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The Toronto Raptors said they wanted Cleveland and on Tuesday night the Toronto Raptors got Cleveland. In a game that wasn't ever close the Cleveland Cavaliers continued their post season excellence as they defeated the Toronto Raptors 115-84 to take a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The first quarter started, perhaps predictably, with the Cavaliers displaying a little bit of rust. LeBron James and company started the game on the wrong end of a 7-0 run but quickly righted the ship. The Raptors, fearful of the Cavaliers three point shooting, played tight perimeter defense but often at the expense of rim protection. The result was a first quarter that resembled a layup line for the Cavs. It was only thanks to a hot quarter from DeMar DeRozan that Toronto's five point deficit after the first frame wasn't larger.
The second quarter illustrated exactly why the Raptors did not want Cavs to shoot threes. The Cavaliers made a few threes in succession which opened up the lanes even further for LeBron. The Cavs were getting to the rim at will and absolutely dominated the second frame, with LeBron and Iman punctuating the Cavaliers dominance with poster dunks. Not to be outdone Kyrie Irving made a few highlight plays himself and lead the Cavs with 18 points in the first half.
Kyrie taking all of Canada to church https://t.co/9INOGKNrmm
— Scott @ WFNY (@WFNYScott) May 18, 2016
The Raptors, to their credit, took the Cavs shot on the chin and climbed their way back into the game climbing within 12 points of the lead. Sadly for Drake thats the closest the Raptors would get to the lead all game. Cavaliers Coach Ty Lue inserted the starting lineup back into the game helping Cleveland to pull away and head into the locker room at halftime with a 22 point lead.
Things did not change much during the third quarter. The Cavaliers continued to execute on both ends of the court, extending their lead to 28 by the end of the quarter. The game got so out of hand that even Kyrie was dunking.
Kyrie dunk alert. #ALLin216 pic.twitter.com/6wtwtwi0MN
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 18, 2016
By the middle of the fourth quarter Timo Mozgov, Mo Williams and James Jones were on the court and the Cavs had game one locked up.
The Cavaliers will next face the third most northern team in North America again on Thursday, when they host the Raptors for game two. Hopefully the referees will set a more firm tone early because if game one is any indication about the only thing the Cavs have to fear from Toronto is Bismack Biyombo's elbows.