LeBron James, Cavs hammer Raptors for commanding 2-0 lead as series shifts to Cleveland
SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Jeff Zillgitt breaks down a pair of Game 2s that saw the Cavaliers drub the Raptors and the Celtics stage a huge rally to beat the 76ers. USA TODAY Sports
TORONTO — Cleveland brought the shovel. Toronto did some digging. The Cavaliers helped dig, and now the Raptors find themselves in a surprising 2-0 hole in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Led by LeBron James’ game-high 43 points and Kevin Love’s 31 points, the Cavaliers hammered the Raptors 128-110 on Thursday and head home for two games and a chance to sweep the Raptors.
James, who scored at least 40 points in a playoff game for the 23rd time in his career, was unstoppable in the second half, scoring 27 points in the final two quarters.
Who saw this coming? The top-seeded Raptors, who lost to Cleveland in the playoffs in 2015 and 2016, were picked by several NBA experts to reach the Finals. But with James, the Cavs have now beaten the Raptors in eight consecutive playoff games.
It was a big sign for the Raptors in the first quarter when James went to the bench, and the Raptors were outscored 6-2. It kept getting worse from there for the Raptors. History is not on their side. Twenty-six teams have lost the first two games at home in a best-of-seven series and just five have come back to win the series.
Here's how the Cavs dominated and demoralized the Raptors.
1. Efficient LeBron James
James wasn’t happy with his 12-for-30 shooting in Game 1. He was also coming off a tough seven-game series with just one day’s rest.
In Game 2, James shot 19-for-28 from the field, including 13-for-19 through three quarters. He lived in the paint, scoring 18 points inside the restricted area at the rim. He delivered on an array of turnaround jumpers that couldn’t have been stopped with the greatest one-on-one defense.
His offense in the second half, in front of Toronto’s bench, left the Raptors and their fans exasperated.
"Well, I pretty much know the scouting report on me is going to be to dare me to shoot jump shots and keep me out of the paint, not allow me to go to the free-throw line," James said. "Over the course of my career, I just try to put a lot of work into other facets of my game to try to neutralize their gameplan. I work extremely hard on my jump shot and in a few years after my first year in Miami, I started working on my postgame in ways I could score in the post and be just very efficient. Tonight was just a byproduct of that."
For good measure, he added 14 assists and eight rebounds. The 14 assists tied a playoff career-high.
2. Kevin Love emerges from offensive slump
Cavs center-forward (he prefers forward over center if you haven’t heard) scored 18 of his 31 points in the first half.
He made 11-for-21 shots from the field and also had 11 rebounds. It was his second double-double during the playoffs, in which he has struggled offensively. But his 31 points are a playoff-high for him this season.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) dunks the ball against the Toronto Raptors in game two of the second round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. (Photo: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports)
But Love had his scoring hat on – 10 points in the first quarter and nine in the third quarter in which the Cavs eliminated a two-point halftime deficit and turned it into a 98-87 lead. Cleveland started the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run, taking a 105-87 lead with 9:47 remaining.
"I made some shots. I mean, as simple as that," Love said. "I know it’s funny to say, but I’ve had a lot of great looks and really uncharacteristic misses for me. It’s not like I forgot how to play the game of basketball. ... I just wanted to affect the game in different ways, seeing the mismatches and trying to take advantage of those in the post or whether I caught it out of the pinch post or a little bit off and just going with what’s working."
The Cavs' offense also took care of the ball. They had just three turnovers in Game 2 and just eight through two games. Read More Here
76ers' Joel Embiid 'not too scared' despite 2-0 deficit vs. Celtics
Joel Embiid was not impressed with the Boston crowd in Game 1. After Game 2, he was not impressed with the Celtics' commanding 2-0 series lead.
Embiid and the 76ers coughed up a 22-point lead and lost Game 2 of their second-round series Thursday night. The Celtics rallied to win 108-103 and take a 2-0 lead, but Embiid isn't worried as the series shifts to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4.
"We know what we gotta correct," Embiid said. "We need to be better defensively. Offensively, we just got to keep moving the ball and do our thing. We know what we gotta do.
"Honestly, I'm not too scared because we know what we gotta do to be able to win
games. They're a very good team, they're well-coached. We just gotta execute our
game plan."
Embiid had 20 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, but he struggled shooting and finished 8-of-22 from the field. Fellow rising star Ben Simmons scored just one point and missed all four of his shots from the floor. Simmons added seven assists and five rebounds but also had five turnovers.
Simmons, however, echoed Embiid's optimism.
"Mentally, I was thinking too much, overthinking the plays," Simmons said. "Obviously they have a game plan. I know what that game plan is, and I just gotta play my game.
"I'm going to have bad game. It happens. Obviously, it's bad timing." Read More Here
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