After an emotional Game 7 win over the Indiana Pacers, the Cleveland Cavaliers had limited rest in-between series, a travel day up to Toronto and a hostile environment waiting for them at the Air Canada Centre, especially when considering the fact that they eliminated the Raptors from the postseason in each of the last two years.
But despite spending much of the game fighting to erase double-digit deficits, the Cavaliers earned themselves a 113-112 overtime win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, which took away home-court advantage from the Raptors.
“Considering the circumstances, we definitely stole one,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said.
“I don’t think we played our best game, and I think they know that as well. Shooting 41 percent from the field? We usually do a better job. ‘Bron’s not going to shoot 12 for 30. We didn’t play extremely well, but to come in and beat a good team like Toronto on their home floor, it does feel like we stole one.”
Starting center Kevin Love added, “Listen, Game 1 here in Toronto, they’re a very good team at home. They’ve been one of the best teams in the NBA all year. It was a very big win for us, and the way that we won, how resilient we were just getting here, not having much time to prepare and getting over the hump, that was big for us.”
PHOTOS: Cleveland Cavaliers face Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals
The Cavaliers made a run at the Raptors in the early part of the first quarter, but a 16-5 scoring burst over the final five-plus minutes gave the home team a 33-19 lead heading into the second period.
The top-seeded Raptors converted 13 of their 21 attempts from the field (61.9 percent) and four of their nine tries from three-point range, while the Cavaliers knocked down only seven of their 23 looks from the floor and went just two for seven from long distance in the first quarter.
“We just had to weather the storm,” center Tristan Thompson said, “Like Big Perk (Kendrick Perkins) was saying during the timeouts, ‘Just weather the storm. Keep playing. Stay at it.’ That’s what we did. We stayed together. We didn’t start to break apart and start doing our own things. We stayed together as a team and we were able to get ourselves back in the ball game.”
Although the Cavaliers won Game 1 and took away home-court advantage, they know there is plenty that needs to be done ahead of Game 2.
“We’re going in the right direction,” Thompson said. “We’ve still got a lot of room to grow. It was a step in the right direction in terms of getting down, and I think the key was when we were down, we didn’t go our separate ways. We bonded together and got even closer, and that’s huge, especially in the playoffs. It’s a game of runs, and we stayed together and banded as brothers to get ourselves back in the ball game.”
Shooting guard Kyle Korver added, “If we didn’t know before, we’re understanding that we have to play a certain way if you want to win in the playoffs. It’s grinding basketball. We’ve got to play hard. We’ve got to grind. We’ve got to hit. We’ve got to be the aggressor, and all of that feeds into a mentality of just not getting up and just keep on fighting away.”
