5-5-17 at Raptors

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#CavsRaptors Game 3 Road Game Watch Party

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Wrap-Up -- In the first two games of Cleveland’s Eastern Conference Semis against Toronto, the Wine and Gold built big leads and coasted to the finish line. On Friday night in Toronto, they simply wore the Raptors down.

The Raptors went toe-to-toe with the Wine and Gold for three quarters, but it was all Cleveland in the fourth – blowing past Dwane Casey’s stunned squad and rumbling to the 115-94 win, their 10th straight in the postseason and, more importantly, a victory that puts them on the cusp of sweeping their second straight opponent.

Even without the services of All-Star guard Kyle Lowry – who suffered a sprained left ankle late in Game 2 and was unable to go on Friday – the Raptors were a different team through the first three quarters, with DeMar DeRozan piling up 36 points heading into the fourth.

But that’s where the fun ended for DeRozan and the Raptors.

Jump-started by a pair of triples late in the third, the Cavaliers started the fourth period on a 20-3 run, putting Cleveland ahead by 19 with 5:05 to play and essentially putting the game – and maybe the series – on ice.

LeBron James continued his transcendent journey through the 2017 Playoffs – notching 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, finishing 9-of-16 from the floor overall, including 2-of-4 from deep and 15-of-16 from the stripe. In topping the 30-point plateau for the sixth time in seven postseason outings, the four-time MVP added eight boards, a game-high seven assists and a steal.

Over the past two games, James has gone 30-for-37 from the free throw line.

“With our shooting ability and the way we shoot the basketball, you have to pick your poison,” said Coach Tyronn Lue. “If they are going to continue to get to our shooters (LeBron)’s going to be able to get downhill and get to the basket.  He’s doing a great job of mixing it up. If we’re getting stops we’re a dangerous team.”

Kevin Love doubled-up with 16 points and a game-high 13 boards in an efficient 32 minutes of action – going 6-of-9 from the floor and canning his only three-point attempt.

Kyrie Irving struggled again from the floor but still finished with 16 points, despite a 7-for-21 night from the field, adding five boards and four assists.

Tristan Thompson finished with 12 boards to go with nine points as the Cavaliers, as a team, mauled the Raptors on the glass, with Thompson and Love combining to equal as many boards as Toronto had as a team.

On the night, Cleveland out-rebounded Toronto, 49-25, with the Raptors grabbing just a single board off the offensive glass.

Kyle Korver had his best shooting night of the 2017 postseason – notching 11 of his 14 points after intermission, going 5-of-7 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.

In tomorrow’s box score, it’ll appear that Iman Shumpert finished with four points, four boards and pair of assists. But after J.R. Smith was forced to take a seat with five fouls, Shump stifled DeMar DeRozan over the game’s final 12 minutes. DeRozan had 36 points through three quarters on 12-for-21 shooting and a 12-for-12 mark from the stripe. In the fourth, DeRozan just a single point – going 0-for-2 from the floor and 1-of-1 from the line.

The Big Three tallies 67 points and Kyle Korver provides a spark off the bench.

On the evening, Shump led both teams – with the Cavaliers at +27 in the sixth-year guard’s 26 minutes of work.

The Cavaliers shot 51 percent on the night – but that number was bolstered by a big second half and an absolutely dominant fourth quarter. In the second stanza, Cleveland went 22-of-35 from the floor including 8-of-12 from long-distance. In that decisive final period, the Cavs shot a blistering 79 percent from the floor and hit four of the five triples they attempted.

Cleveland was also rock-solid from the stripe on Friday night – going 24-of-28. Toronto was just as efficient – hitting on 16-of-17 free throws. But DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas were the only two Raptors to toe the line all night.

Defensively, Cleveland held the Raptors to 44 percent shooting on the night, including 38 percent in the fourth quarter. Toronto didn’t hit its first three-pointer until the 3:09 mark of the third quarter – and sunk just one more afterward, finishing 2-of-18 from long-range on the night.

Turning Point -- After a pair of lopsided wins in Cleveland, the Raptors were ready for a fight on Friday – with the contest featuring 10 ties and seven lead-changes through the first three quarters. Early in the third period, the Raptors took their biggest lead of the series – five points.

The game was tied at 71-apiece with 1:26 to play in the third when Kyle Korver drilled back-to-back bombs that put Cleveland ahead four and seemed to change the game’s entire momentum.

DeRozan hit a short floater with 1.6 to play in the quarter to get the Raptors to within a deuce – 79-77 – and it looked like the stage was set for a knock-down, drag-out fourth quarter.

But Korver unleashed the floodgates with another triple to start the final period and the Wine and Gold barely looked back the rest of the way.

”Man, (Korver) carried us throughout the second half,” praised J.R. Smith – who finished with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from deep. “He came out with big shot after big shot and then in the fourth he hit a big two.  He did a helluva job and we know what he’s capable of, we just got to get him into a rhythm.”

By the Numbers – 34.2 …  points that LeBron James is averaging through the first seven games of the 2017 postseason – shooting 56 percent from the floor, 49 percent from long-range and 71 percent from the line – adding 9.0 boards and 7.3 assists per. LeBron has also now won at least one road game in 28 consecutive Playoff series.

Quotable – LeBron James, on closing out the series on Sunday afternoon …

” The only thing that is important is coming out and playing our game. Our coaching staff once again will give us a game plan and it is up to us to go execute. It is a quick turnaround, early game on Sunday, we do not need to be thinking about sweep or getting rest. We need to be thinking about what we need to do to execute defensively and offensively coming into Sunday.”

Up Next -- The Cavaliers remain north of the border for Game 4 – set for Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. If the Raptors are able to stay alive, Game 5 will be back at The Q on Tuesday night. Should the series continue after that, the teams return to Toronto for Game 6 next Thursday. But it’s also worth noting that in franchise history, the Cavaliers have had eight opponents down 3-0 in best-of-seven series. And on all eight occasions, they went on to complete the four-game sweep.

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Cavs Blow Past Raptors, Stay Perfect in Postseason

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Breaking Down The 'W' - May 5, 2017

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#CavsRaptors Game 3 Photos - May 5, 2017

clejgabriele

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In both this year’s postseason and last year’s, the Cavaliers hadn’t lost a Playoff game by the time they traveled to Toronto.

You might have guessed that the last team to win their first six postseason contests in consecutive seasons was the Lakers, and you’d be right – the Minneapolis Lakers won their first seven in 1949 and again in 1950.

This season, both the Cavaliers and Raptors finished with identical records, but it would be hard to tell based on the first two games of their Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup. On Monday night, the Wine and Gold seized control early and held off a pair of Raptors’ runs. On Wednesday night, Toronto never mounted a serious threat, as the Cavaliers proceeded to break a franchise Playoff mark, dropping 125 points on Dwane Casey’s squad – shooting 55 percent from the floor and from long-range.

In the last five postseason meetings between these two clubs at Quicken Loans Arena, the Cavs have won by an average of 24.2 points while shooting 53 percent from the floor and holding Toronto to just 43 percent, including a 27 percent clip from deep.

But it’s worth remembering that the Raptors beat Cleveland by 15 points in Game 3 of last year’s East Finals at the Air Canada Centre and hung on to take Game 4 as well. But Kyrie Irving insisted in his postgame comments on Wednesday night that the Cavs will bring a different mindset north of the border this year.

The proof, as they say, will be in the pudding later tonight.

It’s enough to give one pause when you consider that LeBron James has actually taken his game to a new level in the 2017 Playoffs. But he has done exactly that – proving once again that there’s a major difference between being a regular season MVP and being the greatest player on planet Earth.

On Wednesday night, he continued writing his name into the history books and was essentially a one-man wrecking crew on both ends – finishing with a game-high 39 points, going 10-of-14 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from long-distance, to go with six boards, four assists, three steals and a pair of blocks.

In the process, he eclipsed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the second-leading scorer in NBA Playoff history. His 39-point performance also moved him past Kobe Bryant – notching his 89th 30-point postseason game, good for second-best in league history.

And while the Air Canada Centre can rattle some opponents, that’s never been the case for James – who averaged 28.7 points on an even 60 percent shooting in Cleveland’s three postseason visits to Toronto last year.

The Raptors have thrown a grab-bag of defenders at the four-time MVP, but the numbers don’t lie – LeBron has dominated everyone who’s tangled with him through the first six games of the Playoffs.

The Cavaliers have never lost a Playoff series (13-0) after being up 2-0. And with the NBA’s alpha dog smelling blood in this one, the Wine and Gold would love to add one more opponent to their unblemished list.

It must be slightly demoralizing for the Raptors to consider that Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love both struggled from the floor on Wednesday night and the Cavaliers still scored a franchise postseason high and trailed by as many as 30 points in the fourth quarter.

Love hasn’t really gotten untracked in either game, shooting a combined 41 percent through the first two contests. With Channing Frye having the hot hand – finishing with 18 points on 5-for-7 from beyond the arc – Love was limited to just over 20 minutes of action in Game 2.

In last year’s ECF matchup with the Raptors, Love also had a two-game rough patch – going a combined 5-for-23 from the floor while averaging just 5.5 boards in Games 3 and 4. But Love bounced back over the final two games of the series – combining for 45 points in those contests, including a 20-point, 12-rebound effort in the deciding Game 6 here in Toronto.

Since acquiring Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker at the trade deadline, the Raptors haven’t lost three straight and have gone 7-2 following a loss over that stretch.

Dwane Casey went with a lineup change before Game 2 – moving Patrick Patterson and Norman Powell into the starting lineup. Patterson was limited to just 17 minutes of work while Ibaka finished with 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting.

Things went from bad to worse for Toronto on Wednesday night at The Q when Kyle Lowry was forced to leave the game after suffering a left ankle sprain in the third quarter. The three-time All-Star had to miss practice on Thursday and more tests are scheduled to determine the severity of the injury, but for now, he’s listed as questionable for Game 3.

Lowry notched 20 points in each of the first two games of this year’s series, leading both teams with 11 helpers on Monday night.

If he’s unable to go, the Raptors can take solace in backup Corey Joseph, who had a pair of solid performances against the Cavaliers in last year’s ECF and, on Monday night, notched 18 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter (albeit during garbage time).

Whoever’s able to give it a go for Toronto will have their hands full with Kyrie Irving – who hasn’t shot the ball particularly well through the first two games of the series, but who’s averaged 10.5 assists, including a career playoff-high 11 helpers in Wednesday’s win.

Even while struggling from the field, Irving notched his 10th 20-point game in his last 11 Playoff outings – and Games 1 and 2 marked the first time in his brilliant career (regular and postseason) that he’s posted back-to-back games of at least 20 points and 10 assists.

In Toronto’s two wins in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, DeMar DeRozan averaged 32.0 points on 55 percent shooting. In the Raptors’ four losses, he averaged 18.5 points on 46 percent shooting.

You don’t have to be an NBA scout to know that the Raptors go as their All-Star guard goes. But it’s been almost a direct barometer in both last year’s Playoffs and this year’s.

The former USC standout wasn’t bad in Game 1 – finishing with 19 points on 7-for-16 shooting. But J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert made his life absolutely miserable in Game 2 – limiting the Eastern Conference’s second-leading scorer to a career Playoff-low five points on 2-for-11 shooting.

DeRozan has been held to single-figure scoring in the postseason five times during his career – all on the road – and the Raptors are 0-5 in those contests.

Swish still hasn’t gotten untracked offensively in the Playoffs – netting double-digits just once so far and averaging just four shot attempts through the first two games of the Semis. But he’s made up for it on the defensive end – drawing DeRozan and Paul George through the first two rounds.

Shump has been outstanding on the defensive side of the floor as well. And in Game 2, he was just as good on the offensive end – finishing with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting in 27 rock-solid minutes off the bench.

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KeyBank Five Keys: Cavaliers at Raptors, Game 3

After protecting home court while taking a 2-0 series lead, the defending NBA Champion Cavaliers travel to Toronto on Friday night for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Tipoff from Air Canada Centre is at 7:00 p.m. (ET).

The Cavaliers defeated the Raptors 125-103 at Quicken Loans Arena in Game 2 on Wednesday night. Their 125 points scored set a new franchise postseason record (previously 124 points against BOS on 5/7/10).

CAVS TO DON NAVY JERSEYS.
        From where to catch all the action to Friday's game notes, Cavs.com has you covered.

In Wednesday’s win, the Wine and Gold shot 41-75 (.547) from the field and a 2017 Playoff-best .545 (18-33) from beyond the arc. Cleveland has now won its last five postseason games against the Raptors at Quicken Loans Arena by an average of 24.2 points (116.0-91.8) while shooting .525 from the field (.434 from deep) and limiting the Raptors to .426 shooting, including a .274 clip from beyond the arc, over that stretch.

The Cavaliers tallied a 2017 playoff-high 28 assists on 41 made field goals on Wednesday night. Defensively, they swiped a 2017 Playoff-high tying nine steals and held the Raptors to 5-17 (.294) shooting from three-point range.

With the victory, the Cavaliers are 6–0 in this year’s playoffs. Along with winning their first 10 games in the 2016 postseason, the only other team in NBA history to start 6–0 in consecutive postseasons was the Minneapolis Lakers in 1949 (7–0) and 1950 (7–0). (Elias Sports Bureau)

Going back to the 2015 postseason, the Cavs hold a 30-4 playoff record against Eastern Conference opponents (13-3 mark on the road over that span).

The Raptors own two of those four victories against the Wine and Gold, winning Games 3 &amp; 4 in Toronto of last season's East Finals. Toronto will look to duplicate those performances as they aim to claw their way back into the series.

In doing so, they will need their All-Star shooting guard, DeMar Derozan, to get back on track. The Wine and Gold held Derozan to a playoff career-low five points in Game 2. Toronto is 0-5 when DeRozan is held under 10 points (all road games).

For live in-game updates, follow @cavs, @CavsJoeG, @CavsFredMcLeod, @MrCavalier34, @CavsJMike and @chones22 on Twitter.

Status Update: (Raptors) - None to Report

LeBron James poured in a game-high 39 points on 10-14 (.714) shooting from the field, including a 4-6 (.667) mark from three-point range, six rebounds, four assists, a game-high three steals and a game-high two blocks during Game 2 on Wednesday night. With his three-pointer at the 8:41 mark of the third quarter, James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5,762) for the 2nd-most points in NBA Playoff history. He also became just the 4th player in NBA Playoff history to make 300 career three-pointers with his second trey of the night. James’ performance marked his 89th postseason career 30+ point game, passing Kobe Bryant (88) for 2nd-most in NBA postseason history.

In the Game 2 victory, Channing Frye poured in a 2017 Playoff-high 18 points on 6-9 (.667) shooting, including a 5-7 (.714) mark from deep, while grabbing a 2017 Playoff-best five rebounds in 18 minutes as a reserve. Frye has now drained five or more triples in three career postseason games (5/6/16 at ATL, 5/5/10 vs. SAS).

Iman Shumpert posted a 2017 Playoff-best 14 points on 6-8 (.750) shooting and six rebounds (also a 2017 Playoff high) in 27 minutes off the bench on Wednesday night. Shumpert has reached double figures in 16 career postseason games, including 10 as a member of the Cavaliers.

In Game 2, Kyrie Irving turned in his 2nd straight double-double of the 2017 Playoffs (3rd of his postseason career) with 22 points, including a perfect 7-7 mark on free throws, and a postseason career-high 11 assists while adding two steals in 30 minutes. Irving has scored 20 or more points in 10 of his last 11 postseason contests, dating back to last year’s playoffs. Games 1 and 2 marked the first time in Irving’s career (regular and postseason) he has had back-toback games with at least 20 points and 10 assists.

The series remains in T-Dot for Game 4 on Sunday afternoon 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). WATCH PARTY TICKETS | SCHEDULE

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#CavsRaptors Game 3 Preview - May 5, 2017

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5‑5‑17 at Raptors