Toronto Raptors: 3 takeaways from Game 1 vs. Cavaliers
By Chris Conner
3. The Raptors ran out of gas
The Raptors quickly got up to a 33-19 lead after the first quarter. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry combined for 19 and it appeared Toronto could possibly run Cleveland out of the building.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible as the Cavs fought their way back in a variety of ways. Both DeRozan and Lowry cooled off, as both struggled to replicate anything close to their first quarter performances, finishing with 22 and 18 points.
As a team, however, not much was better, especially down the stretch.
The Raptors were THREE OF EIGHTEEN at the end of that game pic.twitter.com/mnuFUuYX1Z
— SB Nation (@SBNation) May 2, 2018
Maybe an extra breather will do will do them well next time, but given the fact that the Cavaliers were the team fresh off a Game 7, the Raptors had zero reasons for being outplayed in crunch-time. The playoffs are often about how a team finishes vs. how they start.
Toronto got its first glimpse of the late-game demons that need to be exorcised Tuesday.