TORONTO \u2014 Most of the explanations coming from the Cleveland Cavaliers didn\u2019t amount to much.<\/p>\n
The Toronto Raptors \u201cplayed with more force,\u201d was a common theme coming from Cleveland\u2019s side following a 126-104 loss<\/a>. There were other, typical playoff cliches used that we won\u2019t waste your time with.<\/p>\n Cutting to the chase, this was nearly the worst Cavs game so far of the James Harden era. The playoffs make it the worst. They did it all wrong. Turnovers, poor shooting, lazy defense, lack of attention to detail.<\/p>\n Harden led them with 18 points but also committed eight turnovers. Donovan Mitchell, who can make just about anything, was 1-of-7 on 3s. After games of 32 and 30 points in this best-of-seven series, Mitchell walked away from Game 3 with 15 points. Cleveland was outscored by 22 when Jarrett Allen was on the court and by 20 when Evan Mobley was out there. The Raptors also goaded Mobley into four 3s, and he missed them all.<\/p>\n Scottie Barnes gets paid, too, so he deserves credit for his 33 points and 11 assists. He earned those. Toronto\u2019s RJ Barrett also scored 33 points, which is more of a pox on the Cavs\u2019 house. If they\u2019re going to give up 2s, and boy did they ever (they were outscored 60-40 in the paint), then fine, but they can\u2019t turn around and also allow the opponent to go 14-of-23 from 3-point range, which is what the Raptors did. Barrett drilled six of those.<\/p>\n Four more of those 3s came from a former Ohio State Buckeye, reserve Jamison Battle, who had logged 2:58 in this series before Thursday, with a DNP-coach\u2019s decision next to his name for Game 2. But get this: In all the games Battle has played against Cleveland this season, counting playoffs, he has missed one shot, which he took in Game 1. He was 7-of-7 from the field in three games against the Cavs during the regular season, with six 3s, and was 5-of-5 in 16 minutes of Game 3. Think the Raptors might give him another chance Sunday in Game 4?<\/p>\n The Raptors managed to win despite missing Immanuel Quickley, who has yet to play in this series with a hamstring injury, and his replacement for Game 3, Ja\u2019Kobe Walker, took an 0-fer on Thursday with an 0-of-6 performance. Walker was one of Toronto\u2019s adjustments, as he started over Jamal Shead.<\/p>\n That one didn\u2019t work, but coach Darko Rajakovi\u0107\u2019s defense scheme of a combo zone, with extended pressure, and also a packing of the paint that goaded the Cavs into 45 3-point tries, did.<\/p>\n The list of what went wrong extends even further, but you get the point. A rotten, crumple-it-up, throw-it-away clunker on the road in the playoffs. And the most important thing anyone said after the game was the last words Harden uttered just before the locker room closed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will respond,\u201d Harden said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a choice. We didn\u2019t expect to win 16 games in a row. Guys are frustrated, I get it, they\u2019re supposed to be, we\u2019re supposed to be. Find a way to weather the storm, figure it out, and be better for Game 4.\u201d<\/p>\n Cleveland still holds a 2-1 advantage in this series, and it would take a lot more than what happened Thursday to sound the alarm bells. Observers of past Cavs-Raptors campaigns might recall Toronto taking Games 3 and 4 of the 2016 Eastern Conference finals, to even the series at two games apiece, and LeBron James would later say: \u201cI\u2019ve been a part of some really adverse situations \u2026 and I just didn\u2019t believe that this was one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n On Thursday, the Raptors made 50 of 87 shots. That\u2019s the second-best shooting night they\u2019ve had in the playoffs, ever. They\u2019d also dropped 12 consecutive playoff games to Cleveland, dating all the way back to when they evened the conference finals 10 years ago but did not exactly have the LeBron Cavs shaking in their boots.<\/p>\n It took a historic performance on offense, and a staggering array of bad themes to emerge at the same time for the Cavs, for Toronto to get a game. All of the things that went wrong for Cleveland are not all going to go wrong again in the remaining games of this series. Either Mitchell or Harden will play well; either the Cavs will tighten up in the paint or get out to 3-point shooters on defense; either Cleveland will shoot better than 30 percent from 3-point range or manage to avoid committing 22 turnovers.<\/p>\n Oh, and here\u2019s a bet that Barnes and Barrett won\u2019t score 30 in the same game. Having two Raptors score 30 or more points in the same playoff game has only happened twice, and the first time was, yes, May 23, 2016, Game 4 against the Cavs.<\/p>\n With all of the ugliness on Cleveland\u2019s side, the score was still tied at halftime, and the Raptors were up by just two through three quarters. Understandably, the Cavs finally buckled under the weight of all their mistakes when the final frame began.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been phenomenal physically the first two games,\u201d Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. \u201cTonight we were \u2026 a step behind. When two forces meet each other, and one does that (mimicking one side being knocked over by the other with his hands), you got to resist that. We were kind of on our (heels). Sometimes, it\u2019s that simple. So, you know, we\u2019ll bounce back, right? But there\u2019s a mental part to this, too. We have coaching staff and guys that have been in these situations a lot. \u201c<\/p>\n To declare this series an adverse situation for Cleveland, the Raptors will have to win another game, maybe two, in contests where the Cavaliers aren\u2019t so collectively terrible. The brightest spots came from Cleveland\u2019s bench, from which Max Strus sprang for 15 points and four 3s, and Jaylon Tyson shrugged off two poor individual performances to score 13 points on a night when his brother Jordan was taken eighth overall in the NFL Draft<\/a> by the New Orleans Saints.<\/p>\n The Cleveland Browns held the sixth pick and traded back to No. 9. They had a chance to take Jordan Tyson at No. 6 but moved back because they knew they wanted an offensive lineman and could accumulate more picks to do it.<\/p>\n A Tyson connection on two of Cleveland\u2019s three pro teams was not in the cards. Nor was a Cavs sweep of the Raptors.<\/p>\n But Harden has declared the Cavs will respond, so all remains well.<\/p>\n For now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 Most of the explanations coming from the Cleveland Cavaliers didn\u2019t amount to much. 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