Cleveland Cavaliers set the tone for looming championship quest, behind 126-113 win over Toronto Raptors in Game 1. A short series awaits.
The NBA playoffs tend to provide a perfect blend of excitement and anxiety. That concoction of emotions filled Rocket Arena on Saturday as the Cleveland Cavaliers tipped off their first-round series with the Toronto Raptors.
Cleveland is a championship contender. That has the city buzzing about the possibilities that await these next two months. At the same time, there may not be a team with more pressure in the playoff field this year. Anything short of a deep run could trigger a series of seismic changes to the current iteration of the Cavs.
For a team facing such lofty expectations, a 126-113 Game 1 win over Toronto served as quite the opening statement. Aside from a tense, back-and-forth first quarter, it was a game the Wine and Gold dictated nearly everything.
By the end of the second quarter, momentum was already snowballing in the Cavs' favor as they pushed their lead to 10 points. RJ Barrett knocked down a three just before the stanza expired, though, cutting the lead back to 7. It felt more like a last gasp than any kind of real pendulum swing in Toronto's favor.
Cleveland didn't let up out of the break, opening up the third on a 19-6 run, and suddenly the lead ballooned to 20. A Sam Merrill three to open up the fourth quarter pushed it to a game-high 24-point lead. It was more than enough to keep the Raptors at bay the rest of the way.
Donovan Mitchell was brilliant as always, posting his ninth-straight 30-point Game 1 – an NBA record and two more than Michael Jordan. James Harden was the perfect complement to Mitchell, dropping 22 points while dishing out 10 assists. He seemingly made all the right plays at the perfect times.
There was Max Strus providing a spark off the bench with a playoff career-high 24 points. Evan Mobley with a quiet but confident 17 and seven.
The Cavs dominated in the paint, outscoring Toronto 52-33. Their bench outscored the Raptors 40-30. Toronto finished the regular season as the NBA's best fast-break scoring team, they scored just three points on the fast break in Game 1.
Perhaps the most telling note of all, though, is that the Raptors delivered perhaps the best uppercut it had in this fight by shooting a surprising 48% from three, and still lost by double-digits. For a team that ranked 26th in three-point shooting for the season, how many more performances like that can they produce in a seven-game series?
If Immanuel Quickley returns from lingering hamstring and foot ailments, that obviously helps their cause. But is his return enough to truly flip this series in Toronto's favor? Unlikely.
The Cavaliers are simply the better team; that was obvious on Saturday. And if Game 1 is any indication, we're in for a short series.
Cleveland's championship quest is only just beginning, but they wasted no time setting the tone for a deep postseason run.
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