Recap: Cavs 121, Raptors 117 (or, Don’t Call Them A Posse… But They Sure Know How To Shoot)

The unfortunate choice of word that Phil Jackson chose to use to describe LeBron James and his business partners in an interview earlier this week may have caused waves with some unwelcome connotations. But, rather than dwell on the negative off the court, the Cavaliers’ contest with the visiting Toronto Raptors provided an opportunity for plenty of positive imagery on the court. Like that of an old fashioned, high noon shootout with a dangerous foe seeking redemption… or, a roundup of some of the best gunslingers in the East on display… or, the long arms of the law showing up to collect bounties of rebounds, while swatting away the hopes of the desperadoes to the North. Yes, the Cavs are wanted men these days, with every team gunning for them on any given night… but this particular James Gang is no “posse” — instead, they are maybe the most impressive collection of sharpshooters ever to surround perhaps the greatest triggerman to play the game.

A Showdown At The Q

The Raptors came to town looking to settle up and get a little revenge for the 94-91 loss the Cavs had saddled them with in the second game of the season. They hoped to enforce their role as the primary threat to the wine & gold behind their double-barrel backcourt threat of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, who entered the game as the NBA’s leading scorer at 34 ppg. What’s unique about DeRozan is that he has virtually no three point bullets in his holster, instead using a low-efficiency mid-range game to generate his high volume of buckets. So far this season, it’s working… and it worked early against the Cavs to get the Raps off to a hot start. Some of this was due to Richard Jefferson being tasked with slowing down DeRozan, in place of JR Smith (who was cooling his heels, and his sore ankle, in streetclothes).

Overall, the Raps pushed the ball early and often on the fast break, taking as much as a seven point lead midway through the first quarter. In fact, they had 14 points off the break in the first half. However, the Cavs responded by getting the ball down low to Tristan and Kevin, with some terrific facilitating by both LeBron and Kyrie, and they hit the boards for second chance opportunities (Kyrie actually had two put-back layups off of his own misses). Cleveland went on a 20-8 run to finish the first period… punctuated by the first Mike Dunleavy made three in almost forever. Yet, for every onslaught the Cavs seemed to author in this game, the Raptors always came up with a response. Despite pushing the lead out to nine behind LeBron and the second unit, Toronto quickly evaporated the deficit with three straight triples of their own. The game see-sawed until the Cavs went on a 7-1 run to close the half, mostly behind KLove with LeBron on the bench. Both teams shot north of 50% for the half, and were an identical 5-13 from deep.

The third quarter featured much of the same theme, with the Cavs trying to create some breathing room against the scrappy Raptors and nursing their two possession lead with a good mix of drives and treys. Then, the unthinkable almost happened when DeRozan, who had made just 3-14 (21%) from downtown through nine games, knocked down back to back triples to give Toronto their first lead since the opening period. LeBron and Company came storming back after that, going on an 18-5 tear for their largest lead of the game at 12, although the Raps scored the last five points of the period (including a DeRozan buzzer beater) to close within seven. The real fun began in the fourth when both teams decided to start trading haymakers from deep. For every Channing Frye triple, there seemed to be a Terence Ross answer (at least until the end). For every LeBron score, there seemed to be one from DeRozan. And, for every MFQ hero shot from Kyrie, there was an equally clutch retort from Lowry. In the end, the Cavs had one more bullet in the gun than the Raptors did (from deep in Frye-land), and Toronto got flustered while Cleveland notched another victory over their foes from the North.

Hanging With The Legend

It’s not as if LeBron needs more motivation to fill the stat sheet in pursuit of a nightly attempt at a triple double (he’s already averaging 23.4 ppg/9.6 apg/8.9 rpg), but the only player to ever average one for an entire season just happened to be in attendance for this one.

Honored to have the legendary
Oscar Robertson at @TheQArena tonight! #TheBigO pic.twitter.com/Zn89fGzJzN

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) November 16, 2016

When asked after the game about it, LBJ took his usual deferential approach to playing in front of a living NBA legend.

“I’m already motivated,” James said. “It’s a humbling feeling to know that a guy like that take time out of his schedule, take time out of his day, to come watch me, watch our team play the game that we love. It’s just humbling.”

His actions told a bit of a different story, however, as the King got off to a fast start and seemed locked in from the tip, rifling bullet passes and hitting a high percentage of his shots (10-15). He even knocked down a couple of triples, including a rare one in transition…

https://vine.co/v/5TKvzaxVmIF

Though I’m sure LeBron’s litany of amazing plays were impressive to The Big “O” he was probably secretly hoping the King might have snagged one final rebound to rustle up a triple double on the night. As it was, LBJ still finished with a gaudy 28/14/9 line, and had six of those assists in the fourth, including the final one to Frye for the dagger. The only real blemishes on his night were the 6-10 from the charity stripe and the five turnovers he committed… fairly forgivable given the rest of his night. Someday… he’ll be the legend sitting courtside to watch the next generation try to shoot for his records.

Kyrie The Kid

Overall, Kyrie had a good night slinging the rock, going 10-20 and 2-4 from downtown for 24 points and four assists. Most of his damage was done early (eight points in the first quarter) and late (10 points in the fourth), where he alternated magical drives with clutch three pointers. This drive in particular was pretty sublime as he knifed through the Toronto defense to tie the game late…

https://vine.co/v/5TKTJpeXqUB

It seemed like Kyrie was really trying hard to facilitate early on, but had a few passes go awry which added to his turnover total. Defensively, even though Lowry still got his 26 points, it seemed like he had to work harder for them, and his shots were more contested than in the previous matchup. Irving also had the defensive play that helped ice the game late, when he drew an offensive foul on Jonas Valanciunas while fighting through a pick to get to Lowry. Like LeBron, Kyrie had some trouble at the line (missing two Technical free throws) and with his turnover rate, but was able to overcome those shortcomings. Most importantly… he fought Lowry to a draw.

Welcome To Frye-land

Has there ever been a stretchier five than Channing Frye? The big man’s ability to be such an amazing knock-down taker and maker of open threes helps put incredible stress on opposing defenses. This night was no exception… and, in fact, might have been one of the best examples yet of exploiting a paint-bound big man like Valanciunas. Frye continually found ways to hang out near the top of the arc, helping to keep the driving lanes open while waiting for the inevitable LBJ pass to graze his fingertips before firing away at the cylinder. The results were predictably awesome…

Fyre — 5-of-8 from deep tonight — is 24-42 from 3pt range over last six games, double-figures in 6 of last 7 games, 20+ pts in last two.

— Joe Gabriele (@CavsJoeG) November 16, 2016

I suspect that’s not a typo in Joe’s tweet, as Channing was on Fyre. He was 7-10 overall for 21 huge points off the bench in just 20 minutes of play, and supplied the deep threat on a night when one of the Cavs’ other long bombers was absent. And, he saved his biggest three for last…

The @Cavs bench erupts as Channing Frye hits a crucial 3! #DefendTheLand pic.twitter.com/CodoIOtkCa

— NBA (@NBA) November 16, 2016

When interviewed about the big shot… Channing introduced us to his version of the wild west… Frye-land.

“The minute that guy touches the paint, it’s over,” he said. “Welcome to Frye-land. There’s too much room. I’m 7-foot and I have a green light and I’m playing with maybe the best passer in the league. He’s 6-9, 6-10 and he’s throwing darts out there. So it’s just one of those things you’ve got to pick your poison.”

One Tough Hombre

Kevin Love didn’t have quite the success with his shot that he’s had in past games, but that didn’t stop him from driving inside, drawing fouls, taking his lumps and cashing in from the charity stripe. Though he was just 5-16 (1-7 on threes), KLove converted 8-9 at the line, while also pulling down a game high 13 rebounds. He’s shown a willingness to really bang down low on both ends of the court, and it’s obvious he takes a genuine beating underneath. But, these days, he not only holds his own… he seems to give as good as he gets. Kev is only just beginning to get more credit for his toughness and his much improved defense, but there’s a reason the Cavs were +18 with him on the floor in this game. Though he did have some butterfingers on the receiving end of a few passes early in the game… he dished out a perfect execution of Ty Lue’s latest in-bounds masterpiece late in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory…

https://vine.co/v/5TKPm2W3pne

The Sheriff’s In Town

Tristan obviously enjoys playing against his hometown team, as he’s had two of his better games versus the Raptors this year. In this second meeting, he tied his season high in points with 15 on 7-8 shooting (mostly oops and dunks), while pulling down 11 boards. He also had one epic block on his draft rival Jonas V…

DENIED! #DefendTheLand https://t.co/7Y85ktTEe0

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) November 16, 2016

There’s still room to improve on some of his defensive rotations to help protect the rim, but TT seemed to do less offensive board hunting in this game… although there were fewer to be had with how well the Cavs were shooting.

The Rest Of The Gang

Richard Jefferson had a rough start trying to guard DeRozan, but played better minutes as the game wore on. He still knocked down a three and had a run out dunk off a LeBron steal and highlight pass. Let’s hope JR can get back soon as extended minutes probably won’t wear well on RJ.

Shump had a mostly forgettable night shooting the ball (though he did hit one triple), but made a few nice passes in his backup PG duties. His defense in the second half helped the Cavs keep DeRozan in check, while also slowing down the Raptor fast break opportunities. He also Shumped both DeRozan and Lowery with a couple of blocks.

Mike Dunleavy showed that the rumors of his demise might be somewhat premature by at least hitting his first three in quite some time. Here it is in all it’s glory… (off of a really pretty Kyrie pass)…

https://vine.co/v/5TmYXzpB9ru

The Roundup

This was an extremely entertaining game, just as the last one was with Toronto. The Raptors are a tough team. They aren’t as deeply talented as the Cavs, but they bring tremendous effort every time they play them. Toronto really took it to the Cavs early on the break, and once the Cavs adjusted, they started getting hot from downtown. They’re well coached, and they aren’t a team that is likely to roll over or make a ton of mistakes. That said, both Lowry and Coach Dwayne Casey lost their cool a bit at the end of this game, as frustrations boiled over after a few calls went against them. Toronto not only needs to play a smart and aggressive game to beat the Cavs, they also need to be mentally strong. Also, despite the three point heroics of Ross, Lowry and (surprisingly) DeRozan, they are not a tremendously talented three point shooting team. As in previous years, they’ll probably need to be on the lookout for perimeter help at the trade deadline.

For the Cavs’ part, they showed once again just how deadly they can be from downtown, setting the record for most games with 10+ made threes to start a season with 10. The James Gang have so many ways to beat teams when they are even just mostly engaged. It’s kind of amazing to watch. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stretch five quite like Channing Frye. He makes the offense seem almost four-dimensional. And, though the defense still isn’t quite all there yet, Ty Lue is finding all the right buttons to push at the right moments. He is also the current undisputed master of drawing up in-bounds plays.

Next up is a decent test of the young season for the Cavs, as they have to play an improved Indiana team on the road (where they haven’t had much luck lately) in a back-to-back situation. But, at least they’re more fortunate than the Raps who have the Dubs on tap for their back-to-back tonight.