The Toronto Raptors outworked and outperformed the Cavaliers for the second straight game, tying the series at 2 with a 105-99 victory on Monday night north of the border.
Toronto’s two all-stars outscored Cleveland’s three best players.
Cleveland shot just 3-for-22 from beyond the arc in the first half.
The duo of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, who both struggled in Game 3, did not play particularly well in the first half on Monday night, as Love shot just 2-for-8 in the half, while Irving scored 11 points, but was torched by opposing point guard Kyle Lowry.
Lowry made 8-of-11 shots in the half, leading the game with 20 points.
LeBron James was one of the only bright spots offensively for the Cavs to start the game, scoring 16 points before halftime.
Toronto’s bench outscored Cleveland’s 16-4 in the half.
The Raptors would enter the break leading by 16.
The Cavs started the second half on an 11-4 run before DeMar DeRozan put an end to it by knocking down back to back jumpers.
Bismack Biyombo blocked two shots on the next possession, continuing to dominate the paint on both ends.
DeRozan scored the first ten points of the second half for Toronto, helping the Raptors maintain a comfortable lead.
Lowry decided to take over after DeRozan, putting up six quick points to build the lead back up to 15.
Cleveland started to chip away at the lead late in the third quarter, thanks to clutch three-pointers from Love and J.R. Smith, who got it down to an 8-point game with 1:43 left in the period.
Smith committed an ill-advised foul on DeMare Carroll in the act of shooting a three, and Carroll would sink all three free-throws to get the lead back up to 11.
The Raptors would head into the fourth quarter on top 78-69.
Cavs veteran forwards Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye sparked an 8-0 run to open up the fourth quarter, cutting it down to a one-point game with 10:16 to play.
Lowry would respond to the run, drawing a foul while converting a difficult layup. He would make the free throw to get the lead up to four.
Frye drained a clutch three-pointer to answer back.
Both sides traded baskets before LeBron gave the Cavs their first lead of the game.
It was short-lived, as DeRozan came right back.
The two teams would continue to go back and forth, trading leads for the next two minutes.
Tyronn Lue would take a timeout with 6:42 to play and the Cavs trailing 89-88.
Jefferson gave the Cavs the lead back and LeBron would hit two free throws after grabbing a steal and getting fouled.
Lowry would make another tough layup, drawing a foul and tying the game at 92 with 5:41 remaining.
James and DeRozan traded buckets.
Jefferson and DeRozan answered each other back on the next two possessions.
Frye would miss a three-point attempt after the Cavs went 11-for-11 to start the quarter.
DeRozan would draw a foul and hit both free throws to give Toronto the lead once again.
The Cavs would cool off, missing two more field goal attempts, and Carroll put the Raptors up by three with 3:23 to play.
Lowry came up with a huge steal, getting fouled by LeBron on the fast break and made it a four-point game with 2:43 left.
The Cavs would miss two three-point attempts on the next possession and Biyombo was fouled while hauling in a rebound, putting the Raptors in the bonus.
He would split the pair to make it a five-point game.
Irving hit a deep three-pointer to cut the deficit to two.
DeRozan came right back and put the Raptors up four.
Biyombo blocked another shot and grabbed an offensive board on the other end, prompting Dwane Casey to call timeout with 46 seconds remaining.
Lowry drove to the hoop with ease to lay in the dagger, making it 105-99 with 22.5 seconds left.
Smith and Irving both missed three-point attempts, sealing the fate of the game.
Toronto would win 105-99.
Lowry and DeRozan combined for 67 points, as Lowry led the way with 35 points.
The Cavs Big Three combined for 65 points.
Love shot 4-for-14, scoring ten points and sitting out the entire fourth quarter.
Cleveland shot 13-of-41 from beyond the arc on the night.
Biyombo hauled in 14 rebounds and blocked three shots.
Cleveland is now 0-4 in Toronto in the 2015-2016 campaign.
Game 5 is Wednesday at 8:30 PM in Cleveland.
Recent Comments