On Thursday, April 3, ahead of Game 2 in Toronto, the Cleveland Cavaliers visited some of the team’s smallest and most deserving fans: patients at Cleveland Clinic Children’s. The goal: to give them and their families everything they would need to cheer on the Wine and Gold during the playoffs.
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TORONTO, Ontario -- The beautiful sounds of silence.
At one point, that's what you heard at Toronto's Air Canada Centre, one of the NBA's loudest arenas.
Then came the sound of fans standing, shrugging and trudging to the exits.
Final score: Cavaliers 128, Raptors 110.
And that cracking you hear?
It's the sound of hearts aching, dreams breaking for the Raptors after they lost the first two games of this best-of-seven series on their court.
This was the eighth consecutive playoff victory for the Cavs against Toronto, a streak that dates to 2016.
This series is not over. A lot of things still can happen as the series shifts to Cleveland for Games 3-4.
But it's not just Toronto being haunted by playoff ghosts past. It's the Cavs turning into a playoff-tested team right in front of our eyes. It's a team remembering it has been to the NBA Finals in the past three years.
Surviving the grueling, seven-game series against Indiana in the first round gave the Cavs a sense of toughness and purpose.
It's as if they screamed in Game 2 at Toronto: HEY, WE'RE STILL DEFENDING EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPS!
A LOT OF LOVE
Then came Love.
That's Kevin Love.
This was Cavs coach Tyronn Lue's dream game, with Love in the middle of it.
Lue dug out several plays designed to put the ball in the hands of Love. It was as if Lue wanted to make a point about how Love could be effective at center against Toronto.
Forget effective -- he was dominating, finishing with 31 points and 11 rebounds.
By the end of the first quarter, Love had his 2018 playoff average of 10 points. By halftime, he had 18 points next to his name.
More importantly, the plays required Love to move. To cut to the basket, to run a curl around a pick. To play some basic motion basketball.
Love missed his first three shots, all open. Regardless, the Cavs kept working the ball to him. Often, LeBron James had the ball and kept waiting for Love to make his move to the rim.
It was beautiful basketball to watch.
And get this: The Cavaliers committed just three turnovers all night. That's right, 25 assists compared to three turnovers!
THEN THERE WAS GREATNESS
James channeled his Magic Johnson personality, making sure his teammates received the ball in the best place at the best time.
*Find J.R. Smith (15 points) open for 3-pointers. Swish...swish...swish.
*Encourage George Hill (13 points) to go to the rim, and the veteran guard doing just that.
*Help Jeff Green (14 points) feel good about himself at both ends of the court.
And how about this? Each of those three shot 5-of-8 from the field.
It all was there:
The ball movement...
The player movement...
The court spacing...
The confidence.
James wanted to make sure Toronto had no hope. He scored just two points and took two shots early, as he was orchestrating the other players.
In the second half, James took over. He turned from Magic to Michael, as in Johnson to Jordan. James scored 15 in the third quarter. He made outrageous fall-away jumpers, he drove to the rim at will.
Give him 43 points total. Add 14 assists, eight rebounds and only one turnover.
Give him the award for toying with Toronto, inspiring his teammates, then making sure this game was under control well before the fourth quarter.
It was a special night from a few special players who could turn the Cavs into a special team.
TORONTO -- This was Kevin Love's best game in the 2018 playoffs, and the only player capable of outshining him Thursday was LeBron James.
The Cavs' two All-Stars were way, way too much for the Toronto Raptors in Game 2 of this Eastern Conference semifinal, accounting for 74 points in Cleveland's 128-110 win.
The Cavs have a commanding 2-0 lead in this series with the next two games slated for The Q. The Cavs have won eight straight playoff games over the Raptors dating to the 2016 conference finals. Toronto is in danger of getting swept out of the conference semis by James and Co. for the second straight season.
"These two games are over," James said. "How we can get our minds right for Game 3. It's one game at a time, and that's the only way we should look at it. We will not put our guards down. I won't, so that's going to trickle down to everybody else."
James, as previously mentioned, went off in Game 2. He recovered from his 12-of-30 effort in Game 1 to go for 43 points, eight rebounds, and tied a career playoff high with 14 assists. He shot 19-of-28 in 40 minutes, and scored 27 points after halftime.
James passed Elgin Baylor for eighth all time with his 104th playoff double double. This was his 23rd playoff game with at least 40 points and his fourth so far this postseason.
Love, meanwhile, gave the Cavs 31 points and 11 boards on 11-of-21 shooting. He entered play shooting .323 and averaging just 10.9 points during the playoffs, and upset because coach Tyronn Lue wouldn't take him off of Jonas Valanciunas.
Well, forget the bruising Toronto 7-footer. Time and again the Raptors switched smaller players onto Love and he devastated them.
"We had watched film (Wednesday) that just showed that when we were running certain actions, they switch the guards on to him so we were having Kyle, when he sets that screen, pops back to get out and then we were able to take advantage of mismatches early," Lue said. "In the second half, they went small and we were able to post Kevin against CJ (Miles) and (DeMar) DeRozan a few times.
"Kevin made a couple of shots early, the same ones he's been getting. He was able to knock some down early tonight. That opened up the floor for LeBron."
JR Smith added 15 points, Jeff Green scored 14 off the bench and George Hill contributed 13 points.
The Raptors received 24 points from DeRozan and 21 from Kyle Lowry, who mustered just three in the second half. Valanciunas was good again in his own right, following up the 21 points and 21 boards he had in Game 1 with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Toronto was the No. 1 team in the East during the regular season and was the only team in the NBA ranked in the top five in offense and defense.
But the Raptors don't have LeBron. And they've lost four straight to Cleveland now, counting the regular season.
"Going into this series we knew that we had to be good," Lue said. "With Kyle Lowry and DeRozan and Dwane Casey has done a great job this year of changing the offense, being way better defensively, we knew it was going to be a tough matchup for us."
The Cavs (yes, the Cavs) erupted in the third quarter to turn this game in their favor. They opened with runs of 8-0 and 18-5 in the first four minutes. James dialed up 15 points in the period and Cleveland turned what was a two-point halftime deficit into what was at one-time a 15-point lead.
A couple bad shots at the end of the period allowed the Raptors to get a little closer at 98-87 heading into the fourth. Cleveland entered Game 2 having been outscored by 26 in third quarters this postseason. The Cavs shot 73 percent in the third on Thursday.
James closed out the game with 12 points in the fourth -- all on jumpers.
Love took nine shots in the first quarter. He only made four, but for him, in these playoffs, it counts as an excellent start. He scored seven points for all of Game 1.
By halftime, Love was up to 7-of-14 shooting for 18 points.
"I made some shots. I mean, as simple as that," Love said. "I know it's funny to say, but I've had a lot of great looks and really uncharacteristic misses for me. It's not like I forgot how to play the game of basketball."
James had 16 in the first half and the Cavs trailed 63-61. He drained a jumper with .7 seconds to go, but missed two foul shots on the possession before that could've mean a halftime tie.
Toronto was 7-of-14 on 3s in the first half, with three from Lowry (18 points), and shot .595 overall (25-of-42). The Cavs were 3-of-12 from deep.
The Raptors should've been ahead by more. It was a harbinger of very, very bad things to come for them.
Game 3 is at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at The Q.
After earning a gritty overtime win over the Raptors in Game 1 of the East semifinals, the Cavs won Game 2 in convincing fashion.
Cleveland's game plan of feeding the ball to Kevin Love early paid dividends in the long run. Love, who has struggled throughout the postseason, scored 10 first-quarter points and finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds for the night.
LeBron James was sensational, finishing with a game-high 43 points (on 19-of-28 shooting), a playoff career-best 14 assists and eight rebounds. The Cavs also benefited from the scoring of George Hill (13 points), J.R. Smith (15 points) and Jeff Green (14 points).
It was a tale of two halves as Toronto got off to a solid start behind Kyle Lowry's 18 first-half points. The Raptors took a two-point lead into the locker room, but Lowry scored just three second-half points to finish with 21 for the night. DeMar DeRozan led the way for Toronto with 24 points while the reserves contributed 42 points.
Cleveland's second-half surge was sparked by the play of James and the team's 3-point shooting (8-of-14 in the half). Toronto now heads to Cleveland down 0-2; the Raptors have an all-time postseason record of 0-5 at Quicken Loans Arena.
If you missed any of the action from Game 2, check out all of the highlights below...
Raptors vs. Cavs: Score, highlights, updates
Game 2 box score | Play-by-play
Final: Cavs 128, Raptors 110
8:33 p.m. ET — Cleveland outscored the Raptors 67-47 in the second half en route to an 18-point victory. LeBron James finishes the night with 43 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds to lead the Cavs to a commanding 2-0 series lead.
8:20 p.m ET — LeBron James continues to knock down turnaround jumpers and now has 43 points on 19-of-27 shooting. Definitely a solid way to bounce back from a poor shooting night in Game 1.
👑 Tough jumper after tough jumper for LeBron James! 👑
He's up to 4⃣3⃣ on the night! #WhateverItTakes pic.twitter.com/2XJxLM4MxE — NBA (@NBA) May 4, 2018
8:15 p.m ET — The Raptors respond to the early run, but still trail by 13 with 7:09 remaining. Toronto desperately needs to string together a number of stops down the stretch.
8:05 p.m ET — Cleveland opens up the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to build an 16-point lead. LeBron James' total for the night is up to 35 and he is hitting some impressive turnaround jumpshots.
End of third quarter: Cavs 98, Raptors 87
7:59 p.m ET — Cleveland outscores the Raptors 37-24 in the third to take an 11-point lead into the final frame. LeBron James scored or assisted on 29 of the Cavs 37 third-quarter points. James now leads the way with 31 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds. Kevin Love has added 27 points and nine rebounds. Toronto will need a boost from Lowry and DeRozan, who combined to score six points in the third.
LeBron James is FEELING it right now and on #TripleDoubleWatch ! 🔥
With 15 PTS in Q3 he's up to 31 PTS, 13 AST, 7 REB! #WhateverItTakes pic.twitter.com/TceGRpPVkv — NBA (@NBA) May 3, 2018
7:52 p.m ET — With just under four minutes remaining in the quarter, the Cavs hold on to a double-digit lead; it's 89-78 Cleveland with 3:50 to play.
7:42 p.m ET — Kevin Love knocks down a transition 3-pointer and now has 21 points on the night (2018 postseason high). On the next possession, a Love block on DeMar DeRozan's layup attempt leads to a George Hill fast-break layup. Cleveland is on an 18-5 run and leads 79-68 with 7:50 remaining in the third.
7:34 p.m ET — Cleveland opens the third quarter on an 8-0 run and Kyle Lowry picks up his fourth foul in the process. Dwane Casey calls for time as the Cavs lead 69-63 less than two minutes into the half.
Halftime: Raptors 63, Cavs 61
Kyle Lowry (18 PTS, 6-7 FGM) and Kevin Love (18 PTS, 7 REB) duel in the opening half of Game 2! #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/EkSFPCskK2 — NBA (@NBA) May 3, 2018
7:17 p.m ET — A LeBron James jumpshot with 1.3 seconds remaining cuts the deficit to two heading into the half. LeBron finishes the first half with 16 points and seven assists. Kevin Love and Kyle Lowry each scored a game-high 18 points in the first half. DeMar DeRozan added 11 points for the Raptors.
3-point shooting has made a difference, as the Raptors shot 7-of-14 from deep while Cleveland was 3-of-12 in the half.
Considering the game's pace, both teams have taken good care of the ball. The Raptors committed six turnovers while Cleveland committed just two.
Foul trouble could come back to haunt Toronto; Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry both have three fouls and three other Raptors (OG Anunoby, Jonas Valanciunas and DeMar DeRozan) have two.
7:13 p.m ET — Kyle Lowry picks up his third foul of the night with under a minute to play in the half. Lowry will sit with 18 first-half points; his foul trouble will be something to monitor in the second half.
7:06 p.m. ET — LeBron James and Kevin Love have really started to get going offensively. The duo has combined to score the Cavs last 13 points, but Toronto leads 61-53 with 2:25 left in the half.
7:00 p.m. ET — The Raptors are RED HOT from beyond the arc (6-of-12). A Fred VanVleet 3-pointer pushes the Toronto lead to nine and Tyronn Lue signals for a timeout. VanVleet has scored eight points in eight minutes off the bench and the Raptors lead 54-45 with 4:50 remaining in the half.
6:54 p.m. ET — Toronto begins the second quarter by hitting seven of its first eight shots to build a six point lead. The Raptors reserves have contributed 14 points so far and Kyle Lowry still hasn't missed.
End of first quarter: Raptors 29, Cavs 26
6:41 p.m. ET — Toronto takes a three-point lead into the second frame after a solid showing in the first quarter. Kyle Lowry got going early and finished with 10 first-quarter points. DeMar DeRozan scored nine in the first frame. The Cavs emphasis on featuring Kevin Love on offense has worked early – he has already surpassed his Game 1 scoring output with 10 points (4-of-9 shooting) in the first. LeBron James contributed four points before sitting for the final minutes of the quarter.
6:31 p.m. ET — Kyle Lowry is heating up! He's got 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and there's 2:56 remaining in the first.
6:27 p.m. ET — Cleveland is looking to run its offense through Kevin Love early and often. The All-Star is 3-of-7 in the game's first eight minutes.
6:21 p.m. ET — The first timeout of the night comes under the seven-minute mark and the Raptors lead 12-10. Kyle Lowry leads the way with five early points.
5:22 p.m. ET — Toronto will roll out the same lineup to start tonight.
4:03 p.m. ET — Cleveland arrives to the Air Canada Centre. The matching suits are back once again.
