Cavs fall to Defending Champs at Home

The Cavaliers hosted the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors tonight

In the first half the Cavs stayed close to the Raptors, and only trailed 56-52 at the end of the second quarter. Both teams shot the ball at roughly the same percentage with the Cavs shooting 44% from the field, and the Raptors shooting 47%. Neither team shot well from three point range, as the Cavs shot only 25% from behind the arch, while the Raptors shot only a little better at 29%.

The Cavs did a good job on the glass in the first half, grabbing 31 rebounds to the Raptors 15. The one area the Raptors were able to really dominate in were turnovers, as Toronto only turned the ball over 3 times in the first half, while Cleveland committed 11 turnovers, resulting in 11 points for the Raptors.

In the third quarter the Cavaliers let the game get out of hand as the Raptors out scored the Cavs 32- 24 and took a twelve point lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Cavs were able to get within one point of the Raptors a couple times down the stretch, but a late three pointer by Serge Ibaka, and a turnover that lead to a Norman Powell slam dunk put the game out of reach. The Cavs lost 115-109. The Cavs played the Raptors pretty even for most of the game, and if it wasn’t for that fourth quarter stumble, there’s a good chance the Cavaliers would’ve came out victorious.

After the game John Beilein said that a few small errors got in the way of a victory over the defending champions. Coach is also confident that soon the Cavs will be able to control an entire game, and won’t be playing from behind for the majority of a contest.