The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Toronto Raptors 105-101 for their eight straight win. They have not lost since the Raptors beat them 110-93 at the Quicken Loans Arena on November 22nd. Cleveland is fourth in the conference and are leading the Central divison with a record of 13-7 while Toronto is still first in the East with a record of 16-6. However the Raptors are only 6-4 in their last ten games and more importantly 3-3 since DeMar DeRozan got injured.
Raptors’ head coach Dwane Casey made a last minute adjustment to the starting lineup. Greivis Vasquez who had started every game since the injury to DeRozan returned to his reserve role and little used Landry Fields was inserted into the lineup. Fields matched up against LeBron James at small forward and Terrence Ross started at shooting guard.
Fields made the most of the opportunity and had a solid performance against the best player on the planet. He defended James well and also contributed on the offensive end of the floor. He recorded 4 points on a perfect 2-of-2 shooting with 2 assists, 2 steals and one rebound in 23 minutes of action.
Once again Toronto made an effort to give Jonas Valanciunas the ball in the post. Like the game against the Denver Nuggets the night before, the Raptors tried to get him going in the first quarter. He recorded his second straight double-double and finished with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting and 15 rebounds.
The Raptors started the game off strong and looked motivated early in the game. When the bench entered the game in the second quarter they helped Toronto take a double digit lead. The bench was led by James Johnson who recorded 12 points, 4 rebounds, one steal and one block in 21 minutes of playing time.
The Cavaliers also got a spark off their bench from third-year player Dion Waiters. He caused problems for the Raptors defensively and was able to score at will in the second quarter. Waiters finished the game with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting in 21 minutes.
Despite Waiters’ best efforts the Raptors were ahead eight points by a 63-55 margin at halftime. The third quarter was extremely close, but the Cavaliers won the quarter with a slight 26-25 advantage. The Raptors entered the fourth quarter with a seven point lead against James and the Cavaliers.
Toronto’s starting point guard was trying to lead his team to a road victory against a star-powered Cleveland team without DeRozan. With NBA All-Star voting starting on December 11th there were many fans campaigning for Lowry to make this year’s team after being snubbed last season. Lowry recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 14 rebounds in the Raptors’ loss.
LeBron James led the Cavaliers comeback with 35 points on 12-of-21 shooting. The Cavaliers went on a 12-2 run in the fourth quarter which was capped off by a Kevin Love three which tied the game at 97-97.
Despite the fact that the Raptors won the battle on the boards by a 35-31 margin, they struggled rebounding the ball in the fourth quarter. There were a pair of key possessions at the end of the game when they gave up three offensive rebounds and two offensive rebounds in two different defensive series.
Then with only 48.1 seconds left in the game, James made the Raptors pay for their inability to grab a defensive rebound. The ball was swung out to a wide open LeBron James who knocked down a three that gave the Cavaliers a 102-99 lead.
Ultimately it was a fairly disappointing loss considering the Raptors were in control for most the game and then just crumbled at the end. However it is better to look at the positives from this game opposed to focus on the negatives.
Firstly the Raptors led most of the game and nearly won on the road without their all-star shooting guard DeRozan against a Cavaliers team that were early championship favourites entering this season.
Secondly this will be a valuable learning experience for a young team looking to grow into a legitimate contender. It will serve as motivation and show them what is required if they hope to take that next step towards being an elite team.
Finally the result is undoubtedly disappointing, but it shows the organization and its fans that this team, even without DeRozan, is able to compete with one of the best teams in the conference.
Up next the Raptors face the Indiana Pacers at home on Friday night. They are 7-14 so far this year and it is a very different Pacers team than the past couple year. They are missing both Paul George and George Hill due to injury while Lance Stephenson left the team in the off-season signing with the Charlotte Hornets. The Raptors will need to take advantage of a shorthanded Pacers team in order to get back on track.
EZ Bucket 