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This is exactly what was not supposed to happen to the Raptors in Game 1. They were the better team all season. They were the team with rest heading into the second round. They were at home. But it happened. LeBron James and the Cavs marched into Toronto on Tuesday night and stole Game 1.
The Raptors were in control mostly all night. But time after time they continue to let the Cavaliers back in. In fact, the Cavs took their first lead of the game during overtime. If it’s possible for LeBron James to have a “bad” triple-double, Game 1 was it. He wasn’t in rhythm all night. He missed a lot of shots he normally makes. He had trouble getting to the rim. But he finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists.
He got the help he needed, too:
J.R. Smith: 20 points
Kyle Korver: 19 points
Jeff Green: 16 points
Tristan Thompson: 14 points
The Raptors are going to be sick after this one especially when you mention the fact they missed 15 of their last 16 shots to end regulation. DeMar Derozan led the way with 22 points while Jonas Valanciunas had 21 points and 21 rebounds.
But this was a game they could not let the Cavs steal. And they did. They did it again.
Cavs 113, Raptors 112 – Final
THE CAVALIERS STEAL GAME 1!
Cavs 113, Raptors 112 – 39.6 OT
A Kyle Lowry And-1 basket gets this game within one, then off a Kyle Korver miss, the Raptors knock the ball out of bounds. Cavs have the ball now with a full shot clock.
Cavs 111, Raptors 107 – 2:47 OT
This is the Cavs biggest lead of the game after three-pointers from Kyle Korver and J.R. Smith.
Raptors 105, Cavs 105 – End of regulation
The Raptors had what felt like 100 chances to get a final shot to go down and could not. The Cavs got LeBron a wide open look with :0.6 remaining and he couldn’t get it go.
We’ve got more basketball, folks.
Raptors 102, Cavs 101 – 3:12 4Q
Raptors 96, Cavs 94 – 6:50 4Q
A J.R. Smith three-pointer and this is a two-point game! He’s got 17 points tonight.
Raptors 87, Cavs 82 – End of 3Q
Toronto has honestly played a great game and after everything the lead is only five after three quarters while LeBron has taken two breaks during the first and third quarters.
Raptors 81, Cavs 74 – 3:27 3Q
Jonas Valanciunas is having a monster third quarter and has has 19 points and 16 rebounds in 20 minutes. But the Cavs keep hanging around.
Raptors 72, Cavs 61 – 7:46 3Q
The lead is back up to 11 points after a Kyle Lowry three-pointer. He has 13 points and seven assists, while shooting 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
Raptors 60, Cavs 57 – Halftime
And just like that we have a game again. The Cavs outscored the Raptors 38-27 in the second quarter and what is maybe most interesting, is that LeBron is Cleveland’s third leading scorer after two quarters. J.R. Smith has 14 points, Jeff Green has 13 points, and James has 11.
DeMar DeRozan leads all scorers with 15 points for the Raptors.
Raptors 51, Cavs 45 – 3:01 2Q
So a couple of things have happened.
1. Fred Van Vleet wanted to fight LeBron.
Raptors 37, Cavs 26 – 9:04 2Q
LeBron is shooting 3-of-5 from the floor while the rest of the team is shooting 6-of-22 if you wondered how that narrative was going for the night.
Raptors 33, Cavs 19 – End of 1Q
Toronto shot 62 percent from the floor and have 10 assists on 13 field goals during the first 12 minutes. DeMar DeRozan leading them with 11 points. In an interesting turn of events though, LeBron James subbed out with 3:11 left to go in the first quarter as the Raptors continued to build on their own lead. He’s got seven points after one quarter.
Raptors 23, Cavs 15 – 4:11 1Q
Jonas Valanciunas picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter but it hasn’t appeared to cause Toronto any problems yet as they continue to build on their lead.
Raptors 10, Cavs 4 – 9:14 1Q
Toronto is off to a fast start in this one. Of note, every single basket scored so far has been at the rim. Both teams are easily getting to the basket.
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors will play the first game of their second-round playoff series on Tuesday night in Canada. Though the Raptors are coming in as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, fans can’t feel easy about going against LeBron James in a playoff series.
In 10 postseason matchups, James has an 8-2 record against Toronto, sweeping the Raptors in the 2017 conference finals, and winning 4-2 in the 2016 conference finals. James has been invincible throughout.
In those 10 games, James averaged 30 points per game, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block, according to StatMuse. He’s shot 60 percent from the field, and 42 percent from three-point range. There’s been no answer at all for him.
Toronto will lean on its youth, particularly Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby to contain James, but that’s a tough ask. Fortunately for the Raptors, James is coming off a daunting seven-game series against Indiana he was tasked to work for most of.
Will fatigue and this year’s version of Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and a stacked bench finally be enough?
source:-sbnation
