The Cleveland Cavaliers fought hard for three quarters, but got run off the floor in the final frame. Their inability to control the ball and rough games from their star backcourt came back to bite them. As did the Toronto Raptors‘ inability to miss in the final frame. This all added up to a 126-104 loss in Game 3.
The Cavs still maintain a 2-1 lead in the series, but we could be heading for a much longer opening round than what it felt like it would be at times in the opening two games in Cleveland.
The first away game of a series is always a difficult test. If you’re going to win on the road, you have to be able to take punches and deliver counters at every turn. The Cavs did that throughout the first three quarters.
The Raptors went 12-17 from the floor and converted all five of their triples in the first quarter. That strong of a first quarter should’ve resulted in a double-digit lead after one, but six turnovers and an inability to keep the Cavs from going to the line kept Cleveland in the game as the Raptors were only up six after one.
Toronto pushed its advantage to 10 at the start of the second quarter before the Cavs rallied.
Max Strus jump-started what was a somewhat lifeless offense in the second quarter. He poured in 12 points on 3-5 shooting from deep in that frame to help turn the momentum. That hot shooting allowed the Cavs to momentarily reclaim the lead before both teams went into the break tied at 54.
Toronto once again threw the first punch in the second half. They used a 13-6 run to get a seven-point lead, but the Cavs once again clawed their way back. They forced a tie just before the end of the third before Scottie Barnes hit a contested jumper at the buzzer to give Toronto a slim 83-81 advantage heading into the final quarter.
The Raptors made their first five threes of the game, and then canned six straight in the final quarter to turn what was a tight game into what quickly became a double-digit game. The Cavs folded from there. The offense couldn’t buy a basket, and they weren’t able to provide any resistance on the other end. What was once a back-and-forth game quickly snowballed into a stress-free win for Toronto.
James Harden played his worst game in a Cavaliers uniform on Thursday evening. He struggled with Toronto’s rangy defense as he turned it over eight times.
Turnovers weren’t an issue for just Harden. The Cavs as a team gave it away 20 times, which led to 23 points off turnovers.
Harden finished the game with 18 points on 5-13 shooting with four assists.
Donovan Mitchell couldn’t establish a scoring rhythm. He had 15 points on 7-16 shooting with three assists and three giveaways of his own.
Evan Mobley had a good game at the charity stripe (7-8) but struggled with his efficiency from the floor. He had 15 points on 4-13 shooting to go along with seven assists, six rebounds, two steals, and a block.
Strus added 15 bench points in the loss.
The Cavs executed their game plan against Barnes. They kept him from getting to the rim and forced him to settle for jumpers. The problem for the Cavs was that he made those shots.
Barnes went 7-8 from the midrange and 3-5 from three. This added up to an efficient 33 points on 11-17 shooting.
RJ Barrett had another impressive game. He provided 33 points on 6-8 shooting from deep.
The Raptors didn’t shoot a high volume of threes, but they canned the ones they took. They went 14-23 (60.9%) on threes in the victory.
Toronto will look to tie the series at two apiece as they host the Cavs for Game 4 on Sunday. Tip-off is at 4 PM.
