Cavaliers shoot Raps down in series opener

CLEVELAND LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ three-point shooting spelled another Game 1 loss for the Toronto Raptors.

James scored 35 points to lift Cleveland to a 116-105 victory over Toronto in the opening game of their Eastern Conference semifinal on Monday.

Kyle Lowry had 20 points and 11 assists while DeMar DeRozan finished with 19 points. P.J. Tucker had 13 points and 11 rebounds, Serge Ibaka chipped in 15 points and Norman Powell finished with 12 points.

But the Raptors had no answer for the Cavs’ three-point shooting — the No. 2 team in the league in the regular season went 14 of 34 from beyond the arc.

The loss dropped the Raptors to 1-12 in playoff series openers, their lone victory coming in the second round against Philadelphia in 2001.

In a game of wild runs, the Raptors would trail by as little as two points well into the second quarter, and by as many as 25 late in the third. The Cavaliers led 96-74 to start the fourth quarter.

But the Raptors would come no closer than 16 points over the final 12 minutes, and when Channing Frye drove to the hoop for a dunk with two minutes to play, it put the Cavs up by 22 points, and victorious Cleveland fans began to bolt for the exits.

The Raptors shot 44 per cent on the night and were 10 of 26 from three-point range. They coughed up 18 points on turnovers compared to just eight for the Cavs. Cleveland also went to the freethrow line nine more times than Toronto did.

Since 2015, the Cavaliers have gone 29-4 in the post-season against Eastern Conference opponents, including 16-1 at home.

Game 2 is Wednesday in Cleveland. The series shifts to Toronto for Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday.