Cavaliers take down Raptors to advance to Eastern Conference Finals

The Cleveland Cavaliers are heading back to the Eastern Conference Finals.

After a 128-93 thrashing on Monday night, Cleveland sent the Raptors home for what could be a long offseason filled with many possible changes within the Raptors organization. Due to the majority of their roster being locked in, rumors are circulating that head coach Dwane Casey could be the scapegoat. With many large contracts this seems the closest they can get to ‘blowing it up’.

Just two days after a Game 7 victory over the Indiana Pacers, the Cavaliers headed north to Toronto to play Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Toronto got out to a quick 10-4 run three minutes into the game which had the Air Canada Centre crowd roaring. The Cavaliers were forced to use a timeout at the 9:14 mark of the first quarter to stop the early bleeding. Cleveland would bring the score within two before Toronto would go another run to finish the first quarter with a 33-19 lead. JR Smith, Kyle Korver, and Jeff Green would play important roles as the Cavaliers chipped away at Toronto’s lead to put them down three at halftime, 60-57. Cleveland started to find their shot as they were 14-22 from the field in the second quarter.

Toronto came out of the half on a hot streak to give them a 72-61 lead. The Cavaliers would struggle the rest of the quarter without LeBron James and would find themselves trailing 87-82 going into the fourth. In the fourth, the Cavaliers would outscore the Raptors 23-18 with large contributions from LeBron James and Tristan Thompson to force overtime. In overtime, big three-point shots from JR Smith and Kyle Korver would secure a 113-112 overtime win for the Cavaliers.

The big story in Game 2 of the series was the performance of LeBron James. According to Elias Sports Bureau, James recorded the first ever 40-point, 14-assist game in NBA playoff history. He would record 8 rebounds to fall just short of a triple-double. Kevin Love would have a breakout game shooting 11-21 from the field while falling one point short of tying his career playoff high. Other contributors were J.R. Smith with 15, Jeff Green with 13, and George Hill with 13. The Raptors ended the first quarter up 29-26. However, from that point on it was all Cleveland as they would secure a 128-110 win.

Heading into Game 3, the odds were not in Toronto’s favor. Before the game, the Raptors were 0-5 at Cleveland over the past two postseasons, losing by an average of 24.2 points. The Cavaliers would get out to a quick 12-4 start with 6:49 in the first quarter. The quarter would finish with the Cavs up five, however Toronto showed little signs of life. The second quarter was all Cleveland as they would take a 55-40 lead into the half. Kevin Love had 11 points and 12 rebounds at the break. The third quarter was relatively uneventful. Once the fourth quarter began, Toronto would cut the lead to 5 with 8:12 remaining. Cleveland would hold this lead until there were 8 seconds remaining with the score tied at 103. In his typical form, LeBron James would score a buzzer-beater that only a player of his caliber could hope to make to give the Cavaliers a 105-103 win.

As stated above, Game 4 was a 35 point blowout win for the Cavs which would send Toronto home for good.

Cleveland now awaits the winner of the Celtics/76ers series to see who will represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers are peaking at the right time once again and there’s certainly a chance this could be another memorable postseason for Clevelanders everywhere.

The Celtics would present obvious matchup problems however the 76ers have a young roster with much stamina and energy.