The Cleveland Cavaliers cruised to a 116-78 win over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday in Game 5 of their Conference Finals matchup, taking a 3-2 series lead. Cleveland held a 31-point lead at halftime, which ESPN Stats and Info reported was the biggest lead at the intermission in conference finals history.
From the get-go, the Cavaliers’ Big Three was playing to its full potential. Kevin Love made his first six shots, Kyrie Irving was scoring from everywhere on the floor and LeBron James contributed in a variety of ways, like usual. When the final buzzer sounded, the trio combined for 71 points, 19 rebounds and 13 assists on 27-of-44 shooting despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter.
The Raptors, meanwhile, just couldn’t score against an energetic and disciplined Cavaliers defense. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan combined for just 27 points on 7-of-20 shooting, after combining for an average of 59.5 points in Games 3 and 4. None of their teammates submitted a double-digit scoring performance.
An underrated factor in the contest was Cleveland's domination of the boards. The team ...
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Article written by Jared Johnson