In the Game 2 win, the Cavaliers stole nine passes, forced 13 turnovers and blocked four shots.
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Hope is about all that remains for the Toronto Raptors when they play Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday night at the Air Canada Centre.
Before the game, Toronto vowed to be more physical against the Cavs.
Dwane Casey was asked how he prepares the team for a Game 4 when trailing 0-3 in the series. Like I said, it’s not hockey. He’s a good friend of mine, a well-respected guy in our league and we never, no matter throughout competition you don’t want anybody to get hurt.
Then consider that DeRozan scored only one point in the fourth period.
As the Raptors were picking up Ibaka and Tucker around the deadline, the Cavs brought in a three-point shooting specialist, Kyle Korver.
“We don’t need to be thinking about a sweep or getting rest, we need to be thinking about what we need to do to execute defensively and offensively coming into Sunday”, James said.
The Cavaliers took a two-point lead into the fourth quarter and took command of the game with a 20-3 run.
LeBron James was again dominant with 35 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Korver came off the bench and scored 14 points, hitting four three’s.
The 31-year-old Lowry, who was Toronto’s best player in Games 1 and 2 and is also the team’s best three-point shooter, is tough to replace, said DeMar DeRozan.
Powell, who left the game briefly in the first quarter after rolling his ankle, came back big – sticking to the much bigger and more experienced James and keeping him somewhat quiet, as well as rolling to the basket himself to score. James started the game trailing Jordan by 211 points with 5,776 points. And how do you make up the difference if you’re the Raptors and you’re down an additional 30 points on the 10-three pointers that didn’t even factor in whether you win or lose.
Cavs forward Kevin Love, who had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and point guardKyrie Irving, who had 16 points but shot just 7-of-21, did not play in the fourth.
Valanciunas contributed 15 points for the Raptors, while Norman Powell added 13 points and Ibaka 12. They finished just 2-of-18 (.111 pct.) from long range. Over a four minute stretch, he nearly single-handedly turned a seven point lead into nineteen and the Cavs never looked back. LeBron James was 15-of-16 to lead the way.
As a team, the Cavaliers dominated on the rebounding front, holding a 49-25 advantage. The Cavs have played seven playoff games, won all seven of them. Cleveland trailed at half and led just 79-77 after three.
No Lowry: Kyle Lowry was active for Game Three, but he did not play due to an ankle sprain suffered in Game Two.
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Toronto simply has no chance to defeat Cleveland when James is at the top of his game and players like Channing Frye and J.R. Smith are connecting with their outside shots.
