Playoff Live Thread: Cleveland vs. Toronto
2018-05-05
The Cavs are home, up 2-0 on the Raptors, who have to be feeling desperate at this point. A loss tonight, and this series is pretty much over. Justin May is on assignment at the game tonight, covering the Cleveland release of the LeBron Soldier I “25 Straight” to celebrate the Cavs Playoff run. The shoe is part of the recently launched “Art of a Champion” collection which highlights several NBA moments and iconic shoes that define basketball glory. https://news.nike.com/news/art-of-a-champion-nike-basketball-collection. Check out Baker Mayfield above with a pair at the local Cleveland concept shop Xhibition. Thanks to @nike and @LeBronJames for letting us cover it.
More on that to come, so for tonight’s live thread and recap, you’re stuck with me. Next up, check out Evil Genius recapping the series and what it’s like to be an L.A. Cavs fan with Mark Schwab for WOIO.
Cleveland 19 News Cleveland, OH
As if that weren’t enough, we get to watch the Cavs tonight! No changes as far as I know. I think the Cavs come in focused with a crazy Cleveland crowd and go up 3-0 with a 115-108 victory.
Some of the Pestak lineup hitting the floor…
Early rest for LeBron…
Love with the spin cycle!
LBJ all over interior passing lanes tonight
Love is beasting on D right now!
KLOVE WITH THE SPIN MOVE!!!!
Sloppy. Sloppy.
Bron getting no calls…
As long as the cavs are going to be allowed to be just as physical and not get called for fouls I’m ok with this
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/992952297742393344
This could go south when the Hood/Clarkson due checks in
God, what a buzz kill this post is for me…
Raps taking a page from President Stevens’ book…thug up the game when you can’t win…
Good fightback from the Cavs. Still a little sloppy. Let’s win the end of quarter & push it to 15+ again.
Love with a double double…
Cavs withstand the Raps run… push it back to 11
Getting physical
Refs gotta get the game under control.
https://twitter.com/CavsFredMcLeod/status/992951843369246720
Awesome footwork from the king in the high post
Raptors all fouls all the time now. Could get ugly.
Mouse in the veritable house…
Heh. Raptors out of control.
Refs gotta get control…
Nice elbow JV!
Refs should have played the advantage that time
Derozan didn’t even try to contest that kk curl trey. Bad effort
Just a matter of time before cavs pull away.
Great contest by Love on JV!
Anunoby is basically holding Lebron off ball 100% of the time…
RAINING THREEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
George has been $$$ from the corner tonight so far…
HILL YES!
Great steal by Bron!
THATS A FLAGRANT!!!!
Should be a flagrant
That was better… hope he’s okay, got whacked in the head by DeMar…
Lebron barely gets the call after getting mugged…
When we struggle:
1) Bron does not attack the rim
2) We take too many 3s
3) Love iso vs taller players
11-0 run by Raps…
Aside from that opening drive of the quarter, LBJ being way too passive…
I think he heard you
Green has sucked guarding the 3 tonight.
WHats with fouling 3 point shooters
Another dumb foul by Cavs…
Crappy start to the 3rd. Need to come out with a better mindset.
hubie tho so exhausting its like listening to fred and ac except hes stanning for the raps
He just hates the Cavs and always roots for the underdogs…
I hate to do this, but Bron is all like:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cm0evQaHlE4
Cavs need to avoid the really bad third quarter woes…
Confidence builders for Toronto.
Obvious travel on that. 3 steps.
Lead half gone.
Dumb foul, JR…
TRAVEL!
4 steps. Easy call
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/992948464031059968
Not a real good start again. TO and a bunch of missed 3s beside the dunk.
Cavs a little three happy right now…
Raptors are forked.
I still think they are forked.
Wow… VanVleet passing up open threes?
JR was too wide open…
All of LeBron’s makes so far tonight — and almost all of his shots — have been in the restricted area.
That didn’t seem like good D by Anunoby…
LBJ shot out of a cannon!
Yep, the Raps have 40 at the half. We were coughing that up in a quarter. 79 in a half to Toronto.
We have to talk more about our defensive transformation. We have gone from being a team on whom a high school team could hang 120, to a team that is stingy for real. Maybe the switch exists and we have turned it on. Personally, I think it starts and ends with Lebron. If he is trying everybody is. Plus, Lue and Longambardi are apparently better at gameplanning against the same team. Very good job by everyone.
Lebron even contesting some threes…even blocked one, I did a double take…
There was an article right before the playoffs about how an uptick in lebron’s defense alone makes us the #1 d in the league based on the last 3 years
LBJ helps a ton. Leave Longibardi out of it. I don’t think he has much to do with it.
On the lost hour of our Thursday podcast: David and EG and David arguing over whether Brett Brown was a good coach (David called him top 5).think today’s game puts that to rest
This loss might have cost him his job…
I doubt it. Simmons and Embiid choked hard down the stretch. Young guys made a lot of mistakes. That Reddick pass was an amazingly poor decision on the part of Reddick.
Just watch…
They would be out of their minds. That would be awesome. I would hire him.
Meh. He is good. Made some mistakes but his team failed to execute.
Robert Covington had like 1 point too. Haha sorry David!
Nah, his young guys just choked. Great play out of TO for Belinelli to force OT.
But he might want to ride McConnell down the stretch next game. I understand him wanting to give Simmons the experience. But at some point you owe it to the other guys to play your best lineup.
Come on, man. Brett Brown is not top five. I live how you defend David and then point out why he isn’t coaching well
Top 10 maybe… but no way top 5…
Who specifically you put ahead? Spo? Snyder?
Spo for sure.
Pop, Carlisle, Stevens, Kerr, and who am I missing…? Bud doesn’t have a job.
McMillan, Stotts and all the guys you mentioned…
What? Stotts, no way. McMillan, I will give you coached a hell of a series.
Stotts has been good for a while now dude…
Came up with absolutely zero, nada, zip, to free lillard over four games. Also could make NO pay for the pressure on lillard.
That was like a half-speed LeBron kind of half… still with a 15 point lead…
except when he went postal on them for like 4 staight shots
True
That is the way to finish a quarter.
Bron, Love, & Korver leading the way. Hill & Green really solid. Even a couple flashes from Clarkson. JR no points on 1 shot & 3 fouls. Solid D. TT no points & 2 boards.
Bron: 15/4/5 on 6/12.
Love: 12/11 on 4/7 & 1/1 from deep.
Korver: 12 pts on 4/6 & 2/2.
That reversal of call on the Ibaka bucket into the missed three and the Love three was a gigantic swing…
Yeah that was huge. Thought they should have given hiim continuation based on the timing of the whistle but if they’d have blown the whistle when hill actually grabbed him then maybe not
I do think there’s something to this…
Is Mike the new Tony Brothers?
What Siakam is getting away with on LeBron is ridiculous.
Yeah, it’s just stupid. Lowry getting away with a ton of body contact, too…
Anyone still Trusting the Process?
It got them some great talent, but they are not ready yet…to the great surprise of 95% of the media, who annoited them EC champs after beating a mediocre Heat team…
Yes, this is what I meant…
i mean sure they made the second round of playoffs already so that seems great
Are you kidding? Uh yeah, they’ll be fine. First playoffs. I don’t read much into that series for third long term success. They will be much better next year provided they resign everyone or they will get to the finals and contend if they sign james.
They won’t (sign James that is)
And, Simmons better work on his shot in the off-season… or that won’t be true
Speaking of that, he’s got some ugly hold on the ball when he shoots his left hand jumper. Need to start from zero and fix that thing this summer.
Not this year. Everybody’s got to go through the “ugly process”. They’re young, maybe after 2 years.
Wow… halftime crew not even talking about Cavs/Raptors cause it’s too boring?
Glad the rough bench play to start the second didn’t cost the Cavs… Hood should be glued to bench in favor of Cedi…
He just looks so lost.
It’s baffling
https://twitter.com/LuigiD714/status/992940434556104704?s=20
terrible end to the half for raptors, Cavs taking advantage of every opportunity