The Toronto Raptors could not have imagined a better start to the game. With 13 points, the hosts were in the lead before the Cleveland Cavaliers’ supporting cast turned up the heat. In the end, LeBron James leads his team into overtime and a 113:112 victory (BOXSCORE) in game 1.
Unlike game 7 against the Pacers, Tristan Thompson was back on the bench at the start of the series against Toronto. George Hill started for him, so Cavs coach Ty Lue bet on a small ball lineup. Nevertheless, the Raptors got off to a better start. From the first second, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry did enormous damage to the Cavs zone.
When LeBron James was given a short break unusually early, the Canadian reservists extended their lead. After the first 12 minutes Toronto had a throwing rate of 61.9 percent and a 14-point lead (33:19).
In the second section, however, the game revolved. The supporting cast of the Cavaliers finally found its way into the game and could set some important accents, especially in the person of Jeff Green and J.R. Smith. It was the Cavs, for example, who sunk 63.6 percent of their litters in the second quarter and thus gradually reduced the gap. Finally, the halftime break was relatively balanced (60:57 for the Raptors).
Like at the beginning of the game, the Canadians got off to a better start after the break. Toronto started into the third quarter with a 12:4 run, especially Jonas Valanciunas made little compromises under the basket. With 13 points in this section alone, he presented the Cavs with enormous problems. The Raptors were again in front with 13 points.
Cleveland did not return until Kyle Korver sunk some important threesomes and sat Valanciunas on the bench. With a 12:3-Run the guests shortened again to 3 points, so it remained so narrow also into the final minutes.
With a three-pointer about four and a half minutes to go, James finally brought his team up to 99:100. Two minutes later, after an important offensive rebound by Tristan Thompson, the Cavs even had two chances to take the lead for the first time in the game. But Korver’s trifecta landed only on the ring. It was the tenth miss in a row of both teams – and that in Crunch Time!
While the Cavs could fall back on the qualities of LeBron James, who equalised 30 seconds before the end, Toronto remained ice-cold in the final minutes. Even in the last attack of regular time, the Raptors left an open threesome and some tip-in options. A last attempt of James to play with 0.6 seconds on the other side also landed at the ring overtime!
From Cavs’ point of view, the extra time started really well. Both Korver and Smith hammered a three-way through the cage, giving Cleveland a 113:109 lead. After a three-point game by Lowry, however, James played a shot-clock violin. With 16 seconds on the clock, the Raptors had the chance to win: After a drive and kick-out by DeRozan, however, Fred VanVleet failed with a threesome. Victory for Cleveland!
The best man of the guests was once again James, who played his next triple double with 26 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds. Only the shooting of the number 23 was in need of improvement (12/30 FG, 1/8 trio). But Smith (20 points, 5/6 trio), Korver (19, 5/12 trio) and Green (16) delivered strong performances. Tristan Thompson was also convincing towards the end of the game (14 points, 12 rebounds).
On the other hand, DeRozan was the Raptors’ top scorer with 22 points, Valancunas contributed an impressive double double (21 points, 21 rebounds). Lowry scored 18 points sosie 10 Assists, but remained rather pale in the second half. Jakob Pöltl scored 4 points in 17 minutes and took 6 rebounds.
Toronto are already facing a must-win game in Game 2 on the night from Thursday to Friday.
Toronto Raptors v Cleveland Cavaliers 112:113 OT, Series 0:1 (BOXSCORE)
LeBron James. Admittedly, the King didn’t get the very best shooting night. But especially in Crunch Time LeBron was there with extremely important points. Oh yes, the triple double is of course not of bad parents either…
Kyle Lowry. The Point Guard had 15 points and 7 assists in the first 36 minutes. In the fourth quarter and the overtime, however, only a meager 3 counters and 3 templates were added. In Crunch Time, Lowry was virtually invisible. There must be more in the coming games.
After DeRozan and Lowry dominated the small ball cavs zone in the first quarter and Valanciunas in the third, head coach Ty Lue finally chose Tristan Thompson, who protected the ring much better than his colleagues before. Thus the Raptors in Crunch Time did not come so frequently to easy conclusions under the basket. On the other hand, O.G. Anunoby acted as expected as a one-on-one defender against LeBron. That is, the Raptors largely dispensed with double teams or switches – but that punished James especially in the final minutes.