The day after the shock victory against the Thunder, just to reinforce their status as the best team in the country, the Cavaliers chained against the Raptors. With a Darius Garland gala performance (40 points and 9 assists), they took advantage of it to achieve a twelfth consecutive success (132-126). But it wasn’t easy and we had to go looking for it.
Without Donovan Mitchell, nothing was thus given to Clevelandwho had to wait until the last two minutes to make the difference for good. Thanks to Darius Garland, obviously author of the 3-point KO. with 39 seconds remaining (“a la Kyrie Irving 2016”) and, above all, 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Before that, Toronto played its luck bravely, leading almost the entire match and even by +12 at most, but being punished by its waste on free throws, its lack of concentration on the rebound or its inability to get the shots with high success rates when necessary. Quite the opposite of the Cavs, who still play as well collectively.
The Cavaliers were ultimately more killer at the right time, while Donovan Mitchell was able to take care of himself physically by seeing Darius Garland being so strong and so skillful. A bit like Evan Mobley et Jarrett Allen under the panels.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
– Darius Garland, pattern size. In the absence of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland had all the keys to the Cavaliers attack in hand. Helped by the pair Evan Mobley – Jarrett Allen (39 points, 26 rebounds and 9 assists), as well as Caris LeVert’s 18 points, the leader therefore signed his season record in scoring, just to further strengthen his candidacy for the All-Star Game. All while avoiding a nasty trap and keeping his team’s streak alive.
– Toronto definitely can’t do it away. Even when we feel they are likely to surprise and win on the road, the Raptors are calmed down at the end. Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, Chris Boucher and even Jakob Poeltl tried their best to end the Cavaliers’ series, but they failed and, instead, it gave them a 17th defeat in 18 games outside. Quite simply the worst record in the league in this area, when the evening’s opponent is 20-1 at home.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
