Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals goes down on Thursday night at Quicken Loans Arena, where the Cleveland Cavaliers host the Toronto Raptors with a 1-0 series lead.
Despite a strong start by DeMar DeRozan that had the Raptors up 7-0 in the early goings of Game 1 on Tuesday night, the team was ultimately mugged on the road by the Cavaliers, 115-84. DeRozan posted a team-best 18 points in the drubbing, adding 5 assists and shooting 9 of 17 from field goal range. Bismack Biyombo, who needed to come out of the gates strong in lieu of injured Jonas Valanciunas, had 12 points and 4 rebounds while draining all five of his shot attempts from the paint. Kyle Lowry, whose late-game heroics through the team's Semifinals series with the Miami Heat and dominant showing in Game 7 on Sunday led the Raptors this far, was ice cold just two days later, finishing with 8 points, 5 assists and going 0 for 7 from beyond the arc. Toronto shot 20.8% from long range as a unit and they can ill afford to return to Air Canada Centre down two games against a Cleveland team that is clearly firing on all cylinders.
The Cavaliers are now 9-0 this postseason after their dismantling of the Pistons, Hawks and what would appear to be the start of a systematic destruction of the Raptors. Kyrie Irving was the leading scorer for the club in Game 1, dropping 27 points, facilitating 5 assists and shooting 11 of 17 from the field. LeBron James finished the evening with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, forcing 4 turnovers and going 11 of 13 from the paint in the process. Kevin Love had an efficient outing for the number one seed Cavs, contributing 14 points, 4 boards and 3 dimes, adding a pair of triples and nailing all four of his attempts from the foul line. Cleveland logged nine consecutive Playoff wins in 2009, eventually falling to the Orlando Magic in the Conference Finals.
