The Toronto Raptors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-97, behind a career-high 43 points for Kyle Lowry.
The Raptors were able to come back from a 3rd quarter 14-point deficit, to win their season series with the Cavaliers on Friday night. Led by their All-Star point guard, Lowry carried the entire load from start to finish, including when he hit a contested pull-up jump shot to give the Raptors a 2-point lead with 3.9 seconds to go.
LeBron James had the chance to tie the game, instead he shot a 3-pointer that resulted in an air-ball. The win for the Raptors improves their record to 39-18, only two games behind the Cavaliers for the 1st seed in the Eastern Conference.
Offence: B
The Raptors as a whole focused on executing their style of basketball as efficiently as possible, while they were carried by Lowry’s heroics. Of course, the Cavaliers did hold the lead for the majority of the game, but the Raptors never allowed the score to go overboard.
With DeMar DeRozan having a horrible night due to flu like symptoms, resulting in him only scoring 6 points on 1-11 shooting, the Raptors worked on executing their game plan as a team. They played a slow pace along with the Cavaliers, but made sure they paid for it by dropping 50 points in the paint. Besides Lowry, only Jonas Valanciunas, Bismack Biyombo, and Terrence Ross were able to score in double-digits.
Biz was abusing the rim in the 1st half. #RTZ #WeTheNorthhttps://t.co/ZvAqvINRtK
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) February 27, 2016
The Raptors were able to get off on a couple efficient runs throughout the game, including the 10/10 shooting they started off with in the 2nd quarter. But their most notable run was when they outscored the Cavaliers 17-6 in the last six minutes of the game.
Defence: B
The Raptors weren’t able to contain the Cavaliers from beyond the 3-point line, allowing them to convert 50 per cent of their shots from that distance. To the Raptors credit, they didn’t allow James to score this basket that would of won the Cavaliers the game.
Almost, LeBron https://t.co/PtMcZ2cs4I
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 27, 2016
The Raptors did allow the Cavs to shot 47.2 per cent from the field, which is nothing either side should be ecstatic about. “King James” was able to do his fair share against the Raptors, leading his team with 25 points on 50 per cent shooting, while collecting 8 boards and dishing out 7 assists.
The Raptors allowed most of the Cavaliers to get involved, resulting in four of their five starters finishing in double-digits. That included J.R. Smith, who dropped 13 points, including this basket.
J.R. out here clowning! #CavsNation #Cavs #Raptors #NBA https://t.co/5XNiwUP4Z6
— Cavs Nation (@CavsNationNet) February 27, 2016
Rebounding: C
The Raptors lost the battle 39-34 on the glass tonight, marking their second lowest rebounding total this season.
Valanciunas was the only presence on the boards for the Raptors, collecting 4 offensive rebounds to go with his total of 9. The next highest was DeRozan, who hustled his way to 6 boards to give him a plus/minus of +6.
For the Cavaliers, they had Tristan Thompson with 10 boards,and Kevin Love with 9 to go along with his 20 points.
Game Ball: Kyle Lowry
Kyle Lowry is a bad man. #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/ibk1qbEvMd
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) February 27, 2016
After Lowry scored 16 points in the fourth quarter to help the Raptors win their season series against the Cavaliers, it was official that he sent out a message that he has superstar abilities.
The dagger above was the perfect way for Lowry to end off that message, and a career night.
On his way to 43 points on 75 per cent shooting, Lowry was the only reason the Raptors found themselves in a competitive situation late in the game. He practically did everything in the 42 minutes he played, collecting 4 steals, dishing out 9 assists, and snatching 5 boards to go along with his career-high in points.
All stats for this article are from NBA.com
You can follow Bryan Meler on Twitter @BryanMelo97
