Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 takeaways from Game 4 vs. Raptors

1. LeBron James making his case in the G.O.A.T. debate

Nearly minutes after the Cleveland’s overtime victory in the series opener, Raptors head coach Dwane Casey sought to quickly dismiss the notion of his team being dominated by LeBron James and the Cavs when issuing out the following statements immediately after Game 1:

"“A lot of things we did to ourselves,” Casey said to the media exactly one week ago. “It’s nothing special, nothing that we didn’t expect. Some uncharacteristic things that we missed, some shots we missed, I thought that was the difference in the game.” “I think we’re a better team.”"

Now, no one can seek to argue whether or not if the following question rings true, as Toronto has fallen prey to the hands of the Cavs in 12 out of their last 14 playoff meetings over the last three seasons thanks to James.

He has helped lead Cleveland’s complete onslaught by destroying them with his laser-beam like court vision, and using an array of counter moves similar to another king, that proved to be way too much for the Raptors to contain over the course of the series.

Just days after coming off a grueling seven-game series against the Pacers, James somehow managed to muster up enough energy to lead the Cavs to two straight victories on the road in Toronto. Then he returned to Cleveland to help carry his team to a sweep, against a team that many thought would prove to his biggest challenger in a six-day span.

"“My confidence never wavered,” James said per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin after helping Cleveland reach yet another Eastern Conference Finals. “It’s just who I am. I believe in what I bring to the table, and what I can provide to the team, and I believe in my teammates.”"

Although most people might still consider another player who wore the No. 23 long before James as the greatest player of all time, nobody can deny that the three-time champion is knocking on the door of claiming the title for himself this postseason.

Over the first two rounds of the playoffs, James has put up a playoff career-high 34.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 9.0 rebounds per game while shooting over 50 percent from the field for the third consecutive postseason — all during a time in his career in which most players would show signs of regression.

While many of his detractors might seek to find any little flaw within his game, no one can deny that he is at least within the conversation, as the kid from Akron appears to have reached basketball immortality with the feats that he has been able to pull off as of late.

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Cleveland will now seek to rest up and recover over the next few days, as they await to face the winner of the Philadelphia-Boston series in the Eastern Conference Finals.