NBA: Sweep! LeBron and Love unstoppable – DeRozan ejected

The Cleveland Cavaliers also won their fourth game against the Toronto Raptors, making the sweep perfect. At 128:93, Cleveland LeBron James and Kevin Love dominated, while the Canadians DeMar DeRozan were again disappointed and ejected in the second half.

Raptors coach Dwane Casey again bet on a real Big in game 4, but this time Serge Ibaka took the lead over Jonas Valanciunas on the five. Offensively the formation looked very good, but at the back end Cleveland could not be stopped. The Cavs scored 10 of their first 12 throws, 16 out of 21 points were scored in the zone. The hosts had quickly established a 26-17 lead, Casey had to take his second time-out early. It was at least a little fruitful, even though J.R. Smith had pocketed each of his five rolls for 12 points. The Cavs led after 12 minutes only with 30:26.

The start of the second quarter belonged to Valanciunas, who the Canadians were always looking for. The Lithuanian scored 6 points in the 8-0 run Torontos, which now had momentum. As a result, LeBron James was able to find his supporting cast again, Kyle Korver and Kevin Love benefited from it. The Cavs had grooved in and finished the quarter with a 12:0 run, it went into the cabins with 63:47.

The Raptors then had some open litters, but could not use them. LeBron, on the other hand, scored the first 10 points of the Cavs, but the resistance of the guests was frighteningly low. Love was also allowed to keep on scoring, the distance between the two teams was getting bigger and bigger. Accordingly, frustration accumulated: DeMar DeRozan fouled Jordan Clarkson hard in transition and was ejected with a flagrant foul 2 just before the end of the quarter. Meanwhile the Cavs marched on to the Conference Finals and led 100:72.

Toronto then emptied the bank, while Cavs LeBron remained on the field and said their farewells just eight minutes before the end of the day. Afterwards the action splashed a little bit, the Cavs even extended the lead.

LeBron played 38 minutes in which he played 29 points (12/19 FG), 8 rebounds and 11 assists. All other four starters of the Cavs scored two-digit, including Smith (15, 6/6 FG), Love (23) and Korver (16, 4/5 three). For Toronto Valanciunas was already the best scorer with 18 points, while Kyle Lowry (5th 2/7 FG, 10 Assists) and DeRozan (13th, 5/11th FG) were inconspicuous again.

Cleveland is now waiting for the winner between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Cavs will definitely not have a home advantage, no matter which team prevails in this series. Boston is leading 3-1 right now.

Cleveland Cavaliers – Toronto Raptors 128:93, series 4:0 (BOXSCORE)

Kevin Love. Of course, James was once again the linchpin of the offense, but Love didn’t have to hide in this game. The Big was always active, scoring in the post, by cuts or from a distance. Both Ibaka and Valanciunas could not defend Love, who also had some good plays on the other side. Among other things, he cleared Ibaka from behind, plus 2 steals.

The Raptors’ back court. When the Raptors ship began to sink, there wasn’t much left of DeRozan and Lowry. Lowry played 10 assists, but otherwise the playmaker didn’t want to succeed. DeRozan, who only took 11 litters and was defensive once again hardly wearable, fared similarly. His ejection was the sad climax of a series to forget for the Shooting Guard.

Dwane Casey tried a lot again to challenge the Cavs, but again without success. Valanciunas played good minutes with the Second Unit, but Casey bet almost 2 minutes on Lucas Nogueira as only Big at the end of the second quarter. That didn’t pay off at all, the Cavs started a 10-0 run and created a cushion from which they could live until the end of the game. Jakob Pöltl (0/3 FG, 2 rebounds, 1 block) did not play until garbage time and thus, as in game 3, did not get any minutes with meaning.