Playoffs loom as Raptors end regular season by beating Cavs

CLEVELAND They staggered to the finish line, falling flat and looking nothing like champions.

It’s time for the Cavaliers to get up. It’s playoff time.

LeBron James watched in street clothes as Jonas Valanciunas dropped his first career 3-pointer and the Toronto Raptors closed the regular season with a 98-83 win on Wednesday night over Cleveland, which sat James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love so they’re playoff ready.

The past few weeks have been a challenging stretch for the Cavs, who closed the regular season going 10-14 since March 1. They head into the post-season looking very vulnerable.

But while the crown appears shaky, the Cavs, who dropped their last four and the No. 1 seed in the East, feel like they can defend it.

“I feel very confident that we’ve got a good run in us,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “I think we’re good.”

Norman Powell scored 25 points as the Raptors beat the Cavs for the first time in four tries this season and gave the defending champions something to think about if they meet in the post-season. Cleveland took Toronto down in six games in last year’s Eastern Conference finals.

Although there was still a chance to get the top seed, the Cavs put more value on rest and sat James, Irving and Love, who will be fresh for Saturday’s Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers.

Toronto will open at home against Milwaukee on Saturday. The Raptors have higher expectations this spring, and Lowry is eager to get started.

“It’s a new year and we’ve moved on to Milwaukee,” he said. “Honestly, we can’t worry about anything that happened before or in last season’s playoffs. This is a heck of a time.”

The Cavs did end the season on one positive as forward Tristan Thompson returned after missing four games with a sprained right thumb. Wearing a brace that he’ll sport in the playoffs, Thompson scored 10 points in 18 minutes.

Cleveland also got its first look at newly signed 7foot-3 centre Edy Tavares, who blocked six shots and grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Raptors, too, chose to keep legs fresh as AllStar forward DeMar DeRozan (flu-like symptoms) and Serge Ibaka watched.

This game looked more like a preseason exhibition than a matchup between two of the league’s top teams. Both Toronto coach Dwane Casey and Cleveland’s Tyronn Lue opted to get players off their feet and played reserves after halftime.