The Cleveland Cavaliers’ hopes of sweeping the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs are over as they dropped Game 3 126-104 on Thursday evening.

Here are three takeaways from Cleveland’s loss. 

Game 3 might have been entirely decided by the number of times the Cavaliers turned the ball. Cleveland coughed it simply too many times to come away with a win, especially in a playoff game.

By the end of the game, the Cavaliers had committed 22 turnovers, which Toronto turned into 23 points. Seven of those turnovers came in the third quarter, where the Raptors started to pull away in the final minutes and into the beginning of the fourth quarter.

The Raptors forcing turnovers and then getting out and running in transition was something Kenny Atkinson warned his team about before this series, and Toronto showed why this can be such a big problem in Game 3. 

Through the first two games of this series, Cleveland’s defense excelled, but the same can’t be said about its performance in Game 3. The Cavaliers especially struggled to limit Toronto’s long-range attack.

The Raptors ended up shooting 60 percent, yes, 60 percent, from behind the arc. As a team, Toronto connected on 14 of its 23 shot attempts from long distance. 

RJ Barrett alone went six-for-eight from behind the arc. He’s clearly one of Toronto's top scoring options, and certainly looks like the team’s top scoring option right now with Brandon Ingram’s continued shooting struggles. Barrett is going to get his fair share of points.

The difference maker for Toronto was Jamison Battle, who knocked down all four of his three-point attempts in Game 3. Cleveland can’t allow Battle’s impact to become a trend in Game 4.

If there was anything positive for the Cavaliers despite the loss, it was that Jaylon Tyson finally made his presence known in the series. 

Atkinson said earlier in the week that it was “only a matter of time” before Tyson had a big game. Thursday night wasn’t necessarily a breakout postseason performance for the forward, but he still proved he can be a different marker in the series.

Tyson finished with 13 points, four assists, and two rebounds, with a steal. He stuffed the stat sheet, which is what he’s done all season long.

If the Cavaliers are going to bounce back from this Game 3 loss, Tyson is going to be a big part of that. 

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