After back-to-back dreadful performances in Cleveland, the Toronto Raptors returned home to play the first Eastern Conference Finals game at the Air Canada Centre. As it turns out, all this team needed was a little home cooking.
Toronto earned a 99-84 victory in Game 3, thrilling the vocal faithful that filled the ACC, leading essentially wire-to-wire and pulling away down the stretch, prompting Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue to pull his starters in the final 90 seconds, conceding defeating. DeMar DeRozan led the way for the Raptors, registering 32 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor and 8-of-9 from the line, while Kyle Lowry rebounded from two poor performances to collect 20 points on Saturday.
While the All-Star backcourt paced the Raptors in terms of points, Bismack Biyombo was the emotional heartbeat of the team, collecting a franchise-record 26 rebounds, playing outstanding defense and chipping in with seven points, six in the final quarter.
Toronto did a good job of limiting Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, as Cleveland’s secondary and tertiary weapons combined for 16 points on 4-for-28 shooting. LeBron James paced the Cavs with 24, adding eight rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes of work.
After getting out to a 27-24 lead after the first quarter, Toronto really took charge in the second, outscoring the Cavaliers 33-23 to grab a stranglehold on the game heading into halftime. In the second half, as Cleveland started to close the distance, the Raptors found a way to steady themselves, maintain the lead and push back.
Up 10 to start the fourth quarter, Toronto scored the first five points of the final stanza, extending when they have historically started to crack. When Biyombo slammed home and alley-oop with less than four minutes to go, the crowd got amped and the game was unofficially over.
In picking up a victory on Saturday, the Raptors ensured there will be a Game 5 in Cleveland and that reports of Toronto’s death were greatly exaggerated. That being said, replicating this performance on Monday evening is crucial. As much as Toronto benefitted from Irving and Love missing a bunch of shots, a good portion of that came as a result of strong defensive effort from the Raptors, who showed a ton of hustle and strong fundamentals.
If they can deliver a comparable effort in Game 4, this could become a Best of Three series. The Raptors showed tremendous resolve, coming out and putting forth their best 48-minute effort of the playoffs in keeping the Cavaliers from going ahead 3-0. Now they need to again on Monday in order to avoid playing an elimination game in Cleveland on Wednesday evening.
