Really nice win - everybody contributed. I think the key was 3-point shooting - the Cavs were an amazing 17-for-33 while the Raptors, a much better 3-point team, were 15-for-46. They missed a lot of uncontested 3's. The 29th ranked 3-point team outshot the 9th ranked team.
The Cavs also dominated the glass, 54-37 against the smaller Raptors. The Raptors had no choice but to play super aggressive defense and gamble, especially when they fell behind by 22 early in the 4th quarter. It caught the Cavs off guard and they went over four minutes without scoring, allowing the Raps to cut the lead to 5 points. But the Cavs pulled it together and closed out the win when it would have been easy for the younger team to choke under the pressure the Raptors dialed up.
The Cavs can feel really great about stopping the Raptors surge and pulling away at the end, despite a spate of turnovers. Usually they would have no chance of beating a decent team when they turn the ball over 26 times, but they shot and defended well enough to pull it out. I also think Toronto just had a bad shooting night, but hey, we'll take it.
Sexton had another terrific game with 36 points on 13-for-24 and four assists. The only blemish was the six turnovers. Allen had 17 points and 15 rebounds. He came up strong in the 4th quarter when the game was on the line and knocked down some big free throws. Dean Wade was magnificent off the bench with 16 points in 18 minutes. Cedi kicked in six rebounds and six assists. He's developing into an excellent passer, but he still can't shoot.
How about Okoro with 7 rebounds and 5 assists? He usually gets one or two of each, if that. He also had a couple of steals and knocked down two big threes to push the Cavs lead in the 4th. But those six turnovers won't cut it. He still needs to improve his handles.
The Cavs shot 50.6% overall and had an excellent offensive performance except for all those turnovers. However, the Raptors are 5th in steal percentage so the Cavs should have been prepared for a high intensity, gambling defense, especially when the Raps got behind and had no choice but to gamble for steals on every possession.
Five games in seven days. One down, four to go. We get the Kings tomorrow.
By the way, the Hawks have won eight in a row since changing coaches. I don't feel so bad about losing to them last week now.
