Channing Frye got a dunk.
The creaky-legged former Magic and Suns sharpshooter who was drafted over 10 years ago and who we hasn’t been seen inside the paint on offense since Steve Nash was winning MVPs, threw down a dunk against the Raptors in Game 2. And that wasn’t even his only bucket in the paint.
Cleveland’s 108-89 win in the second game of their Eastern Conference Final against Toronto has turned into a disaster for those fans north of the border. Kyle Lowry is back to his abysmal shooting at the beginning of the playoffs. So far this series he’s 1-of-15 from three-point range and 8-for-28 overall from the field. And even when the Raptors’ best player got a center like Tristan Thompson to switch onto him, he was still unable to take advantage.
We could spend time writing about how while Lowry was struggling to find the bottom of the nylon, Kyrie Irving played another great game — despite some me-first play that should keep glass-half-empty Cavs fans on edge. Uncle Drew poured in 26 points, after scoring 27 points in Game 1, and he did it again while shooting over 50 percent from the floor. It’s clear who is winning the point guard matchup through the first two games.
Then, there was LeBron. His six first-quarter assists set the tone and he finished with his 15th career playoff triple-double while passing Shaq for fourth place in all-time playoff scoring.
He also spurred some dunk contest convos in various circles on Twitter after throwing down a reverse on a breakaway.
Kevin Love was efficient, and he even prompted Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy to make some comments about how well he as moving his feet and staying in front of guards after a switch. Here, he seems to stymie DeMar DeRozan, causing the high-volume Raps shooter to toss up an air ball in a one-on-one situation.
i was recently telling some ppl demar has some wiggle to his game, but he didn't show it here against love. pic.twitter.com/gzaTt7SdmR
— Person (@SpencerTyrel) May 20, 2016
But DeMar did’t force the issue at all, something Dwane Casey should definitely get on his players about when they’re watching film on Friday.
But, really, this series is over. Normally, you wait until a team loses at home, but all the punch appears gone from this Raptors squad and we highly doubt an upset in Game 3. Going all seven games in their first two rounds certainly isn’t helping matters, but it’s more about confidence at this point. Lowry’s body language in particular looks awful and there’s just no verve to this squad right now.
Plus, we can’t remember ever seeing LeBron this happy and convivial so late in the playoffs.
The Raps are all but done, and we’ll see if LeBron and Co. will again get a long layoff before the Finals because the Thunder and Warriors series is the antithesis of the East at this point. Maybe the Raptors surprise us and end Cleveland’s 17-game winning streak in the East, which goes back through year’s sweep of the Hawks in the Conference Finals. But we really, really doubt it. This looks like the second consecutive sweep LeBron’s had in the Conference Finals and his sixth consecutive trip to the Finals.
