Cleveland Cavaliers: Top 5 NBA Playoff moments from Big 3 era
By Tony Pesta
3. Everything against Toronto
The Cleveland Cavaliers bullied a number of different Eastern Conference teams throughout their run. The Big 3 eliminated the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics multiple times but no franchise experienced more hardships than the Toronto Raptors.
Their first battle was in the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals. Heading into the matchup, the Raptors were fresh off a franchise-record 56 wins in the regular season. This didn’t stop LeBron James from starting the series with a bang, throwing down a reverse slam to punctuate a 31-point Game 1 victory.
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The Cavaliers took a 2-0 series lead behind 26 points from Kyrie Irving before the Raptors struck back to tie the series while defending their home floor. Bismack Biyombo was incredible in Game 3, grabbing 26 rebounds.
On their way back to Cleveland, Toronto felt optimistic they could take command of the series. In response, the Cavaliers decimated them by 38 points. The Big 3 combined for over 70 points as Kevin Love led the way with 25 points. Another double-digit blowout was the final nail in the coffin for Toronto as they would never be competitive with the Cavaliers again.
The following season was when the disrespect really began. Near minutes into their second-round matchup, Irving was already throwing an off the backboard alley-oop to James. The Cavaliers breezed to a sweep as James repeatedly expressed his disinterest by jokingly drinking a beer mid-game and spinning the ball in Serge Ibaka‘s face before drilling 3-pointers.
Even after Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics, the Cavaliers maintained a mental edge over the Raptors. James averaged 34.0 points and 11.3 assists in 2018 as Cleveland swept the top-seeded Raptors for the second straight season. This series included a ridiculous one-legged game-winner in Game 3 and of course, the infamous ‘LeBronto’ game.