Cavaliers at Raptors
The Cleveland Cavaliers appear intent on making short work of the Toronto Raptors as the scene turns to the Canadian city for Friday's Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series. Yet Raptors coach Dwane Casey insists his squad isn't going to roll over from the 2-0 deficit and points to last season's Eastern Conference finals as evidence.
Cleveland steamrolled Toronto in the first two games of last season's playoffs as well before the Raptors thrived in their home environment and won the next two contests before eventually succumbing in six games. "The thing about it is, we are in the same place we were last year," Casey told reporters after Wednesday's 125-103 setback. "Until a team wins on another team's court, it's a series. We go back to Toronto. They have played well, we shake their hand." The Cavaliers are 6-0 in this year's postseason and were fueled by forward LeBron James' 39 points in the easy Game 2 victory. "I'm feeling pretty good," James, who is averaging 34.2 points in the postseason, told reporters. "Just blessed I'm able to make a few plays to help us win another game."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS: James moved into second place on the all-time postseason scoring list when he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5,762), and his personal tally stands at 5,777. "You hear a name like Kareem, a guy who's done so many great things, not only as an individual but as a teammate," James told reporters. "Winning championships in the '80s and things of that nature and how many points he's put up. He's somebody you read about. I didn't get an opportunity to actually watch him play growing up, but I just read about his accomplishments and things he was able to do, so, it's pretty cool." Point guard Kyrie Irving set a personal playoff high for assists (11 in Game 2) for the second straight contest and is averaging 23 points and 10.5 assists in the series.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS: Point guard Kyle Lowry and shooting guard DeMar DeRozan were hurting after the Game 2 loss for different reasons. Lowry scored 20 points but departed the game with a sprained left ankle - he didn't practice Thursday and is listed as questionable for Friday's game - while DeRozan experienced a dreadful contest in which he tallied just five points on 2-of-11 shooting. "It sucks. To lose like we did, to play like I did, it sucks," DeRozan told reporters. "It's frustrating. Now I just have the added time having to wait till Friday night to redeem myself."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Cavaliers made 18 3-pointers in Game 2 and averaged 16 in their two opening wins.
2. Toronto C Jonas Valanciunas scored 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting in Game 2 after scoring in single digits in each of the previous three contests.
3. Cleveland F Channing Frye posted his top game of the postseason by making five 3-pointers and scoring 18 points in Game 2.