Cavs take charge in 4th as Raptors pushed to brink
TORONTO — Last year, LeBron James and the Cavaliers had their postseason win streak end in Canada.
This time, Cleveland came across the border and kept right on rolling.
James scored 35 points, Kevin Love had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and the Cavaliers pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Toronto Raptors 115-94 on Friday night and take a 3-0 lead in their secondround playoff series.
“We knew we were coming to a hostile environment, we knew they were going to give us everything they had, no matter who was in the lineup,” James said. “We just had to weather the storm.”
DeMar DeRozan scored 37 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 19 for the Raptors, who were without three-time All-Star Kyle Lowry. They trailed by only two after three quarters before the Cavaliers quickly blew open the game.
Game 4 is Sunday in Toronto.
“We don’t need to be thinking about a sweep or getting rest, we need to be thinking about what we need to do to execute defensively and offensively coming into Sunday,” James said.
With his team on the brink of elimination, Raptors coach Dwane Casey looked at Game 4 a little differently.
“Sunday’s game is about pride,” Casey said. “You don’t want to get swept, especially in your home building.”
That won’t be easy against the Cavaliers, the first team since the Minneapolis Lakers in 1949 and 1950 to win their first seven playoff games in consecutive seasons.
Cleveland won 10 straight to begin the playoffs last year, a streak that ended when Toronto beat the Cavs in Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.
“We came in here (last year) and weren’t prepared,” Kyrie Irving said. “This year we understood what mindset we had to come in, especially in a rowdy arena like this.”
Irving scored 16 points and Kyle Korver had 14 for the Cavaliers, who have posted three straight double-digit wins over Toronto. James had eight rebounds and seven assists.