Final Score: Cavs don’t have Kawhi Leonard, lose to Raptors 106-95 – Fear The Sword
The Cavaliers had chances against the Raptors. Toronto let a double-digit lead drip into the single digits on multiple occasions. Kyle Lowry didn’t play. Cleveland was even within 10 points with under four minutes to go after trailing by as many as 21 in the second half.
The one major difference, however: the Cavs didn’t have Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors did. That may have been the biggest difference in their 106-95 loss Saturday night in Cleveland.
Leonard scored a game-high 34 points — 11 of which came in the fourth quarter — to carry the Raptors. In the fourth, until he was pulled late, did everything for the Raptors. He drove to the rim and got fouled. He made threes. He picked up steals. And any time he implemented himself into the game, the Cavs had no answer. Jordan Clarkson hero ball only gets a team so far.
Clarkson and Tristan Thompson co-lead the Cavs with 18 points each.
When the Cavs did make a push in the fourth quarter, Collin Sexton found himself on the bench behind Clarkson, Thompson Alec Burks, Rodney Hood and Cedi Osman. The group had success near the end of the third and for parts of the fourth in getting the Cavs back in game. Sexton finished with 10 points and on 5-12 shooting and airballed his only three-point attempt.
Game Centre: Leonard steps up with Lowry down for Raptors’ eighth straight win | The Star
With backcourt sparkplug Kyle Lowry not available, the Raptors slugged it out as best they could, relying on periods of excellent defence to subdue the 4-18 Cavaliers.
As has been their habit a handful of times this year, the Raptors let an opponent back in the game, blowing a big lead and making things unnecessarily hard on themselves. Toronto built a 21-point lead in the third quarter on Saturday, but couldn’t bury Cleveland, allowing the Cavaliers to get back within seven with less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter.
They did, however, manage to put the game away in the final two minutes to run their record to an NBA-best 20-4.
Pascal Siakam and Danny Green had 15 points each for Toronto, as did Fred VanVleet, who iced the game with a three-pointer that gave the Raptors a 12-point lead with two minutes left.
Toronto Raptors: Serge Ibaka's sudden career renaissance
Fast forward four years, and it is the summer of 2016, highlighted by Kevin Durant’s infamous free agent decision to go to the Golden State Warriors. He was not the only player to leave Oklahoma City, as Serge Ibaka too saw himself packing his bags and heading to Orlando.
If there was one trade Orlando could have a mulligan for, it’d be this one for sure.
In a season marred by inconsistency, along with him not being a great fit on the Magic, they only got 56 games out of him before shipping him off to Toronto for half of what they paid.
Orlando originally thought they would be getting the same defensive beast we saw roam the paint and protect the rim in OKC; instead, he looked uncomfortable playing at the 4 instead of his usual spot at center.
His first full year in Toronto was rather unimpressive. He averaged a good, but not great 12 points and six rebounds per game and on the court, he still looked like a shadow of his former self.
In fact, in Game 2 of the second round of the NBA Playoffs against the Cleveland Cavaliers, he put up a putrid two points on 0-for-5 shooting, benched after 12 minutes of play and benched for the rest of the way.
Toronto NBA Analysis: What’s going on with the Raptors Bench? – Raptors HQ
First off, we don’t really have an established bench unit. See the lineup minutes above for the starters? Even the second version of the starters has played over 100 minutes together. With five-man units, a good rule of thumb is that 50 minutes played is the sample you want to be even a little confident in the results.
The most used lineups where at least one of Lowry or Leonard are resting have about 30 minutes on the season. The most used lineup has appeared in only ten of the team’s 23 games.
So, right away, that’s bad. There’s no way for the bench unit to develop any sort of chemistry if they don’t play together. For reference, the bench unit had reached 60 minutes played together at this time last year, and that was the version with OG Anunoby there before he was inserted into the starting lineup two weeks into November.
So, to evaluate the various bench looks we’ve seen, we’ll use two-man to four-man lineup combinations instead of full five-man units. First, let’s just take a quick look at how individual players have fared away from both Lowry and Leonard.
NBA 2018-19: Will Kawhi Leonard stay with the Toronto Raptors?
The Raptors are currently the best team in the Eastern Conference. They have a record of 20-4. This places the Raptors not only as the top team of the East, but also the best team in the NBA. The Los Angeles Clippers have the best record in the Western Conference, but their record is currently 15-6. The Raptors have a significant lead over the Clippers.
The Raptors are on an eight-game winning streak. Kawhi Leonard is back to his normal self. He’s averaging 25.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. After a year of injuries and sitting out, Leonard is finally healthy and playing. Both Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors are in a good space. But, will it last?
While watching the Cavs/Raptors game, a thought came to mind. What if Kawhi Leonard leaves the Raptors next summer? In the 2018 off-season, there were rumors that Kawhi Leonard was interested in going to Los Angeles. He was interested in both the Clippers and Lakers, with the Clippers having a slight advantage.
This was before the San Antonio Spurs traded him to the Raptors. The Spurs traded Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green to the Raptors in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a 2019 first round draft pick. Leonard did not go to the team he desired, but the Raptors were the best choice.
This season, Kawhi Leonard makes nearly $20 million. He has a player option in 2019, which gives him the ability to opt out of his current deal. If he opts out, Leonard will be an unrestricted free agent. Then, he could join one of the L.A teams. But, would that be wise?
Raptors win in uninspiring fashion and lots of weekend mail | The Star
It made sense given the game, the opposition, the absence of Lowry that Nurse would give C.J. Miles a call in the second half, something he didn’t do in either the Memphis or Golden State games.
Sure enough, C.J. finished the third quarter and started the fourth but going 1-for-4 from the floor in 15 minutes and missing both three-point attempts is not going to instill a lot of confidence.
I do think he’ll come around, he’s been in the game too long and been a far better shooter than he’s been this year but I will say Miles seems to be the one guy most effected by the change to the second unit.
He’s not been able to sneak into space with a Bench Mob that plays at a frenetic pace and that’s something they need to get corrected.
