 | Toronto | 129 | Final Box Score | 132 | Cleveland |  |
 C | O. Anunoby15 MIN, 5 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 2-4 FG, 1-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -5 +/- Still appears to be working his way back from injury, at least defensively. Had one really nice drive, and another one where he kicked it out for the assist. The signs are there, needs to regain his form before the playoffs. | |
 D | S. Ibaka23 MIN, 6 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 2-8 FG, 0-4 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -6 +/- Serge really shouldn’t be playing in back-to-backs, and tonight was a good showcase of that. He was slow on defense, ineffective on offense, and closed the game for no apparent reason. | |
 B | J. Valanciunas20 MIN, 15 PTS, 8 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 6-6 FG, 1-1 3FG, 2-3 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 6 +/- Jonas could not be stopped by Cleveland’s defense tonight, but also couldn’t stop Kevin Love. That will be a matchup to watch if this ends up being a playoff series. | |
 A+ | K. Lowry33 MIN, 24 PTS, 4 REB, 7 AST, 0 STL, 7-10 FG, 6-9 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -9 +/- Fantastic Lowry game. Shot the lights out and controlled large portions of the game. Just a masterpiece performance offensively, even though his defense could’ve been better. | |
 A | D. DeRozan35 MIN, 21 PTS, 3 REB, 5 AST, 0 STL, 6-15 FG, 0-3 3FG, 9-10 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -10 +/- Strong offensive game, and really good to see him not force his own game, instead letting other guys take advantages of the mismatches they had. | |
 A | F. VanVleet29 MIN, 16 PTS, 1 REB, 5 AST, 3 STL, 6-13 FG, 4-9 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 0 +/- Fred returned and immediately showed why he was missed. Played great defense, ran the offense, hit a bunch of shots. Really showed his value. | |
 A- | J. Poeltl27 MIN, 17 PTS, 8 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 8-13 FG, 0-0 3FG, 1-2 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, -6 +/- Did he ever need this after the last week. Got a hand on seemingly every Raptors miss while he was on the floor, showed his touch at the basket, and made some great passes while playing solid defense. Did give up a bucket to LeBron on the switch, but that’s hardly a crime. Made one big mistake in the last couple minutes where he missed a wide open Fred Van Vleet in the corner and had a turnover, but otherwise, a great game from the big man. | |
 A | P. Siakam26 MIN, 9 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 4-9 FG, 1-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -3 +/- Pascal is simply the best fit to guard LeBron on this team, and despite the big night from LeBron, he had some great moments doing so. Continues to show growth. | |
 B | D. Wright21 MIN, 12 PTS, 2 REB, 5 AST, 0 STL, 4-6 FG, 2-3 3FG, 2-2 FT, 2 BLK, 0 TO, 12 +/- Delon had a great second quarter, wasn’t as effective in the fourth though. Could’ve used him being the monster he can be defensively with the way Calderon and Hill went off in this one. | |
 B | N. Powell10 MIN, 4 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 2-3 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 6 +/- It’s not his fault he can’t replace CJ, but man, could they have used a shooter on the wing tonight. He doesn’t bring that threat, and didn’t see much time because he didn’t have a natural fit on the floor. | |
 D | Dwane Casey Casey gets the low grade for those closing minutes, when the rotation didn’t make sense. Why bring Ibaka in when he clearly didn’t have it tonight? Why go to a no-center lineup when your centers have been so good? Didn’t have the answers, and showed signs of the bad decision making that has got the team in trouble before. | |
Things We Saw
- Don’t read too much into this. It’s one game, on the second night of a back to back, the fifth game in seven days, and the ninth in fourteen. This is a brutal stretch of schedule for the Raptors, and they burned out late. That happens. That doesn’t mean they can’t hang with the Cavaliers, it means that the Cavaliers had a superhuman LeBron, shot 62% from three point range, and beat an exhausted Raptors team by five. Sure, Cleveland was missing pieces too, but this game wasn’t necessarily indicative of a playoff series.
- That said, the decision making from Casey late in games has been concerning lately. Serge Ibaka clearly plays better whne rested, and has been closing every game lately, the majority of them at center, despite solid play from Valanciunas and Poeltl. This is something to watch going forward.
- Great to watch Jose Calderon balling. Fantastic game from him, which is always good to see.
- CJ was missed. Cleveland’s defense was giving up a lot of outside looks, and he would’ve surely helped, especially late in the game.
