Game 63 | Cavs (38-24) @ Raptors (38-22) | March 4, 2015 | 7:30pm EST

Plaxicofan7 · Mar 4, 2015

Nice win for us.

Toronto went 54/48/94 tonight, and we were able to withstand their big 4th quarter run.

brownsbuck6 · Mar 4, 2015

tain316 said:
He would have helped them considerably in the first half where they looked like a shell of themselves. I definitely don't consider this their best shot just because they were red hot in the second half.

Andy would have helped us too in the fist half, since we're using excuses as a crutch. I can make assumptions the same as you can.

Bring better takes then this or gtfo.

InBoobieWeTrust · Mar 4, 2015

SteelSmack said:
TT was in the game, what spacing does he bring? If we're going to go with a PF to guard a C, at least let it be Love who does stretch the floor. I'd love to see a Love/JJ/LeBron/JR/Kyrie lineup. 5 guys who can shoot 40% from 3.

TT at the 5 is classic small ball. He's a very mobile big, he can switch onto guards, he can recover, he handles the pick and roll a lot better. He was the right choice for the fourth quarter tonight.

tocov · Mar 4, 2015

SteelSmack said:
TT was in the game, what spacing does he bring? If we're going to go with a PF to guard a C, at least let it be Love who does stretch the floor. I'd love to see a Love/JJ/LeBron/JR/Kyrie lineup. 5 guys who can shoot 40% from 3.

Love is not half as intimidating on the offensive boards as TT.
That puts a lot of pressure on the D. It creates spacing not as in guys needing to spread out to cover shooters, but in that guys need to stay close to the hole to box out. And then the D has a choice to make - leave shooters open or leave TT to eat them on the offensive boards. When you have only one option (shooters), it's much easier to guard than when you have two or more different threats. One player makes the wrong decision and the D starts running around after the ball, like we saw several times during the fourth.

I guess he could have played Love and we could've won like that too. But the lineup worked, no need to fix what is not broken.

SteelSmack · Mar 4, 2015

brownsbuck6 said:
Andy would have helped us too in the fist half, since we're using excuses as a crutch. I can make assumptions the same as you can.

Bring better takes then this or gtfo.

Let's play a game of spot the Harden fanboi. Hint: Tain

Helium filament · Mar 4, 2015

Minor thing, but why was LeBron on the receiving side of that last inbound pass? He knows he isn't strong at the FT line, he should have been passing to kyrie or JJ. He looked like he was going to throw it in, then switched out with JJ. In the end it doesn't matter, but that pride might hurt us again soon.

brownsbuck6 · Mar 4, 2015

SteelSmack said:
Wow, Dion is beasting in that OKC game. 8-11, 18 points, 3 rebs, 3 ast.

So this is his 1 out of 10 type of game then..

MirORich · Mar 4, 2015

On the road.
Second game of a back to back.
Withstood a momentum changing charge by the home team.
Nice!

Just remember all 48 minutes count. The points Love and Moz got early in the game are essential part of our final score, which was higher than Toronto's. Iman and Delly didn't get their usual minutes, but still did good things earlier in the game for us.

That said, great work by the unit that finished the game. It's really nice to see that James Jones can be an impactful option for the coaching staff in the playoffs dependent on matchups and situation

Binkster · Mar 4, 2015

KilgoreTrout said:
Good win, but should it not have been easier, sans Lowry?

For the most part, it was.

A bad combination of horrible calls and falling trick shots afforded Toronto that comeback.

Return of the King · Mar 4, 2015

Whew! close one, terrible second half defense. good win against a quality opponent though! (without Lowry playing)

SteelSmack · Mar 4, 2015

tocov said:
Love is not half as intimidating on the offensive boards as TT.

Great point. Except TT had zero o-boards.

SteelSmack · Mar 4, 2015

brownsbuck6 said:
So this is his 1 out of 10 type of game then..

I don't think he even does it that often, hence the "wow". Plus, he'll probably miss like 6 of his next 8 shots and he'll take an efficient game and turn it into an inefficient game. He likes to do that.

StuDiscus · Mar 4, 2015

KilgoreTrout said:
Good win, but should it not have been easier, sans Lowry?

I agree to a certain extent.
Raptors are deep and played out of their minds offense in the 2nd half.

Our "D" could have been better but, we tightened up when it counted..
TWSS

tocov · Mar 4, 2015

SteelSmack said:
Great point. Except TT had zero o-boards.

It doesn't matter. He is a threat. He had zero boards because the D opted to stay close and box out, and then JR and JJ nailed the 3s.
That's the whole point.

Jordan · Mar 4, 2015

Ugly win, but I'm glad we got it. Onwards!

tain316 · Mar 4, 2015

brownsbuck6 said:
Andy would have helped us too in the fist half, since we're using excuses as a crutch. I can make assumptions the same as you can.

Bring better takes then this or gtfo.

It's foolish to suggest that not having Lowry on their team has the same effect as not having Andy. Kyle's a much more important player to the Raptors, particularly on the offensive side. If you don't get that, you haven't watched much basketball.

Game 63 | Cavs (38-24) @ Raptors (38-22) | March 4, 2015 | 7:30pm EST

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