Cavs lose series lead, invincible aura Harvey’s struggles continue
Indepedence, Ohio — Upon their return from Canada, the Cavaliers had nothing to declare at U.S. Customs.
Their lead in the Eastern Conference finals had already been confiscated.
Cleveland was stripped of its dominance and a 2-0 advantage during a long weekend in Toronto, where the growing-confident-bythe-shot Raptors, propelled by a crowd and city that believes they can make the NBA Finals, won two straight games.
"They flipped the script on us," Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said.
After being throttled by a combined 50 points in Games 1 and 2, the Raptors turned a series that began with blowouts into a bestof-3, winner-take-all slugfest. There wasn't supposed to be a Game 5, and now there will be a Game 6 as well.
Unable to contain Toronto AllStar guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan from scoring or keep Raptors super sub Bismack Biyombo off the boards, the Cavs have put themselves in a predicament.
Gone is their entire margin for error, some of their swagger and any aura of invincibility that surrounded them after reeling off 10 straight wins to open the postseason.
And as the teams prepared for Game 5 tonight, the pressure has swung back on superstar LeBron James and the Cavs, who spent Tuesday in film sessions breaking down went wrong during their visit to Toronto.
There was plenty to process from Monday's 105-99 loss.
Cleveland came out flat, falling behind by 16 in the first half and relying too much on its 3-point shooting, which has suddenly gone as cold as a Saskatchewan winter.
The Cavs fought their way back using a smaller lineup that didn't include the suddenly struggling Kevin Love, but they didn't have enough down the stretch as costly defensive lapses — and terrific shot-making by Lowry and DeRozan — helped the Raptors even the series.
No offense to rapper Drake and Toronto's rowdy fans, but Lue was happy to escape "We The North."
"Now it's our chance to come back, get some home cooked meals and have a chance to play in front of our home crowd," he said.
James, who logged 46 minutes in Game 4, did not speak to the media on Tuesday, choosing to stay far from the view of reporters and cameras.
Lue has carefully administered the four-time MVPs minutes during the second half of the regular season and playoffs, hoping to keep James as fresh as possible. James pushed himself harder in Game 4, and Lue said that was the plan.
"We talked about it before the game and the night before how his body felt and wanting to play more minutes because we knew it was a big game for us, but it didn't work out," Lue said.
Again, Lue said that was by design as the Cavs took what the Raptors' defense gave them.
"LeBron knows when he has to take over a basketball game, but also knows he has to trust his teammates," Lue said.
James' faith in Love is being tested.
Cleveland's big man has lost his shooting touch at the worst time possible. After going 1-for-9 in Game 3, Love was only 4-of-14 in Game 4, and Lue left him on the bench in the fourth, playing Channing Frye instead.
Washington — Stephen Strasburg remained unbeaten with an 11-strikeout performance, and the Washington Nationals hit three of their season-high five home runs off struggling Matt Harvey in a 7-4 victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday night.
Strasburg (8-0) gave up two runs and four hits over 6 2/3 innings in defeating Harvey and the Mets for the second time in six days.
Strasburg has five games this season with at least 10 strikeouts and 26 over his seven-year career.
Harvey (3-7) stumbled through a third straight ineffective start, allowing five runs and eight hits over five rocky innings. The former Fitch High School star has yielded 16 earned runs and 31 hits over his last three outings.
Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon hit successive solo shots to put Washington ahead in the fourth inning, and Daniel Murphy added a two-run drive off his former teammate in the fifth for a 5-1 lead.
The three homers allowed by Harvey tied a career high. After going 138 with a 2.71 ERA last season, Harvey, a former first-round draft pick, hasn't gone more than six innings in any of his 10 starts and has an unsightly 6.08 ERA.
Ben Revere connected off Antonio Bastardo in the seventh and Wilson Ramos went deep against Jim Henderson in the eighth for Washington.
Asdrubal Cabrera and former Norwich Free Academy standout Eric Campbell homered for the Mets, whose four-game winning streak ended.
Making his major league debut, New York third baseman Ty Kelly went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.
Strasburg retired the first 10 batters, six by strikeout, before Cabrera homered into the Nationals bullpen beyond the wall in right field.
Zimmerman and Rendon answered in the bottom half, and Bryce Harper delivered a sacrifice fly in the fifth before Murphy went deep.
Campbell hit his first home run of the season in the ninth off Shawn Kelley.
Up next
Mets: Steven Matz (6-1, 2.81 ERA) brings a six-game winning streak into Wednesday's series finale. He has never lost a game on the road (5-0) or faced the Nationals.