That was more like it.
The word in the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room after Game 1 according to Kyle Korver was that that was more like it from Kevin Love: a team-high 13 rebounds and a couple of assists and a hand in shutting down Jonas Valanciunas, an express train for the Toronto Raptors in the first half.
But, man. Those seven points. Seven measly points. “Everyone was: ‘that’s more like Kev, and it was … but, yeah, we needed Kevin to get going,” Korver said Thursday night. “That’s when we’re at our best. You knew it was going to happen soon, and that when it did it was going to be big.”
The Cavaliers wasted little time making “soon” happen. They force-fed Love in the first quarter Thursday. Missed five-foot hook shot on his first try? Didn’t matter. Missed 26-foot three-pointer 90 seconds later? Didn’t matter. That missed running layup a minute later? Meh. Pass after pass went to Love and he finished the first quarter 4-for-9 with a pair of free throws, playing all 12 minutes. And they kept feeding him. He was 3-for-5 in the second with four boards. Four-for-five in the third, when he matched LeBron James with 11 minutes, 14 seconds. Of the Cavaliers’ last dozen buckets in that decisive third, five were scored by James. Five were scored by Love.
Switches. Mismatches. James was brilliant. Remarkable. Transcendent.
But Love also had 31 points. No Cavaliers player other than James had scored 20 points this post-season; they did what they did before Love came to town.
Love, who has been utilized as a five all season long despite being a truer four, was asked if this kind of game was a lift. “More than anything,” he said, “what gave me a lift was to see the ball go into the basket; to see the ball go through. Nice to see those mismatches. Get some easy buckets to get me going early, and LeBron was looking for me.
“It’s not like I forgot to play the game of basketball.”
It helped, of course, that the guy who was brought in to Toronto last season to deal with stuff like this, Serge Ibaka, was an embarrassing no-show. Again. The only person on the sideline who spent as much time on his butt was the Raptors global ambassador, Drake, who barely fidgeted in his seat (let alone stand and preen) after that silliness with Kendrick Perkins in Game 1. It was like somebody – the NBA? – revoked his diplomatic credentials.
Or maybe Drake sensed early that there was a pointlessness to the whole night. Coming off a Game 1 performance in which James was more facilitator than scorer, his teammates played with the kind of pace you only get when there’s a sense there’s a reward at the end. The Raptors were, frankly, road-kill on their home court.
After Game 1, Love suggested that his defensive engagement left him sensing an offensive turnaround was just around the corner. The great Hall of Famer, Hubie Brown, was working last night’s game and noted early that: “This team might be developing some chemistry right in front of us.”
Love agreed.
“I had to learn (to play the five regularly) on the fly,” said Love, who finished 11-for-21 with 11 boards and two assists and was plus-21 – a team high. “I think this is something that has worked for us, and something the coaching staff and players like to see because there’s freedom in the offence and a lot of spacing and it allows us to be able to take advantage of mismatches.”
Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue said that Love’s pace helped spread the floor. “We watched film (Wednesday) that showed they (the Raptors) were switching guards to him and we were able to take advantage of some mismatches early. They went small and we were able to post him against C.J. (Miles) and Kyle (Lowry) a couple of times. He played faster and make a couple of sharp cuts early and I thought he really helped set the tone.”
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Said James: “He wanted the ball. He demanded the ball. And we got it to him. He worked well off of the ball; he was able to get something going on the run, but more importantly he got something going in the paint. He wasn’t settling; that allowed us to go to him. A huge game for him.”
And so here we are. The last time the Cavaliers waxed the Raptors, president Masai Ujiri pulled the pin and declared it was time for a culture change – albeit with largely the same on-court cast of characters. They had the best record in the Eastern Conference, but around them teams like the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers brought in new players to get better. Everybody seems to like everybody in this group: the players, the staff, the city.
It’s been that way since Lowry and DeMar DeRozan made full-throated commitments to this place at a time when their co-tenant, the Maple Leafs, were trying to fumigate the remnants of the Brian Burke era.
But Air Canada Centre sure sounded last night like a place that started to turn on them. Boos were audible in the third quarter; the rest of the night was essentially left to being mesmerized by James’ assortment of spin fakes and fadeaways or hitting the exits early.
Don’t look now, Toronto: without a response, this will go down not as the night Love came to town, but as the night love left town. The Raptors are in the process of burning a whole helluva lot of currency.
