Cavaliers Crush Raptors to Open Up Eastern Conference Finals

On a night where they were playing in their first conference finals in franchise history, Tuesday night should have been a night for the Raptors to remember. Instead, it was one they probably want to forget. The Cleveland Cavaliers crushed the Toronto Raptors 115-84 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday.

The game started out close enough before the Cavaliers took off to give the Raptors a miserable first half. The Raptors were 2-0f-16 from beyond the arc and allowed the Cavaliers to shoot 66.7 percent on the way to a 66-44 deficit at halftime.

In the second half, the misery continued for the Raptors, as they continued to miss shots while the Cavaliers built on their lead. The deficit was too much for the Raptors to overcome, and the they fell hard to begin the conference finals on a sour note. The victory continues the Cavaliers’ undefeated streak through the playoffs.

Overall, Cleveland finished the day shooting 55.4 percent. Cavs guard Kyrie Irving and forward LeBron James combined to score 51 points, including several highlight-worthy shots.

Following the game, James said the victory was just another step.

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On the Raptors’ side, point guard Kyle Lowry finished the game with just eight points, after averaging 17.9 through the playoffs. Toronto center Jonas Valanciunas, who has led the team in blocks and rebounds during the postseason, missed his fifth straight game with an ankle injury, and from the way the Cavaliers were shooting on Tuesday, it was obvious that the Raptors were missing his defensive presence.

Game 2 of the series will be Thursday night in Cleveland.