The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Pressure shifts to Raptors in Game 2
Game 1 victory puts pressure on Raptors in Game 2 of East semifinal
A Raptors’ tip-in at the end of regulation.
A 3-pointer in the final seconds at the end of overtime.
Near-misses were all that separated LeBron James from being in really unfamiliar territory during the Eastern Conference playoffs.
As it stands, James & Co. are standing tall in their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Raptors, the team that can’t seem to figure out the Cavs in the postseason.
During James’ career with the
Cavs and Heat, he has never lost consecutive Game 1’s in back-toback Eastern Conference playoff series. Cleveland lost Game 1 against the Paces at home in the last series.
The win was huge for the Cavs in many respects. Game 1 winners on the road put themselves in an ideal position the rest of the way, but it goes way beyond that in the case of the Raptors, who entered the series as the betting favorites and the East’s No. 1 seed.
There’s still a ways to go in this series, but now the spotlight is on Toronto, a team that would likely kiss away its playoff chances with a loss at home in Game 2, set for May 3 at Air Canada Centre at 6 p.m. That, plus the fact the Raptors have been eliminated by the Cavs the past two seasons, might have them thinking too much instead of just playing.
Toronto is in this position most because of a rough fourth quarter that saw them miss 15 of 16 shots at one point. That lack of execution has to be fixed, said Toronto center Jonas Valanciunas, who had a double-double (21 points, 21 rebounds) in Game 1.
“We missed some shots. Some easy shots. That was the key,” Valanciunas told reporters in the postgame. “They were switching a lot, and they were really aggressive defense, but it’s
still on us. We gotta make shots. We gotta execute better. We gotta learn from the loss and bounce back.”
The loss by the Cavs to the Pacers in Game 1 was a shock simply because it hasn’t happened much in James’ career.
It had not happened in the East playoffs since Game 1 of the conference finals in 2013-14, when he was with the Heat. Miami lost that one at Indiana, then won Game 2, and three of the next four to finish off the Pacers in six games. There have been seven other occasions a James-led team lost Game 1 of its East playoff series openers.
Not this Game 1, though.
It’s a series opening victory that could rank as one of James’ sweetest but not best. He was just 12 of 30 from the field, but made a huge turnaround basket to tie the game near the end of regulation. A flurry of close misses by Toronto sent the game to OT.
Even with the off night, James registered his 21st career playoff triple-double (26 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists), which ranks second all-time to Magic Johnson’s 31.
“I definitely wasn’t as efficient as I’d like to be,” James said in the postgame. “I missed a lot of open looks, and a lot of open 3s. My teammates were unbelievable.
They stepped up when I wasn’t at my best.”
Unlike Game 1 against the Pacers in the last series — when J.R. Smith scored 15 and Larry Nance Jr. 10 to offset James’ 24 — there were plenty of others chipping in during this Game 1.
Smith scored 20 points — including five 3-pointers — Kyle Korver 19 and Jeff Green 16. Tristan Thompson, who has found new life in the last two playoff games, had his second straight double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
“Double T just picked up where he left off, just being a monster we’ve grown accustomed to,” James said.