RAPTORS LAY A BEATING ON DEFENCELESS CAVS
The Cleveland Cavaliers had a film session on Wednesday to show the players just how little they were trying on defence.
Suffice to say there had to be a lot of napping going on in that particular film session.
Either that, or whatever lesson was driven home was quickly forgotten, because an understaffed Raptors squad made a mockery of the Cavs’ so-called defence.
They scored in every way imaginable and did so without the services of their starting point guard and starting power forward.
But no Kyle Lowry and no Serge Ibaka had little to no effect on the Raptors, who coasted to an easy 133-99 beat-down that saw the Raptors up as many as 35 in a game the Cavs never led.
The ball movement that had fallen off in the absence of Lowry a game ago returned in a big way, as evidenced by 18 first-half assists, en route to 30 assists in the game.
The lone remaining member of Toronto’s big three wasn’t much of a scoring factor in this one, either, as DeMar DeRozan readily gave up the ball every time the Cavs threw two defenders at him, which was most of the night.
“He did a great job,” Raptors’ head coach Dwane Casey said. “That’s one of the best jobs of DeMar just taking what the game gave him. He let the game come to him. He was inviting and embracing the double teams and then picking them apart.”
DeRozan only had two points by the half, but was leading the Raptors with seven assists through the first 24 minutes. He would go on to finish with a modest 13 points and a team-high eight assists. More impressively, he had to play just 29 minutes in a game in which many expected him to have to carry his team.
But no one, from Casey to DeRozan, was reading too much into this one, as dominant a win as it was.
“Regular season and playoffs are two different things,” DeRozan said, reminding everyone where the next step is for the Raptors. “I’m pretty sure the next time we play them, they’re going to remember this game, and it’s going to be a whole different game. We have to be ready for that. That’s the season. Just like we kept in mind what happened to us in the playoffs. But whoever we play against, we’re going to try to go out there and do the same thing to them.”
The scoring came from everywhere on the roster. Jonas Valanciunas had nine points and nine rebounds just six minutes into the game, before he had to sit down due to early foul trouble. He would return briefly in the second quarter to reach a firsthalf double-double with 11 boards and 11 rebounds, until a third foul put him back on the bench.
The Raptors merely turned to the next guy, whether that was Fred VanVleet leading the second unit with a career-best 22 points, or Pascal Siakam looking to atone for a couple of key defensive gaffes earlier in the week with a 16-point performance.
The Cavaliers, coming off their worst defensive performance of the year, having lost by 28 to Minnesota, is normally not a team you want to face. Take two key players out of your lineup and the anticipation would have to be even less.
But as talented as this Cavs team is, it’s very clear they’re not close to making that talent work for them just yet.
Isaiah Thomas, who will sit out tomorrow on the back end of a back-to-back, was playing only his fourth game with his new team after recovering from a right-hip injury. He’s going to need time to find his niche alongside the likes of LeBron James and Kevin Love.
But back-to-back defensive brain cramps in which the Cavs gave up 127 points in consecutive games, and then that stinker last night in Toronto, make it plain the issue in Cleveland isn’t working one new starter into the mix.
Give the Raptors credit, though. They came out charged up and never let their foot off the gas.
Casey called on his secondary players to step up in the absence of Lowry and Ibaka out and his charge was met.
Norm Powell, a guy desperate for minutes, had a much needed get-well night with 12 points along with five rebounds and three assists.
VanVleet scored 22 points, a career best, hitting eight threepointers.
“Some of those go down early, you start feeling good, the basket gets bigger,” VanVleet said. “We were able to play in transition, play fast. Most of them were pretty open looks, so just a matter of stepping into it and knocking them down.”
LeBron James led all scorers in the game with 26 points, but it was his mid-game takeover of a timeout that will be the talking point of this game.
James appeared to hijack head coach Ty Lue’s timeout to let off a little steam in the direction of what looked like every member of the Cavs roster.
Don’t be fooled. The Cavs are down right now, but history says that come playoff time they will have things righted.
For one night, though, it had to feel good for the Raptors to be the ones laying the beating, rather than being on the receiving end.