James, Cavs continue mastery of Raptors
Cleveland up 2-0 as Love also in rhythm
TORONTO — Watching Lebron James at shootaround, Kevin Love knew something special was in store. Maybe not the fadeaway jumpers James kept making, each seemingly with a higher degree of difficulty than the last, but Love was sure there would be something.
“This morning you could just sense it,” Love said. “He knew what was at stake; he knew us getting another win here was going to be huge for us. … He played that way from the jump. You could just sense that he was going to have a special night.”
James had 43 points and 14 assists, Love added 31 points and 11 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Toronto Raptors 128-110 on Thursday to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.
James delivered the first 40-point, 14-assist game in NBA playoff history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
He added eight rebounds, narrowly missing his second straight triple-double, and connected on 19 of 28 attempts in a performance so dominant that the beleaguered Raptors’ city was being called “Lebronto” by the time the night was over.
“He got it going, and he was feeling it,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said.
James gave credit to Love, who shot 11-for-21 and missed matching his career playoff high by one point.
“It was great to see that performance out of him,” James said. “He’s our All-star power forward. That’s a huge game for him.”
J.R. Smith scored 15 points, Jeff Green had 14 and George Hill 13 as the Cavaliers posted their eighth consecutive postseason victory over the Raptors and halted Toronto’s four-game win streak in Game 2s. The Raptors entered 6-1 all-time when playing Game 2 at home.
“Love got going on us and that was a difficult matchup for us,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “We have some matchup issues all over.”
Demar Derozan scored 24 points and Kyle Lowry 21 for the Raptors.
Toronto won a team-record 59 games and finished as the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference this season but easily was shoved one step closer to a third straight postseason exit at the hands of
James and the Cavs.
Jonas Valanciunas had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Fred Vanvleet 14 points for the Raptors, who lost back-to-back home games for the first time all season.
Toronto matched Houston by going 34-7 at home in the regular season and went 3-0 at home against Washington in the first round. The Raptors had not lost consecutive home games since dropping Games 3 and 4 of the second round to Cleveland last May.
At Boston, rookie Jayson Tatum scored 21 points, including two free throws in the closing second, for Boston, which rallied from a 22-point deficit and took a 2-0 series lead.
Terry Rozier had 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and Marcus Smart 19 points for the Celtics, who improved to 6-0 at TD Garden this postseason. They never have blown a 2-0 series lead.
J.J. Redick hit five 3-pointers and totaled 23 points to pace Philadelphia, and Robert Covington added 22 points and nine rebounds.
Joel Embiid had 20 points, 14 rebounds and five assists for the Sixers, but rookie star Ben Simmons missed all four of hits field-goal attempts and totaled one point.
Celtics 108, 76ers 103 —