Before Game 1 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors star Kyle Lowry talked about having fun, being on the same page and following the game plan to a tee. They started 5-0, overcame some key injuries and after a January 4 thumping (to Cleveland), they only lost two games in a row once for the rest of the season.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors will meet tonight, May 17, for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. The way Cleveland is playing right now, it’d be surprising to see Toronto even steal a game.
CLEVELAND (AP) Still unbeaten, still undeniable.
“We didn’t rest. We just didn’t have a game”, James said.
The Cleveland Cavaliers finished a mere one game ahead of the Toronto Raptors during the 2015-16 regular season, but they looked worlds apart on Tuesday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
But although the Cavs are more than halfway to winning a title and ending the city’s 52-year championship drought James isn’t satisfied. “I think this team, we’ve got a chip on our shoulder”. “We have a goal, and our goal is not nine wins. And the next game, I will be better”. I’ve won 14 games before. We will face some adversity.
The 31-point win eclipsed a pair of 30-point postseason wins for the Cavaliers, the most recent on May 26, 2015 against Atlanta. The good news: Cleveland went just 7-for-20 from the arc on Tuesday.
DeMar DeRozan (18 points) led the Raptors, helped by Bismack Biyombo (12) and James Johnson (10).
“I thought DeRozan came out and had a great first quarter”, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said”.
Unless Toronto figures some things out quickly, these Raptors will be extinct, too. But the Cleveland Cavaliers’ record-setting long-range shooting against the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, both in volume and accuracy, made the affirmations hard to please.
“Very demoralizing. You want to take away one thing (three-point shooting), but you don’t want to open up a whole can of worms to give them layups, and that’s what we’ve got to be disciplined with”.
Now, that’s a compelling case, but is it more compelling than the idea that LeBron James has magical musical powers? Lowry was just 4-for-14 from the field and turned the ball over four times.
“They waited a full regular season to get back to this moment”, James said.
“They’ve trained their bodies all season long to get back to this point – those guys are spectacular”. But unlike past year when Cleveland lost Kevin Love in the first round to a shoulder injury and Kyrie Irving went down with a broken kneecap in the Finals, James isn’t on his own, which is why the Cavs are an overwhelming favorite to make their second straight trip to the title round.
“We’ve been underrated for forever”, said forward DeMarre Carroll.
The impressive bucket capped a 20-2 spurt for the Cavs, whose swarming defense was making life miserable for Lowry and his teammates.
Frye and Dellavedova each hit a 3-pointer to trigger a 19-4 run over six minutes that propelled the Cavs to a 52-32 lead.
“The score is embarrassing, but again, it’s just one game”. Game 2 will take place on May 18.
The Cavs dominated the Raptors inside, outrebounding them 45-23.
The Raptors losing Valanciunas to an ankle injury was a huge blow to the team. They have to throw everything on the table in Game 2. “He’s a good young coach, a good person”.
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The Cavs appeared to be unstoppable against a Raptors team that has a reputation for under-performing in the NBA Playoffs. The Cavs also won nine straight in 2009.
