The Cleveland Cavaliers edged the Toronto Raptors 94-91 with the clutch three-pointer by Kyrie Irving. It was a rematch of the 2016 NBA Eastern Conference Finals that the Cavs won 4-2 en route to their championship run.
Last season, the Toronto Raptors reached the ECF for the first time in franchise history after 21 seasons. The only time they came close to making an ECF appearance was in 2001, where they lost to the Philadelphia 76sers after a missed shot by Vince Carter.
Lebron James is coming off his triple-double performance against the New York Knicks on opening night while Demar DeRozan is coming off his 40-point game against the Detroit Pistons. James played an all-around game and flirted with a triple-double with a stat line of 21 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. While DeRozan led all scorers with 32.
The Cavs were up by 11 points (49-38) at halftime but the Raptors kept it close in the second half. With under 2 minutes left in the game, the score was tied at 89. With 1:21 left in the game, James made two free throws to put the Cavs up by 2 points. 10 seconds later, Derozan drove to the basket and threw a thunderous dunk in front of Tristan Thompson to tie the game up at 91.
With less than a minute remaining, James had the ball, drove to the basket, and when almost every Raptor on the court went after him, he threw a pass to Kyrie Irving, who had all day to make the 3-point shot. Irving, who is now 9-16 through two games in the regular season, calmly made the go-ahead basket for his 26th point.
The Cavs had ball possession with 3.6 seconds left in the game but Irving committed a turnover and Patrick Patterson got the loose ball with 0.3 seconds left.. The Raptors called timeout, Raptors coach Dwayne Casey drew up a play, Kyle Lowry hoisted a 3-pointer but missed and that was the ballgame.
The Cavs are 2-0 for the season while the Raptors are 1-1. The Cavs will play the Orlando Magic next at the Q Arena while the Raptors will host the Denver Nuggets for their last home game before they hit the road.
