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Game Rap: Raptors 91, Cavs 94

Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com

IT WAS OVER WHEN

Kyrie Irving hit a three-pointer with 44 seconds remaining to put the Cavaliers up three. The Raptors would have two more opportunities to tie it, but were unable to convert and the Cavs handed the Raptors their first loss of the season as they held on for a hard-fought 94-91 victory.

TURNING IT OVER

After taking care of the ball in the season opening victory against Detroit, the Raptors got sloppy against the Cavaliers early. Toronto had just 11 turnovers in the first game of the season and they topped that in the first half against Cleveland with 12 miscues at the break. The Raptors took better care of the ball in the second half, but still finished the game with 18 turnovers to 12 assists.

DEROZAN SETS YET ANOTHER TEAM RECORD

DeMar DeRozan set a franchise record for most points scored in a season opener when he scored 40 points against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. With a 32-point night against the Cavaliers, DeRozan has scored 72 points in the first two games of the season, breaking Vince Carter’s record for most points scored through two games. Carter’s record (65 points) was set in the 2003-04 season.

ROOKIE WATCH

Pascal Siakam received his second start in place of the injured Jared Sullinger. He played 15 minutes and scored four points to go with three rebounds. Big man Jakob Poeltl got the call late and played well in the fourth quarter, allowing Dwane Casey to keep him on the floor for more than half of the quarter while Jonas Valanciunas was able to rest. Poeltl scored seven points to go with seven rebounds in 11 total minutes of action.

RAPTORS PLAYER OF THE GAME

DeMar DeRozan led all scorers with 32 points in 38 minutes of action. He scored 16 points in the third quarter to help trim a 10-point halftime deficit to five going into the fourth. DeRozan shot 12-for-28 from the floor, 8-for-8 from the free throw line, and added seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. He also had the play of the game when he drove the lane and threw down a vicious dunk on the Cavaliers.

UNDERRATED RAPTORS PLAYER OF THE GAME

Patrick Patterson didn’t have a flashy night offensively, and he struggled from beyond the arc (1-for-5), but his presence and activity on the defensive end of the floor was key for Toronto. Patterson scored five points against the Cavaliers, while adding six rebounds, three assists and a steal. With Jared Sullinger out and rookie Pascal Siakam learning he goes, Patterson’s impact off the bench is huge this season.

THAT'S A RAP…

<em“It’s a loss in our books, our first loss, and we’ve got to bounce back from it. We learn from it, take it, not dwell on it too much, learn from it and understand what we’ve got to do better. Correct some things and go back to work Monday.” - Kyle Lowry summing up a close game against the Cavaliers

BY THE #’S

20…Assists for the Cavaliers, 12 for the Raptors.

12…Three-pointers made by Cleveland, just four by the Raptors. The Cavaliers doubled Toronto’s attempts from deep, 32-16.

51…Rebounds for Toronto, 40 for Cleveland. The Raptors also held an 18-9 edge on the offensive glass, thanks in large part to six offensive boards from Valanciunas.

26…Points, six rebounds, six assists for Kyrie Irving, 21 points, eight rebounds, seven assists for LeBron James, 18 points, 10 rebounds for Kevin Love. James and Irving also combined for 12 of Cleveland’s 18 turnovers.

THEY SAID IT…

“I thought our defence was solid. Any time you hold this team to 41 per cent, that’s good enough. Now, we clean up our turnovers, make the shots we take, it’s as simple as that because we got some great looks and we have to keep our defensive aggression the way it was.”- Dwane Casey pleased with the defensive effort, not so pleased with the turnovers

“We’re still trying to find our exact rhythm. We’re trying to catch a rhythm, especially playing with the young guys and understanding where we all need to be and how we need to run it, understanding we’ve all got to work to get open to help the passer out. Little things like that, we’ve just got to continue to get better at it and catch our rhythm on the offensive end.”- DeMar DeRozan on the team’s 18 turnovers, specifically nine in the second quarter

"He’s extremely tough. I just try to make him drive to the basket as much as possible, and just contest, jump up with my hands up and hope that he passes the ball. He’s probably one of the toughest guys in the league to guard, just because he can hit the three, penetrate to the basket, score at the rim. So any time he drove I just try to vertical, jump straight up and contest, and hope he passes it rather than shoot it.”- Patrick Patterson on the challenge of guarding LeBron

“We did a great job. We still had some slippage here and there. We’ve got to cut down on that. Overall, we fought. We missed a lot of easy shots. We’re still trying to find our rhythm offensively. Kyle missed a lot of easy shots that he will make. I missed a lot of shots, especially down the stretch, that I felt were clean and I should have made. JV had a putback he should have made. You can’t be too disappointed. It sucks to lose. We gave up a big three that Kyrie hit. We still had a chance to make something happen.”- DeMar DeRozan on the team’s defensive effort

UP NEXT:

The Raptors will finish up their three-game homestand against the Denver Nuggets on Monday at 7:30 E.T. at the Air Canada Centre.