Pop the champagne, 2001 Los Angeles Lakers. The Cleveland Cavaliers will not be going through their conference playoffs undefeated after losing 99-84 to the Toronto Raptors in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals. The Cavs had won 10 straight postseason games prior to heading up north to face the Raptors at home, and it was looking like we weren't just going to see the Cavs run through the East but they may have done it in the most dominant conference finals performance in NBA history.
After Games 1 and 2, the Cavs were a plus-50 against the Raptors. Two more semi-blowouts could've pushed the past the previous record -- set by those same 2001 Lakers -- of plus-89 in a conference finals series. The Lakers dominated the San Antonio Spurs in their 2001 run to the championship, and thanks to a 39-point win and a 29-point win in Games 3 and 4, respectively, they obliterated the Spurs in historic fashion. The Cavs could still end up demolishing this Raptors team, but it won't be in a sweep.
Now instead of wondering if this Cavs run is one of the most dominant ever, do we get to wonder if the Raptors have found the formula to make this a series? Here are the takeaways from Game 3:
1. Bismack Biyombo dominated the boards and the paint
Franchise record 26 rebounds for Bismack Biyombo as he absolutely crushed the Cavaliers on the boards -- particularly on the offensive boards, where he gave the Raptors eight extra possessions. That's a huge number, probably even bigger than the 54-40 overall rebounding advantage Toronto amassed in this game.
More than just the rebounding, though, Biyombo was consistently around the basket and altering the way the Cavaliers attacked. In the first two games of this series, the Raptors looked completely overwhelmed on defense. The Cavs were either getting open 3-point looks or they were living at the rim. Toronto couldn't figure out how to take either away without compromising the rest of their defense. In this game, Biyombo kept orbiting around the restricted area, which allowed everyone else to more aggressively, and responsibly, defend the perimeter -- particularly the 3-point line, where Cleveland was 14 of 41. Which leads us to ...
2. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were horrendous in this game
One stat here: 4-of-28. That's the combined shooting numbers of Love and Irving in Game 3. Throughout these playoffs, the Big Three of the Cavs have been destructive. Two-thirds of that trio was nonexistent Saturday night. Love just kind of floated around. He was 1 of 9 from the field and 1 of 4 from 3-point range. His shot inside the arc has been touchy at best, but his 3-point shooting has been good enough to make up for it before Saturday. Plus, he's been actually defending consistently for the first time in his career.
There were two plays though in this game that showed just how out of sync he was against the Raptors in Game 3. One of them was a post-up against Luis Scola. He tried to shake free a bit and muscle his way into a drop-step toward the baseline. He put up a hook shot from about 9 feet without getting great position, and basically threw it off the backboard against the side of the rim. It looked like Dwight Howard. The other was a corner 3-point attempt. Instead of a calm side-step after avoiding the defender, he stepped toward the defender but couldn't force contact to draw a foul. So instead, he tossed up an off-balance 3-point shot while trying to touch the defender with his shooting hand before he went into his shot motion. He just didn't have any feel for the game on offense.
Then there was Kyrie, who was 3 of 19 from the field and 1 of 7 from deep for a pretty invisible 13 points -- six of which came from the foul line. He also only managed one assist, and his passes were not hitting shooters in rhythm. A lot of his shots you could live with. They were decently in rhythm, but he just couldn't find the bucket. Kyle Lowry and Cory Joseph both did a tremendous job of being physical and not allowing Irving the space to get off comfortable jumpers. The results spoke for themselves, as did Irving's ducking reporters after the game.
3. LeBron James finally ventured outside the paint
LeBron James shot 69.2 percent from the field in the first two games of this series, mostly because he was living at the rim. Three shots came from downtown. Five shots came from outside the paint. Only seven of his 26 shots were attempted outside of the restricted area.
In Game 3, the Raptors actually made him take jumpers. Eight of his 17 attempts, in fact, were jump shots. He still played pretty well, scoring 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting. But with the way he's been attacking, if you make LeBron take more than half his shots away from the rim, you're doing your job.
4. The Raptors look a lot different when Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are good
Turns out when Lowry and DeRozan combine for 52 points, this team is pretty enjoyable to watch. DeRozan was great early on for the Raptors. He had 12 points in the firstquarter, nine in a key stretch in the second, and 10 points in the third quarter. He didn't have much in the fourth quarter but his defense on the perimeter was very solid. The Cavs couldn't keep him out of the paint and he was contorting his body to avoid getting his shot blocked and still managing to finish. It was one of those vintage performances that will help get him a max deal this summer.
For Lowry, he managed the game really well. His 20 points came without having to force much at all. When he got the ball and was open, he was firing. He hit four 3-pointers in the game and each one appeared to deflate the Cavs' defense. He didn't rely on getting calls. He didn't drive wildly into defenders. He didn't play like he was injured. He just played within himself and dominated the match-up against Kyrie. A welcome sight for a guy who literally had to go back into the locker room in the middle of Game 2 to compose himself.
5. Toronto survived Lowry's foul trouble in the second quarter
With 8:07 left in the second quarter, the Raptors were still battling for control of the game. On an offensive rebound attempt, Kyle Lowry made slight contact with LeBron's back. James jumped forward as if a battering ram had dislodged him from his position (LeBron's flopping went to a whole new level when he was hit by his own teammate in Game 3). Nevertheless, it was a savvy move by LeBron to draw the third foul on Lowry, who then had to go to the bench for the rest of the quarter.
This gave the Cavs ample opportunity to snatch control of the game and force Casey's hand to bring back Lowry before the end of the second quarter and risk a fourth foul, but they didn't capitalize. From the 7:17 to 2:58 mark of the second quarter with Lowry frustrated on the bench and still pleading his case to the officials, the Raptors jumped all over the Cavs, going on a 16-2 run to extend the lead to 54-37. It was a pivotal stretch in the game because DeRozan, Cory Joseph, and Patrick Patterson all played incredible basketball to push it right back down Cleveland's throat.
That could've been a disaster stretch and instead it was the Raptors finally looking like the Raptors.
6. LeBron's teams have blown a 2-1 series lead three times before
2010 against the Boston Celtics. 2011 against the Dallas Mavericks. 2015 against the Golden State Warriors. Those are the three times we've seen a LeBron James-led team lose a series after going up 2-1. After going up 2-0 in tremendous fashion in this series and then dropping Game 3 to Toronto, this is technically in play. Obviously, it would be overreacting to start thinking the Cavs are vulnerable enough to lose this series, but they no longer look completely invincible against Toronto.
Maybe that's all the Raptors needed to start getting things moving. Maybe they just needed to see the Cavs bleed a little bit to gain some confidence. The problem though is history is not in their favor when you get past all of the LeBron-led stuff. Teams who go up in a series end up winning the series about 94 percent of the time, according to WhoWins.com. The odds are stacked against the Raptors but nobody really believed they'd be able to win a quarter, let alone a game after the first two in Cleveland.
Now the Raptors at least have a little bit of life.
