Despite first-half explosion, Raptors fall to LeBron, Cavs

Rudi Schuller

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Despite first-half explosion, Raptors fall to LeBron, Cavs image

The Toronto Raptors blew a big first-half lead in a 132-129 loss to the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Wednesday night.

Toronto had no answer for LeBron James, who put in a superhuman performance in leading the undermanned Cavs. James logged over 39 minutes and scored 35 points, but his most impressive stat was putting up 17 assists without committing a single turnover.

Despite the loss, the Raptors (53-19) hold a 4.5-game lead over second place Boston, and are still 10.5 games up on Cleveland.

Here are three takeaways from Wednesday's contest:

First half explosion

The first half wasn't exactly a textbook display of defence with the two teams combining for 143 points.

Despite allowing the Cavaliers to shoot 60 percent from the field in the opening 24 minutes, Toronto built up a 15-point lead at the halftime break. The Raptors hit over 62 percent of their own shots, which included 12-18 from 3-point range.

In all, Toronto's 79 first-half points matched a team high set over a decade ago.

The Raptors had four players in double figures before halftime. It was that kind of night for both teams, but in the second half, it was the Cavaliers who started to dominate on the box score.

Welcome back, Freddy

Fred VanVleet missed the previous two games with a hand contusion before returning to the Raptors' lineup for Wednesday's contest. While Toronto went 1-1 without his services, it was obvious that his influence was missing.

Against the Cavaliers, VanVleet continued the stellar play that has some league observers whispering his name as a possible NBA Sixth Man of the Year candidate.

The talisman of Toronto's influential second unit, VanVleet shot over 46 percent in his return and hit four 3-pointers.

He finished with 16 points, and he was even in point differential during his 29 minutes on the floor, which was better than several of his teammates.

Ibaka struggles

It was not a good night for Serge Ibaka, who finished with just six points on 25 percent shooting.

Ibaka was 0-4 from 3-point range, including an ill-advised attempt in the dying moments as the Raptors looked to claw their way back into the game.

Things were just as bad on the other end of the floor for the 28-year-old. Often matched up with James, Ibaka appeared powerless at times as the Cavaliers' superstar took over the game.

Ibaka was a minus-6 during his 23 minutes of play, but it seemed like it was much worse for the big man.

Rudi Schuller