Cavs the constant despite changes
James dominates again while DeRozan goes without basket for three-plus quarters
CLEVELAND— Changing the starting lineup was going to be the big move for the Raptors, getting speed and space and more ball-handling into their game. It was going to be the tonic they needed to try and keep up with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It would invigorate their offence and provide more athleticism and shooting. If they couldn’t stop the Cavaliers, they had to try to outscore them.
A fine thought in theory and, who knows, it might have worked in practice had there been any other semblance of normalcy to what the Raptors rely on.
But it doesn’t matter who starts or what strategic shifts they make with their schemes if DeMar DeRozan gets a bottled up as he did Wednesday night when the Cavaliers celebrated a 125-103 victory in Game 2 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinal.
DeRozan was held without a field goal for more than three quarters and it’s really quite simple: If he doesn’t play better, the Raptors have no chance. It’s not like they’ve got a great chance at a stunning upset now but if DeRozan scores in single digits, it evaporates entirely.
“It sucks,” DeRozan said. “It sucks. To lose like we did, to play like I did, it sucks.
“It’s frustrating — now just having time, having to wait until Friday night to redeem yourself.”
As bad as DeRozan’s perfromance was, the night got even worse when Kyle Lowry spent the final quarter in the locker room having a sprained left ankle treated.
Lowry was hurt less than 30 seconds into the second half when Powell rolled up on Lowry’s ankle after being nudged by Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson.
Lowry hobbled under his own power to the locker room but came back minutes later to play. He lasted only eight minutes longer before he was back getting treatment again, his 20point night over with two minutes left in the third quarter.
“It’s pretty sore right now, honest-
“It sucks. To lose like we did, to play like I did, it sucks. It’s frustrating.” DEMAR DEROZAN
ly,” Lowry said after the game.
With DeRozan bottled up and Lowry in pain, there was still a sense of defiance. Not surprisingly because the next player or coach to say publicly a series is over before it’s over will be the first.
“We should be angry, we should be embarrassed, we should be pissed off,” coach Dwane Casey said. “Now what are we going to do about it?
“The way we lost them is not good and we shouldn’t accept that, but again we go home and start over again.”
It might not matter what the Raptors do, though, because the Cavaliers are playing at a shockingly high level. They rattled off eight straight three-pointers to start the game, LeBron James didn’t score for the first eight minutes, sat down after 36 and still scored 39 points. The Cavs shot 54.7 per cent from the field, made 18 of 33 three-pointers and simply couldn’t be stopped.
“They’re the defending champs and that’s what they look like right now,” Lowry said.
Wednesday was the fifth time in 39 playoff games that DeRozan has been held under 10 points and the Raptors are 0-5 in those games. All five games have been on the road.
“Our strategy since I’ve been here for three years is just take away what a team does best,” Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said. “We know he’s a great scorer so we’re going to pay great attention to him.”
The Cavs were perfectly content to let Jonas Valanciunas come off the bench and score a team-high 23 points and Cory Joseph to get 22 because taking DeRozan out takes away almost all that Toronto does.
“They’re into him, they’re bodying him,” Casey said. “He’s got to vault up and make his shots, I’ve got to do a better job of getting him open looks.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to go the way he and Kyle go . . . (The Cavaliers are) not doing anything special, they’re blitzing on and off but he has another level he can get to.”
ON GAME 2 STRUGGLES