive streak of closing out teams on the road in Game 6.
Toronto meanwhile brought the curtain down on their first ever appearance in the Eastern Conference finals with a 35-point display from Kyle Lowry, while DeMar DeRozan added 20 points. Then Irving required season-ending surgery on his left kneecap after injuring it in Game 1 of the Finals.
The dynastic Maple Leaf teams of the 1960s, winners of four Stanley Cups, needed just eight wins in any of those seasons to call themselves champions. Game One of the Finals will be on June 2, regardless. For another city, another team, it would feel like a team that fell short of their goal.
Despite being eliminated from the National Basketball Association playoffs on Friday night, The Toronto Raptors have lots to be proud of.
“It’s a tremendous learning experience”, Casey said. He ha has played dirty this entire series. Every situation was new for us.
“We wouldn’t be at this point today going to the Finals without those two”, he said.
We had the opportunity to watch a Raptors team take utmost pride in representing the city of Toronto, and the nation of Canada.
“You sacrifice so much for moments like this and to have it taken away from you, it’s hurtful”. Obviously, they wanted to break the record that was set by the Chicago Bulls in the the 1995-1996 season. While the Raptors have some big questions ahead of them, the team has to like where they are at going forward and because of some savvy moves, they will boast the No. 9 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. “But as of right now, it sucks”. It was a boisterous locker room after Friday’s win. The next two games were the exact opposite of that – as the Cavs suddenly turned to mush. Not trying to be MJ or Magic or Oscar, just being LeBron James. “These fans mean a lot to the team”, said James of the crowd.
Afterward, LeBron clarified that because the team didn’t have champagne, they celebrated with water.
You’ve got to be, to plug chocolate milk at the podium after earning a berth in the NBA Finals. James broke the 30-point barrier for the first time this postseason and finished with 11 rebounds and six assists.
The game wasn’t really close.
“It’s definitely a different feeling”, he said. While the Cavs made an impressive run by forcing the series to go 6 games during last year’s Finals, they weren’t given the chance to show what they were truly capable of due to injuries.
“This year I am going to appreciate it”.
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“Historic season! Proud to stand behind my city always!” wrote Drake, who was at Friday night’s deciding game. Regardless, the Cavs are ready to take on the challenge. “We still have a ways to go”. We commit to one another and we sacrifice to one another.
