Toronto Raptors 106-112 Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 Talking PointsÂ
In the matchup between two of the top 3 teams in the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers got the better of the Toronto Raptors yet again to clinch the season series. Toronto jumped to an early lead, but it was all Cleveland the rest of the way as the Cavs dispatched the Raptors with relative ease despite what the final score suggests.
LeBron James led the way with 27 points and passed Kobe Bryant for the 3rd most 20-point games in NBA history with his 942nd such game. The win was Cleveland's 4th in a row and the Cavs are finishing strong with just one loss in their last 10 games while the same cannot be said about the Raptors who are stumbling towards the finish line.
Here are five talking points from the game.
#5 Toronto's bench strength
The only way the Raptors are going to have any success come playoff time is going to be the bench production. The 2nd unit delivered once again with 45 points as Pascal Siakam led the way with 10 points and Fred VanVleet chipped in with 9 points and 6 assists.
The Toronto bench has been one of the best 2nd units in the league all season and despite putting up one of their better performances, it still wasn't enough. The bench really kept the game close for 3 quarters as the starters seemed to falter again and again.
The Cavs started to pull away in the 4th and Dwane Casey pulled the starters out, down 13 with 2 minutes left, only for the Raptors bench unit to slash it down to 4 with 11 seconds remaining, but it was too late by then.
The bench play against one of your biggest obstacles come playoff time should give Casey some encouragement, but the starters will have to play much better.