The Toronto Raptors bent but didn’t break against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and a dominant Q4 was more than enough to nail down a 126-110 victory.
The Toronto Raptors list of walking wounded grows longer by the day. The lineup facing the feisty Cavs featured only two regular starters. Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam, who jumped center, were joined by Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby and Delon Wright.
Fortunately Cleveland’s virtually non-existent frontcourt was further damaged by the absence of boards beast Tristan Thompson and John Henson. Kevin Love, the best of all of them, won’t be back for weeks.
As a result, the Raptors were able to attack the paint remorselessly, piling up an absurd 66 points there. That was 18 more than Cleveland could muster.
Nick Nurse is a savvy offensive tactician
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse knew how he wanted to punch holes in the Cavaliers’ defense. If the 3-balls weren’t dropping (Toronto was 5 for 21 after 3 quarters, before finally finding the range in crunch time), then let’s go downhill. Kawhi Leonard was almost automatic in isolation, as he rolled to 37 points on only 16 shots. That’s what can happen when you’re fouled on nearly every possession.
Others were successfully challenging the understaffed Cavaliers. Norman Powell finished effectively on several fine drives, as did Delon Wright and Fred.
Greg Monroe enjoyed another useful outing, and should be fresh to face Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid on Saturday night.
Is it time to wind down C.J. Miles?
Our deeply disappointing swingman had another miserable outing, missing all five 3-balls he attempted. Several of them were open looks from the corner, which should be money in the bank for him.
He’s 2 of 16 in the last 3 games, at a time when the Raptors really need him.
OG was superb against the Cavs, displaying excellent judgement in his shot selection and convincing moves to the hoop. The only problem he’s dealing with is too many fouls. If Powell can regain his stroke, that’s two people ready for more playing time. Even Lorenzo Brown showed well, with some eye-opening steals. There may be no minutes for C.J. if he can’t rediscover his range.
The Philly game may be a throwaway
I’m cheating here, because writing about the next game isn’t an appropriate element of a takeaways post. However, I’m giving myself poetic license – we will be even more shorthanded tonight. Kawhi won’t be participating in his first back to back of the season.
After tonight, the Raptors don’t play until Boxing Day (that’s December 26 for non-Canadians). Hopefully a break like that will help Danny Green, Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka put their nagging injuries behind them. In Kawhi’s case, a day of rest is a precaution against him aggravating his still-tender quadriceps. He played 32+ hack-filled minutes which were essential to taking down Cleveland.
Philly isn’t missing anyone of note, and a team featuring Embiid, Jimmy Butler and Ben Simmons is quite capable of beating our team when we’re at full strength, let alone now.
We got fine work from a lot of rotation people against a weak Cavs team. Fred, Pascal and the rest will be leaned upon again, in a hostile environment against a contending squad. Perhaps the confidence they gained will carry them to an unlikely win. Don’t bet the mortgage payment on it.