Toronto Raptors: 3 reasons the season is over

3. Cleveland’s other guys finally showed up

During their first round matchup with the Indiana Pacers, nobody outside LeBron averaged more than the 11.4 points per game that Kevin Love put up during a series that took seven games.

One could argue that had a few things gone their way, the Pacers could’ve won that series, as James had to carry a burden not seen since the 2015 NBA Finals, where his co-star was Matthew Dellavedova.

Things seemed good for Toronto heading into its series with the Cavs, as it looked like James would have to give even more to the cause if he wanted even a chance to advance.

Almost inexplicably, that wasn’t necessary, as Cleveland’s supporting cast stepped forward and produced like a superb supporting cast.

Kevin Love dominated the inside, not settling for the outside shot and exploiting mismatches in the paint, upping his scoring to 20.5 points per game to go along with 11.5 rebounds.

Shooters Kyle Korver and J.R. Smith were excellent as well, spreading the court and averaging a combined 27 points in the sweep, while Jeff Green and George Hill also topped double-digits as well.

When guys outside LeBron James are producing at a high level, Cleveland becomes nearly impossible to stop.

Due to James’ passing abilities, the Raptors weren’t able to double-team him, for fear that he’d hit the open shooters. Unfortunately, leaving one defender on LeBron wasn’t much better, because he’s, you know, LeBron.

There were no indicators that these types of performances were coming from guys not named LeBron, and it’s something that Toronto had to pay for dearly.