In lieu of moral victory, Cavs claim actual victory in Toronto

The Toronto Raptors had Game 1 of their conference semifinal series on a tee against a fatigued LeBron James and his struggling Cleveland Cavaliers supporting cast. Toronto was rested, home and confident.

What happened was James had his least impactful game of the playoffs. Kevin Love had one of the most miserable 20 minutes of basketball of his career. The Raptors had a 13-point lead in the third quarter. They had a five-point lead going into the fourth quarter, a situation where the Raptors were 30-1 at home this season. They even had three quality looks to win the game in the final seconds of regulation.

But the Cavs are ahead 1-0, pulling off yet another close-game victory with a 113-112 overtime win Tuesday night. They have now won five postseason games by a total of 15 points.

“Shots weren’t going in for me,” said James, who missed 18 shots in the game and was 3-of-15 in the fourth quarter and overtime. “It was probably one of my worst games of the season.”

When James is saying things like that, the opposition is usually celebrating a win. But the Raptors, harkening back to darker times from the past few years they’d spent the season trying to bury, went into a cocoon down the stretch.

They shot just 26 percent in game’s final 17 minutes, missing a horrific 11 consecutive shots at the end of the fourth quarter. Kyle Lowry (18 points, 10 assists) and DeMar DeRozan (22 points) had decent-looking stat lines, but the Cavs were able to force the ball from their hands when it really mattered.

Read Full news and Watch video
https://extendedtrends.com/in-lieu-of-moral-victory-cavs-claim-actual-victory-in-toronto/