After an eight-day layoff following their recent sweep of Atlanta, there was some concern that the Cavaliers would come out rusty against Toronto in the Eastern Conference Finals – and those concerns were immediately proven correct.
For exactly one minute and 49 seconds.
That’s when the Cavaliers – trailing 8-0 to start the affair – kicked the machine right back into gear and proceeded to steamroll the Raptors in Game 1, running their record to 9-0 in the 2016 postseason with the 115-84 drubbing of Toronto on Tuesday night at The Q, the most-lopsided victory in franchise history.
The Cavaliers didn’t bombard the Raptors from beyond the arc – their formula for success through the first two rounds. Instead, Cleveland went with the ground game, netting 56 points in the paint, shooting 55 percent from the floor and hitting only seven triples on the night.
Even with their slow start, the Cavaliers proceeded to shoot 67 percent from the field in the first half, outscoring the Raptors, 33-16, in the second quarter and opening a 22-point edge by intermission.
In what was billed as a battle between two of the Eastern Conference’s top point guards – Kyrie Irving and Kyle Lowry – the Wine and Gold’s three-time All-Star stole the show, leading all scorers with 27 points in the win.
Irving was razor-sharp from the opening tip and notched 12 of his 27 in the first quarter, going 5-of-7 from the floor in the period. Consistently penetrating the Raptors’ interior defense, Kyrie shot 11-for-17 from the field overall, adding a team-high five assists to go with two boards, two steals and a pair of blocked shots.
”I think that we were getting to our sweet spots as much as possible and the play calls by Coach Lue were great coming out of timeouts,” said Irving. “And coming out of those timeouts we knew what we wanted to run and we played at an unbelievable place. I flipped two easy buckets in transition that got us into a great rhythm.”
His counterpart had a much more difficult evening, with the Cavaliers holding Lowry – who combined for 71 points in the last two games of Toronto’s Second Round series against the Heat – to just eight points on Tuesday, going 4-for-14 from the floor, including 0-of-7 from long-range.
LeBron James had been in all-business mode in the days leading up to Game 1 and never broke stride after tip-off – hitting his first nine shots of the game – all from point-blank range – and finishing 11-of-13 from the floor for 24 points.
James – whose massive second-quarter dunk over DeMarre Carroll prompted the game’s greatest reaction, an extended roar to the frenzied crowd – topped the 20-point mark for the 19th straight postseason game, longest active streak in the NBA. The four-time MVP added six boards, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot in the win.
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