Cavs Tame Raptors North of the Border

The Cavs made their first trip out of the country this regular season as they took on the Raptors in Toronto. The rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference Finals went similarly to the playoffs last season, with the Cavaliers coming out on top 94-91. Kyrie Irving led the way for Cleveland with 26, trailed by LeBron James and Kevin Love with 21 and 18 points respectively. The Cavs move to 2-0 on the young season.

Swords Up

1. Kyrie Irving continues to emerge as an elite scorer. The uber-talented guard may be taking the reigns as top scoring threat for the Cavaliers. Irving has been the team leader in points in both games thus far. He also picked up right where he left off by nailing a three to give the Cavaliers the lead with just under a minute left. This shot may have had a little less importance than the last time he hit a similar shot.
2. The Big 3 continues to gel. Irving, Love, and James carried the Cavaliers again, as they’re designed to do. Love turned in another double-double with 18 and 10, while James finished a little shy of his third straight triple-double with 21 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. If Love, James, and Irving continue to mesh as they have thus far on the young season this team is going to be very difficult to stop.
3. The Kardashian Curse took the night off. So maybe being cursed by a Kardashian only applies while playing inside of the United States, or something like that. After having a poor game in the opener, Tristian Thompson looked like his usual self against the Raptors. Thompson netted his first double-double of the season, finishing with 11 points and 10 boards. I’ll be able to report on if the curse is limited to the United States when the Cavaliers return to action tomorrow at The Q.

Swords Down

1. The Cavs were unable to stop DeMar DeRozan. DeRozen picked up right where he left off after a 40 point outing against Detroit on opening night for the Raptors. Against the Cavaliers he was able to fill up the stat sheet with 32 points and seven boards. One of the more impressive parts about DeRozen’s game is his lack of shooting from the outside, his midrange game is impeccable, however.
2. Cold night from JR Smith. JR Smith has been widely known for his long-range ability. After missing much of training camp, Smith has had a less than stellar start to his season. He went 2-7 from deep in Toronto after going 2-8 from behind the arc on opening night. There are zero doubts that Smith will turn this around, however after a rather impressive start to the season, there needed to be some nitpicking done.
3. Burning River Basketball would like to send our condolences as a staff to Cavalier Forward Channing Frye with the loss of his mother after her bout with cancer.