CLEVELAND – Rust was doing pretty good for a minute there. Rest was on the run.
For the briefest of moment’s the Toronto Raptors looked like their puncher’s chance was the real thing against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Eastern Conference’s heavyweights.
But then the Cavaliers showed up – or more specifically LeBron James woke them up – and whatever advantage the Raptors may have had in Game 1 of their first-ever conference finals, well, that was in theory only.
Here was the line of thinking: The Raptors, fresh off the high of their Game 7 against the Miami Heat, would ride their game legs and their adrenaline to an early advantage in a series hardly anyone was giving them a chance in to begin with.
The Cavaliers, in the midst of establishing themselves as a post-season juggernaut so potent they hadn’t had to play in nine days having swept both their previous series, would come out either sluggish or too hyped and the Raptors would come to Quicken Loans Arena and shock the world, Buster Douglas style. After all, in cases where teams have had eight or more days rest in the playoffs, teams are 5-6 since 2000, according to Elias.
Didn’t happen.
Before we get to the final score, well, okay – Cleveland won 115-84 and it was bad as it looks – remember the first two minutes? Yes, let’s remember.
The Raptors’ Patrick Patterson made a three to start; DeMarre Carroll made a steal and Kyle Lowry scored in transition; another steal by Carroll leading to a put-back by Bismack Biyombo.
Hey, the Raptors were up 7-0. The dream was alive.
For a moment you felt like you could talk your self into this being a series, even if everyone, it seemed, was picking the Cavaliers not only to win the series, but win it with ease. At ESPN.com their 18 NBA staffers were polled, all 18 picked the Cavs, with 15 of them picking the series to go five games or less. The Raptors were 12-1 underdogs according to Las Vegas odds makers even though they lost one more regular season game.
“I see it all,” Raptors all-star DeMar DeRozan said before the game. “It’s never going to stop with us, no matter what we do, no matter how far we go. We just have to get all the way to the mountaintop and maybe even then they’ll come up with an excuse for us.
“I’ve been dealing with it for seven years. The best part I get out of it is being able to say we’re standing here still playing.”
But then, LeBron, who had no interest in any rust-vs-rest debate, or anything other running the Cavaliers post-season wining streak to 9-0 with no end in sight, happened.
“We didn’t rest,” said the Cavaliers star after the game, describing Cleveland’s intense conditioning program they used to stay sharp. “We just didn’t have a game in front of cameras. Our mindset was: Whenever our game presented itself we were going to be able to play our game and we accomplished that tonight.”
The Raptors signed Carroll as a free agent last summer in part to have a defensive presence to use against James.
The only problem is that when James decides to walk his man to the post he’s almost impossible to stop. He did that on a couple of early possessions to get the Cavaliers rolling. He scored on his first four shots. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that he was on a mission much bigger than Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals – he’s tasked himself with saving Northeastern Ohio – but he wasn’t going to stumble on Game 1.
The Raptors were concerned about taking away the Cavaliers suddenly lethal three-point shooting, but as a result they single-covered James and left too much room to operate everywhere else.
“You take away the three, but if you’re not careful, you’re giving up layups, and that’s where we got to get that balance, and I think that’s the key for this whole series,” said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. “Different series than last series. We’ve got to get our minds adjusted and bodies adjusted. The speed of the game is another issue, a quicker pace, a quicker foot speed for this team versus Miami and Indiana, so we’ve got to make that adjustment.”
But it’s hard to imagine any adjustment accounting entirely for James. He finished with 24 points on 13 shots, with six rebounds and four assists. He was floating for most of his 28 minutes, content to let Kyrie Irving (27 points on 17 shots) run the show and dominate his match up with Lowry (eight points on 14 shots, 0-for-7 from deep).
The Cavaliers led 33-28 after the first quarter and then they got serious.
Early in the second quarter the Cavs pushed the ball in transition got the ball to James in the paint for a potential layup before James instantly whipped it cross court, starting a blink-of-an-eye sequence where the ball zipped around the perimeter and across the court before finding Matthew Dellavedova for a wide open three as the Raptors defenders could only watch. It was the part of a 16-1 run that blew the game open before it was even half over.
It was a glimpse of the new-look Cavaliers, who are doing a very convincing Golden State Warriors impersonation.
The Raptors did good work limiting them from deep – the Cavaliers were just 7-of-20 while after coming into the game averaging nearly 17 made threes a game on 46 per cent shooting. For perspective, Stephen Curry shot 45 per cent from deep this past season and the Warriors averaged 13 makes a game.
Cleveland figured out the Raptors strategy pretty early, stretched them out defensively and drove the rim at will. They pushed their lead to 66-44 at the half, taking just four threes while making two.
For the game the Cavaliers outscored the Raptors 56-36 in the paint.
“You know, we planned – we knew the three-ball was big,” said Lowry. “But they did a good job. We left the floor and the paint too open tonight, I think, and they took advantage of that. I think they just did an overall good job of picking and choosing their spots.”
Meanwhile, the Raptors’ own three-point shooting is erratic at best – there are few upsets to be had by teams that shoot 5-for-25 from distance.
The highlight of the second half, arguably, was a stretch of hard fouls given and taken. After Patterson was hit by a Kevin Love elbow (Love received a flagrant) Carroll gave a hard foul to James, as did Biyombo, who also sent Tristan Thompson flying.
You had to respect the spirit, but it was the only area of the game the Raptors enjoyed an advantage. The Raptors trailed 95-67 heading into the fourth quarter. At that point the benches emptied, but only because it was time for both sides to retrieve their starters. The game was done. The Cavaliers were so dominant and have been so dominant in the playoffs that James was asked if they might have to guard against taking their foot off the gas.
“I don’t think we have complacency in our minds right now,” said James. “We have a goal and it’s not nine wins. I’ve won nine wins in the post-season before; I’ve won 14 in the post-season before. That’s not our goal.”
James’ goal is to bring a championship to Cleveland for the first time since 1964. He’s on a mission.
The Raptors will have a chance to fight again on Thursday night in Game 2, fighting also the knowledge that James and his Cavaliers – rusty, rested or whatever – are simply out of their weight class.