The Cavs’ Game 5 Win Over The Raptors Was The Worst Blowout In Conference Finals History

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After dropping two straight games in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers found themselves on the precipice going into Game 5 on Wednesday. They desperately needed a win to avoid being pushed to the brink of elimination heading back to Toronto for Game 6 on Friday night. The Cavs squashed any notion of that soon after the opening tip with a dominant 116-78 victory that put them one win away from a return trip to the NBA Finals.

The Cavs’ Big 3 was back in full effect after sub-par outings in the previous two contests. In particular, there’d been no shortage of hyperbole surrounding Kevin Love‘s recent struggles, which resulted in him sitting out all or most of the fourth quarters in Games 3 and 4. But he responded loudly and emphatically on Wednesday, going a perfect 6-of-6 from the field to lead the way for Cleveland in the first half and finished with a game-high 25 points in just over 23 minutes of action.

Kyrie Irving got it going early as well, scoring 11 points of his own on 5-of-9 shooting to help the Cavs sprint out to a 37-19 lead after the first quarter. He would finish with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting. After dominating the paint in Games 1 and 2, the Raptors had progressively pushed LeBron James further out on the perimeter the past two games, but he was back to attacking the rim on Wednesday en route to 25 points, eight assists, six rebounds, two steals, and a block.

The Raptors, meanwhile, struggled from wire-to-wire, especially their All-Star backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, who had combined for just four points by the midway mark of the second quarter. The Cavs took a 65-34 lead into the break, handing the Raptors the largest half-time deficit in conference finals history while pestering Toronto into just 37.9 percent shooting from field, including a paltry 2-of-8 from behind the arc.

One of the most stunning developments during the Cavs’ two-game skid in Toronto was their suddenly frigid outside shooting after historic performances from long-range earlier in these playoffs. In Game 5, they reduced their number of three-point attempts, and the results were striking. The Cavs dominated the Raptors in the paint 46-32, forced 18 turnovers, and outscored them 21-14 on the fast-break.

If there were any positive takeaways from Game 5 for Toronto, it was the return of Jonas Valanciunas, who hadn’t played since early in the Raptors’ semifinal series against the Heat. He was 4-of-4 overall and finished with nine points but was mostly inconsequential as the Cavs already essentially run away with it. The series now shifts back to Toronto for a potentially deciding Game 6 on Friday. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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