The Cavaliers just keep on rolling.
Cleveland steamrolled to its ninth consecutive playoff victory Tuesday, a 115-84 blowout of the Raptors to open the Eastern Conference finals. With it, the Cavs became the fifth team in NBA history to start 9-0 in the playoffs.
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It was another dominating performance by the East's top squad, which looked fresh as ever after having nine days between games. The Raptors, meanwhile, looked like a team that had played back-to-back seven-game series.
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Kyrie Irving (27 points) and LeBron James (24 points) led the way for the Cavs, who took control by outscoring the Raptors 33-16 in the second quarter and taking a 66-44 lead into halftime.
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"We were just taking what the defense gave us, and it was as simple as that," Irving told reporters after the game. "I think we were getting to our sweet spots as much as possible."
It was a difficult start for the Raptors, who had been riding a high with a Game 7 blowout win of their own against the Heat on Sunday. DerMar DeRozan was solid with 18 points, but the Raptors didn't get much offense from anyone else.
Stud of the Night
Irving continues to shine for the Cavs this postseason. The 2011 No. 1 overall pick played like one, scoring 27 points on 11-for-17 shooting.
Dud of the Night
The Raptors won’t win many games with Kyle Lowry scoring eight points — especially not against the Cavs right now. Lowry was just 4 for 14 from the field and turned the ball over four times.
Tweet of the Night
This pretty much sums up the night.
STRENGTH, NO WEAKNESS! #NBAVine https://t.co/axHF2gGbFX
— NBA (@NBA) May 18, 2016
Looking ahead
Western Conference finals Game 2: Thunder at Warriors, 9 p.m. ET, TNT (OKC leads 1-0): The Thunder stole Game 1 in Oakland, but the Warriors have yet to lose back-to-back games all season, so the odds say the Warriors will win. Then again, the odds against winning in Oakland once weren’t in the Thunder’s favor, either. This should be fun.