Raptors at Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers dismantled the Toronto Raptors in the opening
game of the Eastern Conference finals and attempt to remain unbeaten in
the postseason when they host Thursday's Game 2. Cleveland is 9-0 in the
playoffs and its latest superb performance was a 115-84 trouncing of
Toronto in Game 1.
The 31-point margin of victory was the largest in Cavaliers' postseason history and the Raptors tried to put on brave faces after the annihilation. "It's the first to four, and it's one game," Toronto small forward DeMarre Carroll told reporters. "It doesn't matter if you lose by two or you lose by 30. It's only one game." The Raptors were dominated on the boards 45-23 without center Jonas Valanciunas (ankle) - who is likely to miss Game 2 as well - and were powerless to defend Cleveland star LeBron James, who scored 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting and is highly motivated to keep the wins coming. "We have a goal, and our goal was not nine wins," James told reporters. "It's just not my focus. I've won nine games in the postseason before, won 14 games in the postseason before. "It's not my goal, and as the leader of this team, I'm going to continue to make sure that these guys understand what our goal is."
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
ABOUT THE RAPTORS: Point guard Kyle Lowry appeared to be on his game with outings of 36 and 35 to close the Miami series but he was disjointed in Game 1 with just eight points on 4-of-14 shooting - including missing all seven 3-point attempts. Toronto won two of the three regular-season meetings and believes it can compete with Cleveland, but Game 1 displayed the opposite as the Raptors were largely noncompetitive. "It's a different series than last series," Toronto coach Dwane Casey told reporters. "We've got to get our minds adjusted and bodies adjusted. The speed of the game is another issue, a quicker pace, a quicker foot speed for this team versus Miami and Indiana, so we've got to make that adjustment."
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS: Point guard Kyrie Irving is meshing well with James and badly outplayed Lowry with 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting in the opener. Irving and James haven't always seen eye-to-eye over their two seasons together but James said he is seeing the growth and maturity needed from Irving. "He's grown every single day, every single week, month and over the course of these last two years or year-plus, becoming a leader and becoming a staple of our team," James told reporters. "We all knew how talented the kid was and how talented he is still today, but his growth and what he demands out of all of us, as the point guard, as one of the leaders of the team, that's what's the best part about it."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Cavaliers made just seven 3-pointers in Game 1 after averaging 19.3 per contest in a four-game sweep of the Atlanta Hawks.
2. Toronto SF DeMarre Carroll had just two points in Game 1, marking the eighth time he has been in single digits in 15 games this postseason.
3. Cleveland SG J.R. Smith missed all three of his 3-point attempts in Game 1 and is averaging just 4.7 points in the three postseason games.