Cavs Take Command of Eastern Conference Finals Against Raptors

Thursday evening the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Toronto Raptors 108-89 in Cleveland extending their lead to 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals. The Cavs also extended their perfect post season record to 10-0 last night and are now one win away from tying the 1989 and 2012 Lakers record.

For the Cavs the Big Three of Lebron James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving contributed a total of 68 points—23,19, and 26 respectively. Irving’s 26 points made him the leading scorer for the Cavs and he says that this is the highest level of basketball he’s been waiting for and that he’s living in the moment with his games.

It was also a big night for Lebron James. Not only did he add 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, but he also passed Shaquille O’Neal for fourth place on the NBA’s all time post season scoring list. James also placed himself second to Magic Johnson for his 15th triple double. Cavs Head Tyronn Lue describes Lebron as someone who has “always been a winner. 

The Raptors had a another tough outing and now have worst margin of defeat during a conference finals since the San Antonio Spurs faced the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001—89 points. In Game 2, the Cavs had the 16-9 lead in less than five minutes after the game started. At one point in the the first quarter Toronto trailed by 18 points, but they ended the quarter just behind by two points—30-28.

Toronto’s all-star guard Kyle Lowry did not have his best game as he only contributed 10 points with five turnovers. Lowry missed his first 11 3-point attempts of the series before hitting one in the third quarter Thursday. He even had to walk back to the locker room to blow off some frustration with 2:35 left in the first half.  Head Coach for the Toronto Raptors Dwane Casey feels that not just Lowry, but the entire team is missing good looks, therefore contributing to their losses.

Up next is Game 3 in Toronto. The Raptors have a 6-2 record at home during the playoffs and will need the home court advantage to not let the Cavaliers get away from them. The Eastern Conference finals will continue Saturday at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.