The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Toronto Raptors, 108-89, in Game 2 on Thursday at the Quicken Loans Arena to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Much like in the opening game of the series, the Cavs took control after an early push from the Raptors, and subsequently cruised to victory. They did it thanks to a variety of strong performances across the starting five, with LeBron James' triple-double serving as the best all-around effort. The perennial All-Star tallied 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, while also recording a trio of steals for good measure. Cleveland dominated as a team in virtually every category, outshooting the Raptors 50.0 to 40.2 percent from the field and 33.3 to 27.3 percent from three-point range, while also outrebounding them 46 to 38. Their biggest advantage came down in the paint, where they outscored the visitors by the sizable margin of 50-28.
Toronto was led by DeMar DeRozan, who managed 22 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Kyle Lowry endured another tough shooting night, netting 10 points on 4 of 14 shooting, his second consecutive such stat line. He also supplied six rebounds, three assists and a steal, but was guilty of a game-high five turnovers. No other starter manage double-digit points, and Bismack Biyombo was only able to provide three points, five rebounds and two blocks in Jonas Valanciunas' stead. The bench was more productive than the first unit overall, and was paced by three 11-point outings from Corey Joseph, Terrence Ross, and James Johnson. Joseph added five rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Ross also registered two rebounds, an assist, and two steals, while Johnson complemented his scoring with three rebounds and an assist.
Kyrie Irving actually led the Cavs with 26 points, and also compiled four rebounds, three assists and a steal. Kevin Love pitched in with 19 points, five rebounds, three assists and a block. J.R. Smith poured in 12 points and added three boards. Tristan Thompson was the only member of the starting five to not hit double-digit points, but did haul in 12 rebounds and block a shot in addition to scoring nine points. Channing Frye paced the reserves with 10 points and four rebounds.
The two teams reconvene on Saturday night in Toronto for Game 3, when the Cavs will try to get one step closer to a second straight NBA Finals appearance.
