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Cavs Rally Falls Short as Raptors Even Series

Wrap-Up -- When the Cavaliers arrived in Canada on Friday afternoon, there was a feeling that they might complete a historic sweep through the Eastern Conference Playoffs. As they leave, they do so needing a home win on Wednesday to avoid a dire situation when they return.

Once again, the Cavaliers dug themselves another first-half hole; then spent the entire second half trying to dig their way out. And despite rallying for a brief lead in the fourth quarter, the Raptors were able to hold on for the 105-99 win in Game 4 on Monday night in Toronto – evening the Eastern Conference Finals at two games apiece.

As they did on Saturday night, the Wine and Gold fell behind by 18 points before intermission. Playing nearly perfect basketball to start the final period, they rallied to take a three-point lead midway through the quarter.

But Toronto’s one-two punch of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan – who combined for 67 points on 28-for-43 shooting – was simply too much down the stretch, going 8-for-11 in the fourth while the Raptors defensive held Cleveland scoreless in the game’s final two minutes.

”I thought we came back, we had control of the game, up three points, and then we just made some defensive mistakes that you can't do down the stretch,” lamented Coach Lue. “They cost us each time we made a mistake. They made us pay.”

In Game 3, both Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving struggled mightily from the floor – shooting a combined 4-for-28. On Monday night, Kyrie rediscovered his stroke, but Love continued to struggle, finishing with just 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting and sitting out the fourth quarter for the second straight game.

LeBron James led the Wine and Gold with 29 points – his 22nd straight Playoff game topping the 20-point plateau – going 11-for-16 from the floor, adding nine boards, six assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

James was also 6-of-6 from the stripe. The problem was that the rest of the squad made just three trips to the line – none, other than James two attempts, in the second half.

And while the Cavaliers attempted only nine free throws on the night, they put up 41 three-pointers for the second straight game – hitting on 13 of them in the Game 4 loss. In the previous two series, Cleveland canned a jaw-dropping 134 triples. But against Toronto, they’ve shot just 33 percent from beyond the arc – going 41-for-123 through four games.

Kyrie bounced back from a rough Game 3 to net 26 points on Monday night, going 11-for-21 from the floor, 3-of-8 from long-distance – adding six assists, three boards and a steal.

J.R. Smith had a frustrating night on both ends of the floor on Monday – going 3-of-11 from long-distance while struggling to contain DeRozan, who followed his 32-point effort on Saturday night with 32 more on Monday.

And once again, Bismack Biyombo got the better of Tristan Thompson – grabbing another 14 boards and leading both teams with three blocks. Over his last two games against Cleveland, the fifth-year big man has combined for 40 rebounds and seven rejections.

Cleveland’s most effective lineup of the night – as it’s been through much of the series – consisted of LeBron, Iman Shumpert, Matthew Dellavedova, Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson.

Jefferson and Frye – close friends dating back to high school – were especially good. Frye canned three straight threes -- essentially from the same spot on the floor – early in the fourth quarter as the Cavs erased Toronto’s nine-point lead. Jefferson was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field in the final period.

But the Cavaliers couldn’t overcome the Raptors All-Star backcourt and dropped their second straight Playoff game after running off 17 straight wins over Eastern Conference opponents.

“(The Raptors) got hot, they established their pace and were physical with us; they continued to do what they wanted to do,” said Frye. “We finally got some mojo going, but we had to play perfect. Then they hit some shots and some balls went their way and, you know, it is what it is.”

Turning Point -- There’s something to be said for a Cavaliers team that rallied back from an 18-point deficit to eventually take the lead. The problem was that the Wine and Gold seemed to run out of gas once they did.

Trailing by nine to start the fourth, the Wine and Gold rallied to take the lead behind Jefferson and Frye’s shooting, Delly’s defense and LeBron’s overall orchestration. Midway through the quarter, however, seven lead-changes in rapid succession saw the game tied at 96-apiece with 4:37 to play.

But that was as good as it would get for the Cavaliers, who hit just one more field goal – a Kyrie Irving three-pointer with 1:37 remaining to get Cleveland to within a deuce. But fittingly, DeRozan and Lowry hit buckets that would ice the win for Dwane Casey’s squad.

”You tip your hat to DeMar and Kyle; they did a great job,” praised LeBron. “They're All-Stars for a reason. That's why they're here today. They've carried this team all season. But even at the end of the day, as well as they played, we still had a chance. We still had a chance to win the ballgame. That's all you can ask for. But what we can't do is dig ourselves the hole that we did in the first half.”

By the Numbers.644 … LeBron James’ field goal percentage (38-of-59) over his last four Playoff games.

QuotableCoach Tyronn Lue, on whether he wanted to take a page out of Dwane Casey’s book and complain about the Cavaliers’ lack of free throws in the second half of Game 4 …

”I'm not taking a page out of nobody's book.”

Up Next – The Eastern Conference Finals will now go at least six games and the Wine and Gold will have to return to the Air Canada Centre – a gym in which they haven’t won this year – for Game 6 on Friday night. That puts a huge emphasis on Wednesday night’s battle at The Q, where the Wine and Gold have been just as hard on Toronto – winning by an average of 24 points per. If the Cavaliers can’t wrap up the East on Friday night north of the border, Game 7 goes down next Sunday night on the corner of Huron and Ontario.