The Cleveland Cavaliers eliminated the Toronto Raptors from the NBA Eastern Conference Finals in a 113-87 Game 6 victory.
The Cavaliers have LeBron James, and the Raptors don’t.
That is just one of the reasons why the Cavs are now heading to their second consecutive NBA Finals. C’mon guys, I’m not a Cavs, nor a LeBron fan (although I put my money on them once in a while) but we have to give respect to a guy who can bring any team in the Finals.
James is now going to his sixth NBA Finals, the first player to do so in 50 years.
In Game 6, James attacked early and had 21 in the first half, giving the Cavs an early cushion. He broke the 30-point barrier for the first time this post-season and led the Cavaliers with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists.
“I knew this was going to be a tough game coming into this building, and I had just to bring my game,” James said. “I had to be in attack mode from the beginning.”
The Raptors did their best and trimmed the deficit early in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs have too much talent. Aside from James, Kevin Love had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Kyrie Irving scored 30 points, 9 assists and 4 rebounds and JR Smith chipped in 15 points.
Kyle Lowry, who did not give up to the last minute of the game, turned in a 35-point performance and DeMar DeRozan scored 20 points. But the two of them simply could not compete with the full Cavs roster. Not enough Raptors stepped up.
For what it’s worth, this is not a loss for the Raptors. It took them 21 years to reach the NBA conference finals. And props to Toronto fans for not bailing on their team before the game was over, continuing to cheer for them even through the loss.
The Cavaliers were beaten by the Golden State Warriors in last year’s championship series, and it may also be Golden State who they face again in this year’s series. Though that remains to be seen as the Dubs are also on the verge of elimination against the Oklahoma Thunder.
