Raptors Post-Game: Jonas Valanciunas – May 1, 2018 – YouTube
A different yet familiar heartbreak after Game 1 – The Defeated – Medium
What crushes you about losing Game 1 in overtime wasn’t the loss itself. What crushes you is that this heartbreak feels so familiar.
This old wound lays dormant just enough so that it always takes you by surprise. But the progression is the same. It’s the fourth quarter of a tight playoff game, and suddenly your heart is as tense as DeMar DeRozan’s dribble. The ball swings to Kyle Lowry but he turns down the open look, and it digs a screwdrive into that dumb part of your brain that produces hope. The offense grinds into a halt, and panic collapses on your mind like the defensive pressure from the opponent, and suddenly you’re gasping for air as the Toronto Raptors fire up brick after brick.
Raptors squander golden opportunity in Game 1 loss to Cavaliers | CBC Sports
The Raptors’ disappointing performance prompted a revamped playing style that was meant to ensure that history wouldn’t repeat itself.
To put it short, the team was built for this very moment — the chance to end King James and the Cavaliers’ reign over the East.
On Tuesday evening at the Air Canada Centre, it sure felt it was headed that way. However, some squandered opportunities down the stretch, including a series of point-blank misses at the rim, ultimately sealed the Raptors’ fate as they fell 113-112 in overtime in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.
Raptors Post-Game: Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan – May 1, 2018 – YouTube
NBA: Drake and Kendrick Perkins squabble in Cavs v Raptors
As the Toronto Raptors looked to raise their playoff profile in an effort to finally advance beyond LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers, their most visible fan appeared to have his own lofty aspirations.
Drake, always ready when cameras are around, appeared to be doing his best Spike Lee impersonation during Tuesday’s Game 1 in Toronto in this sideline spat with Cleveland backup centre Kendrick Perkins.
Cavaliers share the load in Game 1 win over Raptors | The Star
Late in the first half of the Raptors’ 113-112 overtime loss to Cleveland, Cavaliers star LeBron James fired a no-look pass from the top of the key to Jordan Clarkson, who in turn zipped a no-look pass to J.R. Smith, who buried a three-pointer from the corner to cut the Raptors’ lead to a single point.
The play illustrated the Cavs’ newfound commitment to exploring offensive options beyond James, and by halftime Smith and reserve forward Jeff Green had outscored him.
Raptors Post-Game: Pascal Siakam – May 1, 2018 – YouTube
Thompson helps tilt Game 1 vs. Raptors in Cavaliers’ favour – Sportsnet.ca
That’s twice now in a little more than 48-hour period that Thompson has reminded people that LeBron James isn’t the only player on the Cavaliers with a ring. The Toronto native helped swing the balance of Sunday’s seventh and deciding game against the Indiana Pacers. Tuesday night, in his hometown, he logged 26 significant minutes on a night when the Cavaliers didn’t hold the lead until Kyle Korver’s three-pointer in overtime. Someone told J.R. Smith that James hasn’t won a post-season game like that before.
“Here you get to be a part of a lot of records,” said Smith, chuckling. “I’m just fortunate to be a witness to it.”
Ex-Raptor Calderon has seen it all but nothing like LeBron James | Toronto Sun
The long-time Toronto Raptors point guard, who still sits near the top of many categories in the team’s record book, doesn’t play much these days, which gives him a good view of LeBron’s exploits.
“It is amazing what he’s been doing, it’s
just all about what he’s been doing,” Calderon explained in the Cleveland locker room before Game 1.
Raptors Post-Game: OG Anunoby – May 1, 2018 – YouTube
The loss saw Toronto roar out of the gate, and it was basically the ideal quarter for the home side, the kind that fans of their team have imagined them playing against LeBron James and Cavaliers in the playoffs for about a year now. The Raptors spread the ball around, and everyone was hitting shots, largely because most of the early shots came from inches away from the basket. The Raptors showed off their young legs, and the Cavs huffed and puffed and tried to catch up. James was his usual terror, but the non-LeBron Cavs couldn’t hit the ocean from a boat and Toronto finished the opening frame with a 14-point lead.
Cavs break a few more Raptors’ hearts in stunning OT win | Toronto Sun
In the lead for all but the final 30 seconds, the Raptors allowed the Cavs to force overtime and then succumbed to the more experienced Cavs in the extra frame dropping a 113-112 Game 1 that they will be reviewing plenty for the next 48 hours.
“We are better than some of the situations we put ourselves in,” Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said. “I didn’t like some of the possessions we had down the stretch. But I can be better. We all can be better. I don’t know if it was nerves or yips but we just seemed to shoot ourselves in the foot tonight.”
Raptors Post-Game: Dwane Casey – May 1, 2018 – YouTube
The Raptors Melted Down in the Playoffs Again in Game 1 – The Ringer
Look at LeBron’s stat line (26 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds) and you’d think he once again had to carry the Cavs like they had a G League roster. But LeBron actually got the aid in Game 1 that he could have used in the last round against the Pacers. Tristan Thompson, Jeff Green, and Kyle Korver combined for 49 points. J.R. Smith added 20. Four non-LeBrons scoring in double digits may be as rare as Halley’s Comet, but it happened.
Beating LeBron won’t be easy for Raptors | The Star
But on the morning of Game 1 against the Toronto Raptors, as an underdog before the NBA final for the first time since 2008, LeBron was not accepting fatigue as an idea.
“I never mentioned it was an issue,” James said. “You mentioned it was an issue. It wasn’t an issue. It’s what I had to do to help us get to the second round, and we worry about the second round now that we’re here.”
Toronto Raptors on Instagram: “Heartbreaker.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiQlbtRAkyC/?hl=en&taken-by=raptors
LeBron James, Cavs stun Raptors with Game 1 overtime win
Well, the Raptors still have never had a series lead vs. the Cavaliers in three seasons. Toronto squandered the opportunity on the series opener on Tuesday.
Cleveland took a 1-0 lead in this Eastern Conference semifinals series with a 113-112 overtime victory over the Raptors.
“I think considering the circumstances, we definitely stole one,” Cavs coach Ty Lue said.”
This game was far from a picture-perfect contour of a Cavs team figuring out all of its issues. For most of the night, it was objectively ugly and only mildly encouraging. Cleveland didn’t lead until overtime, falling behind by as many as 14 points, and James looked—dare we say—merely mortal en route to a triple-double.
Oxymoron much? Maybe. James tallied 26 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds and two blocks, and the Cavaliers outscored the Raptors by five points with him on the floor. But he shot an uncharacteristically brutal 12-of-30 from the field, including 1-of-8 from three, with a few too many longer-than-long balls and questionable half-court decisions down the stretch.
Toronto Raptors on Instagram: “First half playoff vi👁ws (3/3)”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiQapCSgvRu/?hl=en&taken-by=raptors
