NBA Roundup 2: Cavs take 3-0 series lead

“When he’s on the floor, it helps all of us, because he just creates more space”. Kyle Korver had his best playoff game for Cleveland with 14 points shooting 4-of-6 from three, plus even getting a block. James started the game trailing Jordan by 211 points with 5,776 points. The Cavs coasted over the Raptors by an average margin of 20.5 points over the first couple of contests.

With nearly two days of negative noise before the Raptors get back on the court coach Dwane Casey instructed his team to ignore it.

“I’ll see how I feel a little bit later”, Lowry told reporters on Friday. For the quarter they were 0-4 from three, for the game they were 2-of-18 from deep. “Just can’t wait to get out there to redeem yourself”.

That’s how many consecutive playoff series in which the Cavaliers’ superstar has won a road game, thanks to a 115-94 pasting of the Toronto Raptors in Game 3 of this Eastern Conference semifinal.

“The production from our bench has to come in and give us a boost”, Casey said.

Kyrie Irving scored 16 points and Kyle Korver had 14 for the Cavaliers, who have posted three straight double-digit wins over Toronto. Norman Powell made Toronto’s first 3-pointer with 3:09 in the third quarter – the Raptors were 0-of-12 up to that point. “Eastern Conference, Chicago, Atlanta, we lost to LeBron every year, whether it was Miami or here”, Korver said.

The team said that Thomas had two other damaged teeth that required “extensive oral surgery to stabilize”. DeRozan put up 37 points in Game 3 and did his best job offensively of stringing out the traps and double teams Cleveland threw at him to open up shots for teammates.

All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry missed the game with an ankle injury, leaving a gaping hole in Toronto’s attack. He worked out a few hours before Friday’s game and was on the court during warmups but limped back to the locker room before the national anthems.

“They’re into him, they’re bodying him”, Casey said. “He was in so much pain he just couldn’t go”. “He wanted to. The medical people said he shouldn’t try to go”.

“Cory Joseph was a bright spot (Wednesday) night, the confidence he played with, the force he played with, the way he shot the three ball”, Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. They managed just five assists on their 17 field goals, while committing eight turnovers during the half. Nothing could fall for us, especially in that fourth quarter, start of the fourth quarter.

“Starting Tristan (Thompson) in that fourth quarter and Bron (James) together. we (were) able to switch and we’re comfortable with that”, Lue said.

The Cavs did just that in an area where it counts the most – rebounding, demolishing Toronto on the boards, 49-25.

The Cavs have are now 7-0 in the postseason this year and have won 10-straight playoff games dating back to least year’s NBA Finals. James scored 35 points in Game Three and now has 5,811 points to trail Jordan by 176 points. Toronto lost three in a row from February 8 to 14.

James also tallied eight rebounds and seven assists as Cleveland look ahead to clinching the series with a win in game four on Sunday in Toronto.

Cavaliers forward LeBron James, right, shoots over Raptors forward Serge Ibaka during the second half of Game 3 of their second-round series Friday night in Toronto. LeBron went 15-of-16 from the charity stripe for the game, which is a huge plus given his struggles from the line this season.