The Toronto Raptors picked up their ninth-straight win with a narrow victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers. How did everyone grade in the win?
Well, well, well. Look at that, the Toronto Raptors have once again – this time knocking off the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-109. As the scoreline suggests, it wasn’t all that easy. Despite being one of the current basement dwellers in the NBA, the Cavs still brought the fight for 48 minutes.
Good news rang around for the Toronto Raptors before the game, with news of Kyle Lowry being selected to the NBA All-Star Game for the sixth time reverberating around the team. Good news as always then. Lowry is consistently one of the winningest point guards in the NBA, and definitely one of the best. Sometimes, his efforts get overlooked, but not by the coaches.
To celebrate, Lowry brought it on Thursday night, going for 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting, adding five rebounds, five assists, and four steals. The leading man was Serge Ibaka, though, who was filling in for the absent Marc Gasol.
Ibaka was lightning in a bottle for the whole game, finishing with 26 points, and even knocking down three triples. The Raptors, as they have proved all this season, have replacement-level players who are always ready to step up.
If you haven’t noticed, Norman Powell remains one of those players, and he knocked down another 16 points on a 4-of-7 shooting night from deep.
Overall, the Raptors fought hard, forcing the Cavs into 21 turnovers and scoring 25 points off of those Cavalier mishaps. Even if they were outrebounded once again, they did enough to get over the line.
Again, that’s nine straight wins for the Raptors, and they now find themselves with a game and a half lead over the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat as they hold onto the second seed.
Thankfully, this game ended the way we all wanted it to, but how did everyone grade in the win?