James’ triple-double leads Cavs in opener
TORONTO» LeBron James had 26 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, J.R. Smith scored 20 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Toronto Raptors 113112 in overtime on Tuesday night to win Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.
Kyle Korver scored 19 points, including the goahead 3-pointer in overtime after Cleveland never led in regulation. Tristan Thompson had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who have eliminated Toronto in each of the past two postseasons.
Toronto’s Fred VanVleet missed a 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds to go in overtime that could have won it for the Raptors, who couldn’t hold on to a 14-point, first-quarter lead.
Jonas Valanciunas had 21 points and 21 rebounds, Kyle Lowry had 18 points and 10 assists, and DeMar DeRozan scored 22 points for the Raptors.
Jeff Green scored 16 points and Kevin Love had 13 rebounds.
The Cavaliers beat the Raptors in six games in the Eastern Conference finals in 2016 before going on to win their first NBA championship. Last year, Cleveland swept Toronto in the second round.
Korver’s 3 early in overtime gave the Cavaliers their first lead of the game, 108-105.
Lowry’s three-point play made it 113-112 with 57 seconds to go and, after the Cavs were called for a shotclock violation, Toronto had one more chance to win, but VanVleet couldn’t come through.
VanVleet was one of four Raptors to miss in the final seconds of regulation. Toronto got four looks at the potential winning basket on its next possession but missed all four, including a wide-open 3 by VanVleet, giving Cleveland the ball with 0.6 seconds remaining. Green inbounded to James, but his shot bounced off the rim.