TORONTO -- After 10 games of doing as they please in the postseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers finally tripped up. Their 10-0 playoff record turned into 10-1 on Sunday at the Air Canada Centre, as the Toronto Raptors outplayed them in virtually every aspect of the game en route to a 99-84 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

A multitude of things contributed to the loss. The Raptors scored 60 points in the first half. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry combined for 52 points and did their damage efficiently. Toronto center Bismack Biyombo grabbed a franchise record 26 rebounds, earning a Dennis Rodman comparison from his coach, and added four blocks. The most glaring difference for the Cavaliers, though, was the lack of production from Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.

Love didn't score until the third quarter and finished with three points on 1-for-9 shooting. Irving had 13 points on 3-for-19 shooting. It was their worst combined shooting night since they've been teammates, per ESPN Stats and Information, and it was the only time these playoffs that the two of them looked out of sync.

"We don't like this feeling at all," Love said. "It's my first feeling of losing in the playoffs."

Throughout the postseason, Cleveland has consistently been more than the sum of its parts. Its ball movement and 3-point shooting has been nothing short of scary. There were a few close games against the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks, but LeBron James, Irving and Love have always managed to find their rhythm.

In the third quarter, it looked like the Cavs might have been finding a way to win again. A couple of 3-pointers from J.R. Smith cut the Raptors' lead to five points. Toronto called a timeout, and then it stopped Cleveland on five of the next six possessions, including three misses from Love. The Cavs trailed by double-digits for the entire fourth quarter.

"It's the law of averages," Irving said. "It's not every night we're going to shoot particularly well."

Irving said he rushed a few shots. Love said he was "a little bit passive." Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue credited the Raptors for collapsing against penetration and getting back out to shooters. It has been almost impossible for any team to do both of those things against the Cavaliers in the playoffs, but they pulled it off as well as anybody -- largely because Biyombo was controlling the paint by himself, thus allowing the perimeter defenders to stay more attached to shooters.

Going into the series, Toronto's main concern was the Cavs' 3-point shooting. Coach Dwane Casey didn't mind James having big scoring nights, as long as he wasn't setting up Irving, Love and Cleveland's spot-up shooters for easy opportunities.

In Game 1, the Raptors limited the Cavs' outside shooting, but gave up layup after layup. In Game 2, Cleveland again got to the basket or the free throw line at will. This time, the game was not nearly that simple. Love and Irving went a combined 2 for 11 from 3-point range, and the Cavs scored just 20 points in the paint.

"They're definitely trying to push us off our spots, making it tough for us, making it tough for our catches, trying to make us uncomfortable," Cleveland big man Tristan Thompson said. "Their whole team, whoever it was that came in the game, even off the bench, they brought that physicality. We expected that. Unfortunately we weren't able to match it."

James, for his part, did not seem particularly worried. After putting his sunglasses on at his locker, he channeled Corey Hart, singing, "I wear my sunglasses at night" at a high pitch with a huge smile on his face. When asked if Irving and Love's struggles put more pressure on him, he turned the question around.

"It's good for them," James said. "First little adversity, first individually, in a long time and I think it's good for them. I think they'll be much better, obviously, on Monday."

If this was the script for the Cavs, the entire Big 3 followed it.

"These are the games that really build the character of our team," Irving said.

"Sometimes it's good to be kicked in the teeth," Love said.

Love brought up the shooting struggles of Lowry and DeRozan, who punished Cleveland all night after shooting poorly for the first two games and much of the playoffs. "Shooters shoot," Love said, and there's truth in that cliche. Everyone has bad shooting nights, and the Cavaliers have proven that they can make even the best defenses look helpless. It wouldn't do Love or Irving any good to get down on themselves.

Maybe the Cavs are right and this loss will make them sharper. Even if it could have waited until the NBA Finals, they were inevitably going to have to adjust after a loss at some point.

"We would have liked to have been undefeated, but that's not always easy," Love said.

Until now, Cleveland made winning look easy in a way that is rare this time of year. Losses, adversity, and off-nights are normal, even for the teams that go on to win championships. Resilience, not perfection, is the mark of a special team. If there is a repeat performance on Monday, though, do not expect the Cavs to be so calm about it.

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Kyrie Irving just couldn't get going in Game 3. USATSI