TORONTO: The losing streak is over, but now the Cavaliers have to assess the collateral damage from Monday’s 116-112 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
LeBron James scored a season-high 34 points and Kevin Love added 28 points and 14 rebounds to end a three-game losing streak and secure the tiebreaker against the Raptors. But the team lost J.R. Smith to a left knee injury late in the first quarter. Kyrie Irving scored 24 points and passed for seven assists, while Tristan Thompson grabbed 14 rebounds.
Smith stopped awkwardly on his left knee on a drive to the basket and his knee appeared to buckle. He was in considerable pain as he hobbled to the other end of the court before dropping to the floor. He limped to the locker room under his own power.
X-rays taken at the arena were negative, but Smith is scheduled to fly back to Cleveland on Tuesday to be re-evaluated. Smith had been fighting a sore left knee for at least the last week.
DeAndre Liggins received the bulk of the minutes in place of Smith and played well. Liggins scored five points and grabbed five rebounds in 21 minutes. Coach Tyronn Lue has long liked Liggins’ toughness and defensive grit despite some offensive deficiencies. On a team that has struggled badly defending lately, however, Liggins proved an asset.
The Raptors shot 43 percent and scored 32 points in the paint, a dramatic improvement for a Cavs team that has ranked 29th in the league, allowing more than 51 points scored in the paint, in their previous six games.
The win snapped the Raptors’ six-game winning streak and also assured the Cavs will have homecourt advantage again should the Cavs and Raptors finish the regular season tied for the best record. They rank first and second in the East, just as they did last season, and a Raptors win Monday would’ve knocked the Cavs out of the top perch in the East for the first time all season.
Instead DeMar DeRozan scored 31 points and Kyle Lowry scored 24 and the Raptors were smashed 48-33 on the boards. DeRozan appeared to make a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left that would’ve pulled the Raptors within 114-112, but officials ruled he was out of bounds after reviewing the play, securing the Cavs’ win.
While it’s too early to start paying such close attention to the standings, it’s worth noting the Raptors have been clear in their mission to earn the top seed for the playoffs and homecourt advantage throughout the East. The Cavs have already won the first three meetings and now the two teams won’t play again until the regular-season finale in Cleveland. While the Cavs are 3-0 against the Raptors, the average margin of victory has been just 3.7 points.
Lue said before the game he thought the practice and film session the Cavs held on Sunday would do more to get the Cavs back on track than playing a top opponent. James seemed to agree.
“They’ve had our attention,” James said of the Raptors. “They’ve had our attention for the last couple years. I think they’ve had the NBA’s attention. You don’t need them playing well, us not playing well [to notice them] … I think it’s there.”
Mike Dunleavy returned after missing two games with a concussion, but went scoreless in seven minutes.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.