The Cleveland Cavaliers protected house court docket on Monday and are in full management of their first-round matchup in opposition to the Toronto Raptors following a 115-105 victory in Game 2.
Cleveland’s beginning lineup and potent offensive system have been merely an excessive amount of for the Raptors. Let’s get into some takeaways.
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Brandon Ingram is turning into an issue — and never in a great way
The 6-foot-8 ahead, in his first lively season with Toronto, had a lackluster 17-point Game 1 and criticized the teaching workers for his lack of photographs (9). He adopted that up by scoring a grand complete of zero factors within the first half of Game 2, placing much more stress on his teammates to offset his lack of manufacturing. He completed the sport with 7 factors on 3-of-15 taking pictures.
Ingram, who has a historical past of being a reluctant 3-point shooter, is presently re-triggering previous habits and providing restricted spacing to the Raptors, who aren’t precisely deep within the taking pictures division as is.
Cleveland’s main trio is working
Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and James Harden discovered a considerable rhythm Monday evening, combining for 83 factors in Game 2.
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While all three are getting their photographs up, at no level does it appear to be a “my turn, your turn” kind of state of affairs.
In reality, all of them appear potent enjoying off one another, with Mobley specifically realizing and embracing the truth that his scoring is primarily going to come back off dribble penetration as a byproduct of the house created by his two guards.
Twenty-two turnovers definitely did not do Toronto any favors, and whereas Jamal Shead has executed an honest job changing Quickley within the beginning lineup, there’s clearly a expertise deficit in play as the 23-year-old sophomore guard is much too inconsistent to hold the position over an extended time frame.
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While Shead is definitely adept at hanging on to the rock, he relinquishes the ball a good bit to Ingram, RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes, who’re merely overtaxed as main ball-handlers, resulting in rushed choices and indecisive play.
The return of Quickley from a strained proper hamstring cannot come quickly sufficient.
Game 3 is slated for 8 p.m. ET on Thursday in Toronto.
