The Toronto Raptors won 102-99.
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The Guardian reports, “The Raptors now get exactly one day of rest before they have to travel to Cleveland to face a risky Cavaliers team that has been resting while they’ve been in the fight for their lives against a relentless Miami Heat team”.
The Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers collide in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals Tuesday night at the Quicken Loans Arena. The pair combined for 63 points in Toronto’s 116-89 series-clinching win over the Heat.
Kyle Lowry scored 35 points as the Toronto Raptors clinched a playoff series victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday, sending the Canadian franchise to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in their history.
But Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey stuck with the plan and knew that if his team just played the way it was supposed to, things would go their way, the fans would go insane, and they would all be going to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in franchise history.
THOMPSON’S D: First, Klay Thompson chased James Harden around for five games and held him in check.
Toronto is led by All-Star guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, each of whom pose a challenge for the Cavaliers on both ends of the floor.
And although the Cavs are recharged following a nine-day break between playoff series and have been in this spot before, James doesn’t think his or Cleveland’s postseason resume gives them any edge.
Lowry had 36 points in Game 6, but he was also responsible for Goran Dragic going bonkers. “That’s all that matters”. But there’s not much hope it’ll go any further – except for one thing. “Time to just go out there and hoop”. “With what we had we fought tooth and nail to get to that goal of the Eastern Conference final and fell one game short”.
On Sunday, it was said you could hear the delerious supporters underground at Union Station and as far away as Fort York and Spadina. This is how we’ve been playing all year.
“You need to be healthy in this league, and we’ve been snakebit, Wade told him”.
Thanks to the rebounds, Toronto had a 27-9 edge in second-chance points.
Fifteen years later, there was no clanked potential game-winner from a Raptors star.
The Raptors led 25-24 at the end of the opening period, with DeRozan up to 11 points by the start of the second period. “But we’re going to go in there and play our game and try to go out there and do our job and see what happens”.
The Cavs have yet to go five games in this postseason, completing four-game sweeps over Detroit and Atlanta. So does Toronto’s 2-1 edge against Cleveland in the regular season, if only from the confidence gained in winning twice at Air Canada Centre and shooting 50.2 percent in the three games.
Scouting booklets for the Cleveland series were sitting on the chair of each Raptors player inside their locker room less than an hour the game.
“They got out on the perimeter, kept guys in front of them and then when the shot went up, they planted their feet and took a stand in the paint and played like big men in the paint”.
Casey declined to say whether center Jonas Valanciunas, who sprained his right ankle in Game 3, would be ready for Cleveland.
“It’s very important for our program”, Casey said.
Key Matchup: Kyrie Irving vs. Lowry. He hit a dagger three with a little over two minutes to play to extend the Heat lead 12, 99-88. “They made a great adjustment”, said Toronto All Star DeMar DeRozan. “The 6’9” 23-year-old from the Congo had the biggest game of his life and the Raptors can be thankful to have signed him to a two-year deal last offseason.
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“I think this group is hungry”, Casey said of his team. Many had already begun to write the Raps off as an underachieving band of regular season bandits, but Lowry and DeRozan showed up to win this closely-contested series.
