Cavaliers overwhelm Raptors, lead 3-2
Series shifts back to Toronto on Friday
Toronto Raptors coach Dwane Casey on Tuesday’s travel day reiterated the need to eliminate the Cleveland Cavaliers’ overwhelming runs.
Casey’s worst-case scenario unfolded with a blizzard of Cavaliers points Wednesday. Kevin Love made his first six shots. In a 27-6 first-half run, Cleveland made 12 of 13 shots, built a 25point lead and took a 31-point lead into halftime.
It was over then. But for bookkeeping purposes, they played the second half, and the Cavaliers defeated the Raptors 116-78, taking a 3-2 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference finals. It was the largest margin of victory in a postseason game in Cavaliers franchise history.
Love scored 25 points, and he had 19 in the first half, six more than he scored in the previous two games in Toronto. LeBron James had 23 points, eight assists, six rebounds and two steals, and Kyrie Irving had 23 points and three steals.
“They kicked our butts. That’s the bottom line,” Casey said after Game 5. “The physicality, we didn’t meet that standard. For whatever reason, we haven’t met it in this building.
“The force that they play with here is different. They took us out of everything we wanted to do.”
Late in the third quarter, James, Love and Irving had outscored Toronto 68-57, and they scored 71 of Cleveland’s first 95 points.
“We want to come out with the mind-set and the understanding of how important this game is to both teams and have a sense of urgency from the beginning,” James said after Cleveland’s morning shoot-around.
That urgency was apparent. Cleveland had a 10-point lead early, then hammered the Raptors. It was 20-16 Cleveland with 4:21 left in the first quarter, and then it was 47-26.
Cleveland’s 65-34 halftime lead was the largest margin in conference finals history, and it was the worst defeat in Raptors playoff history.
James continued his terrific postseason. He made 10 of 17 shots in Game 5 and is shooting 63.2% and averaging 24.6 points in the series.
He is 7-6 in Game 5s when the series is 2-2 and averaging 31.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.9 assists and shooting 48.6% in those games.
Asked what he would bring to the game, James said, “Just a sense of calmness. I relish this opportunity to be a part of the postseason once again, so, a sense of calmness.”
Wednesday’s game might have been the Cavaliers’ best defensive effort of the postseason. They forced Toronto into missed shots and turnovers, and the Cavs are at their best when they get fast breaks and early offense in transition.
Cleveland was an offensive machine, shooting 57.1% from the field and 47.6% on three-pointers.
These were not the Raptors from Games 3 and 4. As in most cases, part of that was Cleveland, part of that was Toronto.
The Raptors shot 39.1% from the field and 17.6% on threepointers.
After scoring a combined 67 points in Game 4, guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan struggled. DeRozan was 2-for-8 and Lowry 5-for-12, including 1for-4 on threes.
Now it’s on to Game 6 on Friday in Toronto (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). In this series, a blowout victory for one team at home means zilch on the road. The home team has won every game, and the Raptors were very good at home.