Calderon shows up Lowry in Cleveland
CAVALIERS 112, RAPTORS 106
This time around, CLEVELAND LeBron James did not bring the Toronto Raptors down by himself.
The Raptors got beat because they couldn’t contain Jose Calderon, couldn’t finish around the rim for most of the first half and good parts of the second, and didn’t get much of a game at all out of Kyle Lowry.
On a night when Calderon, a guy whose job Lowry took in Toronto, went off for 19 points, 14 of those in the first half when the Cavaliers set the tone for the game, Lowry shot just 2-for-11 from the field and finished with five points, three assists and five rebounds in a 112-106 loss.
It wasn’t a good night to struggle given the optics of Lowry having spent the off-day travelling to San Antonio for Villanova’s second national college title in three years.
The Raptors, like they did in Boston in a loss Saturday, failed to shoot the ball with any kind of success, going 11-for-33 from behind the arc and shooting just 45 per cent from the field, a number they got to with some late success in garbage time.
The Cavs shot just under 50 per cent from the field and just under 45 per cent from distance.
Going into the game, Raptors head coach Dwane Casey was preaching the need to get back to their defensive principals.
The Raptors lost their defensive identity for long gaps in Cleveland.
Toronto’s lead in the Eastern Conference was down to 11/2 games, with the Celtics playing later Tuesday night in Milwaukee with a chance to get it down to one.
Those same Celtics will be in Toronto Wednesday for a game that could very well wind up deciding whether the Raptors have the No. 1 seed in the playoffs or not.
Bottom line, though, is the Raps have five games before the playoffs start and the groove they’re in is not the one anyone associated with the team would like.
LOWRY’S TEXAS TRIP
Yes, Lowry wasn’t quite himself and every Raptors fan with a Twitter account wanted to blame it on him heading to San Antonio to take in his beloved Villanova Wildcats winning another NCAA title. Maybe he was fatigued, but I would wager large money he’d never tell anyone if he was and only he knows the truth.
Bottom line is, the team was fine with it and if they weren’t, they would not have let him go.
In Lowry’s defence, he didn’t have LeBron James setting screens and picks for him when he was looking to get his shot off.
Lowry certainly did not appear fatigued when he met the media at shootaround at about 10:30 a.m.