With Love and Thompson bringing the fire in the frontcourt, Kyrie Irving knocking down jumpers and LeBron James playing the role of offensive maestro, Cleveland shot 68.2 percent in the first quarter and ran out to a 37-19 lead.
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Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kevin Love, left, and Toronto Raptors’ Luis Scola vie for a loose ball during the first half of Game 5 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Cleveland.
This is also the Love who along with James and Kyrie Irving completes Cleveland’s Big 3, a trio dependent on each third doing its part. “We have to do our best to try and close it out like we did tonight”.
Cleveland has played harder in the three games in Cleveland and Toronto played harder in the two games in Toronto.
“Kevin Love getting going hurt us, and the third wheel to get going”, Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. The combined 5-for-23 he shot in the losses in this series are long gone, replaced by a tidy 8-for-10 shooting night, including 3-for-4 from three, where the Cavs were 10-for-21 as a team, to the Raptors’ 3-for-17. James also had eight assists and six rebounds. Toronto won the fourth quarter leading Cleveland 18-16, but it was not enough.
At halftime, James, Irving and Love had outscored the Raptors 43-34.
Kyrie Irving added 23 points in the Cavaliers’ most lopsided playoff win in franchise history – surpassing their 31-point victory at home in Game 1 of this series. When you have a young superstar like [Irving], you have Kevin, who’s a superstar as well, and they’ve helped us get to this point, so you don’t just throw in the kitchen sink because we lose two games or we didn’t play as well as we could.
On a night to forget, All-Star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors in scoring with 14 points, while All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry managed just 13 points.
Bismack Biyombo had seven points and four rebounds after dominating the paint during the Raptors’ two wins in Toronto.
The Raptors tried to go with Jonas Valanciunas-and he looked like he didn’t miss any games, but the Cavaliers were just too sharp all night for him to make any significant difference. “We were able to do that”, Lue said. They didn’t surpass the Cavs’ Big Three total of 71 points until the game’s last few minutes _ and all three stars sat the entire fourth quarter.
And ultimately: Was coach Tyronn Lue capable of making the adjustments necessary to turn around the series?
On the other end of the court, Love played the game with an equal fire. “I think it fuels us”. Our guys take solace from being at home, understanding we’ve been here before and we can bounce back from it.
“I’ve been in some really adverse playoff situations”, James said. In addition, he connected on all six of his shot attempts, including a trio of three-pointers, and finished 8-of-10 from the field. The Cavs lead, 3-2.
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“Just a very calm moment for myself, personally”, James said before the game.
