By Canadian Press

Cavaliers stave off late Toronto comeback attempts, down Raptors 94-91

Oct 28, 2016 | 7:00 PM

TORONTO — The Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors, the two best teams in the Eastern Conference last season, showed some early-season rust but still managed an exciting finale Friday night.

Kyrie Irving scored 26 points including the winning three-pointer with 44.3 seconds remaining and LeBron James added 21 as the Cavaliers staved off several fourth-quarter Toronto comeback attempts to defeat the Raptors 94-91.

“I think it was a good test for us,” said James. “It’s fun to have games like that throughout the regular season. It sharpens your sword.

“This is a (Toronto) team that we know is going to be very good throughout the season. (A) good road win for us early in the season.”

DeMar DeRozan, who combined with Jonas Valanciunas for 72 points in Toronto’s season-opening win over Detroit, led the way again with 32 points on 12-of-28 shooting. Kyle Lowry had 17 on five-of-16 shooting while Valanciunas had 10 points on 5-of-15 shooting and 17 rebounds.

Making an impact

Nanaimo woman publishes books to open awareness of neurodiverse children

2h ago

iconic voice

Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole, a welcome voice for a half-century, dead at 90

9h ago

first response

New staffing model on Gabriola Island hires local paramedics for enhanced patient care

14h ago

Each team had 18 turnovers with nine of Toronto’s coming in the second quarter when the Raptors were outscored 22-17.

“The second quarter killed us,” lamented Toronto coach Dwane Casey.

He took solace in the fact that the Raptors held the NBA champions to 41.8 per cent shooting and 94 points.

“That’s good enough defence,” Casey said. “Some of the same shots we missed I know we’re going to make. There’s no consolation prize. They beat us. But again we’ve got to continue to believe in our offensive shots … And we’ve got take care of the ball better. You can’t have 18 turnovers.

James had a relatively quiet night, despite registering some sumptuous assists, as Irving and Kevin Love dominated the scoresheet early. James hit the 10-point plateau late in the third quarter to extend his double-digit scoring streak to 719 games.

Love finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Raptors (1-1), who had trailed by as many as 12, closed to 66-65 with a 9-0 run late in the third quarter. Cleveland led 71-67 entering the final quarter. Toronto mounted another charge, cutting the margin to 76-75 on a 6-0 run that was fuelled by two Cory Joseph baskets and one from rookie Jakob Poeltl.

But each time the Raptors rallied, Cleveland (2-0) answered. Toronto kept coming and finally tied it up at 86-86 on Lowry’s two free throws with 3:42 remaining. 

Lowry put Toronto ahead, after being fouled by James, for the first time 89-88 on another free throw with 2:37 left. Three James free throws gave Cleveland a 91-89 lead but a DeRozan dunk tied it. Then Irving sank the 26-foot dagger on a James assist.

“LeBron made a great play,” said Lowry. “He drove and we all collapsed and he kicked out to Kyrie and he made a big shot.”

James and Patrick Patterson missed late three-point attempts. A review gave Toronto the ball with .3 seconds remaining but Lowry missed a Hail Mary shot from long range.

“Overall we fought. We missed a lot of easy shots,” said DeRozan. “We’re still trying to find our rhythm offensively.”

DeRozan’s 72 points over the first two games of a season was a franchise record, surpassing Vince Carter’s  65 set at the start of the 2003-04 season.

For fans, the game was an early test of the Raptors’ 2016-17 credentials, coming five months after losing the Eastern Conference final to the Cavaliers in six games.

Casey was not about to read too much into Game 2 of the season, however.

“It’s a good game but it’s early in the year,” he said beforehand. “It’s too early to say ‘Hey this is where we are, this is who we are, but a good test for us.”

“It’s not the end of the world or the beginning of the world, either,” he added.

Fans in Cleveland were likely more concerned with Game 3 of the World Series against the Cubs.

Neither team was hot out of the gate. Toronto missed eight of its first nine shots while Cleveland was 3 for 9.

It took DeRozan more than seven minutes to get on the board. But he finished with eight points as the Raptors trailed 28-23 at the end of a first quarter that saw the Cavs go foul-free and both teams shoot 11 for 24.

Toronto got to within two at 38-36 in the second quarter with Patterson making a three-pointer after an acrobatic DeMarre Carroll rebound. But the Cavaliers reeled off a 12-4 run to end the half leading 50-40.

Toronto rookie Pascal Siakim started for the second game in a row but his first-half appearances were short with three fouls in six minutes.

NOTES: Cavaliers forward Channing Frye did not make the trip after his mother passed away from cancer … Raptors centre Lucas Nogueira remained sidelined with an ankle sprain sustained in the final pre-season game.

Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press