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Wrap-Up -- So this is what it looks like when they flip the switch …
After stumbling over the last week of the regular season and working out the kinks through a four-game sweep over Indy, the defending World Champs are hitting on all cylinders through the first two games of the Eastern Conference Semis – demolishing the Raptors, 125-103, on Wednesday night at The Q to take a 2-0 series lead.
A few weeks ago, the Cavaliers ability to retain a big lead was a major concern. But on Monday night, the Cavaliers only seemed to smell more blood as they continued to extend their edge.
The 125 points was a franchise record for a Cavaliers team that shot 55 percent from the floor, 55 percent from long-range and handed out 28 assists on 41 made baskets.
Despite Raptors coach Dwane Casey making a lineup switch – replacing DeMarre Carroll and Jonas Valanciunas with Patrick Patterson and Norman Powell in the starting five – the Cavaliers ran out to a double-digit lead after one quarter, by two touchdowns at intermission and by as many as 30 early in the fourth period.
Over the last two postseasons, the Cavaliers have outscored the Raptors by an average of almost 16 points, including a 24.2-point advantage in Cleveland’s four victories at The Q.
Toronto’s biggest lead in Game 1 was three points – Kyle Lowry’s three-pointer to start the scoring. On Wednesday night, the Raptors took a two-point lead twice in the first four minutes of the game. But when Kevin Love connected on a triple with 8:34 to play in the first quarter, the Cavaliers took the lead and never looked back.
LeBron James continued his white-hot start to the 2017 postseason – finishing with a game-high 39 points, going 10-of-14 from the floor, 4-of-6 from long-range and 15-for-21 from the stripe, adding six boards, four assists, three steals and a pair of blocks.
Through the first six games of the Playoffs, the four-time MVP is averaging 34.2 points on .566 shooting, including a .484 mark from deep, to go with 9.2 boards and 7.3 assists.
”When he’s playing with that kind of energy, it’s very infectious,” praised Coach Tyronn Lue. “Defensively, I think with J.R. and Shump taking the responsibility of guarding the best players like Paul George and DeMar DeRozan, that gives LeBron a chance to roam and rest on the defensive end. So, with that being said, you have to give credit to those guys for giving LeBron the energy to do what he’s doing.”
Kyrie Irving followed up with 22 points, despite not shooting the ball particularly well – going just 6-of-19 from the floor. But Irving was excellent once again distributing the basketball. One game after setting a career Playoff-best with 10 assists in Game 1, Irving led both squads with 11 helpers in Wednesday’s win.
And while the Wine and Gold’s reserves were quiet on Monday night, the tandem of Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye combined for 32 points off the bench on Wednesday.
Frye tallied 18 points in 18 minutes of action – going 6-of-9 from the floor, including 5-of-7 from long-range, adding five boards. Shump scored nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter – snagging six boards of his own.
LBJ and Kyrie lead the way and Channing Frye provides a spark off the bench.
As good as the Cavaliers were on the offensive end was as solid as they were defensively – specifically against Toronto’s All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan.
After holding the Eastern Conference’s second-leading scorer to just 19 points in Game 1, the combination of J.R. Smith and Shumpert dug in a little deeper in Game 2 – restricting the 8th-year guard to five points on 2-for-11 shooting.
”We’re executing on the defensive end at a very high level,” said Kyrie Irving. “But it doesn’t stop here (in Cleveland). We’ve just got to continue it and make sure we have that consistent effort going into Game 3.”
With DeRozan struggling to score, the Raptors turned to Kyle Lowry, who finished with 20 points before leaving the game after the third period with a sprained left ankle.
Jonas Valanciunas led Toronto with 23 points off the bench – going 10-of-13 from the floor in the loss. Cory Joseph notched 18 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, but nearly all of that came in garbage time.
Turning Point -- Although Wednesday’s affair was essentially never in doubt, the Raptors made sporadic pushes throughout the night.
One came midway through the third quarter when they managed to cut Cleveland’s 19-point lead to 13 – 78-65 – on Serge Ibaka’s short jumper.
But Kyrie answered Toronto’s run with five straight points and Tristan Thompson’s dunk on Irving’s alley-oop pass to put the Wine and Gold up 20. By the end of the third, it was 26.
By the Numbers – 5,777 … career postseason points that LeBron James has now scored, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for 2nd place on the NBA’s all-time list. His 39-point effort was also the 89th time he’s topped the 30-point plateau in a Playoff game – passing Kobe Bryant for 2nd-most in league history.
Quotable – LeBron James, on Cleveland’s defense on Wednesday night …
”We had a game plan and we just tried to execute it. It wasn’t always perfect. (Jonas) Valanciunas had it going. Kyle (Lowry) got a couple great looks. Serge (Ibaka) got some good looks. We just tried to make it tough on all those guys, not just (DeMar) DeRozan. The coaching staff has given us a game plan every day, every game at the start of this series and it’s up to us to go out and execute it. It’s not always nice. It’s not always going to be perfect. But for 48 minutes, I think we executed the game plan as well as we could tonight.”
Up Next -- After crushing the Raptors on Wednesday night at The Q, the Cavaliers head north of the border for the next two. On Friday night, it’s Game 3 at the Air Canada Centre at 7 p.m. followed by a Sunday afternoon matinee at 3:30 p.m. If the series continues after the trip, Game 5 will be back in Cleveland next Tuesday (5/9), back in Toronto for Game 6 next Thursday (5/11) and Game 7 at Quicken Loans Arena the following Sunday (5/14).