TORONTO — The Cleveland Cavaliers have eliminated the Toronto Raptors from the playoffs two years in a row.
The Raptors have a chance to reverse that trend this year Ben Bishop Jersey , starting Tuesday night when they host the Cavaliers in Game 1 of their best-of-seven second-round playoff series at the Air Canada Centre.
The Cavaliers won their way into the second round by defeating the Indiana Pacers in seven games with LeBron James producing 45 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while playing 43 minutes in the decisive game Sunday.
“I’m burnt right now,” James said after the game. “I’m not thinking about Toronto right now until tomorrow, I’m ready to go home. Can we? I’m tired. I want to go home.”
James averaged more than 41 minutes per game in the series, averaging 34.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists.
The Raptors will be the more rested team, having wrapped up their first-round series against the Washington Wizards in six games on Friday.
When Raptors coach Dwane Casey was asked what his team could learn from the way the Pacers played the Cavaliers, he said: “Playing hard. They played their behinds off, put themselves in position to win.”
The Cavaliers defeated the Raptors in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2016 before going on to win their first NBA championship.
Cleveland swept Toronto in four games in their second-round series last year.
That series loss led the Raptors to change their approach by spreading the attack around more instead of relying so much on their All-Stat guards DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. They also have developed a potent bench led by guard Fred VanVleet, who missed most of the series against the Wizards with a sore shoulder but played 19 minutes in Game 6.
The Cavaliers, meanwhile, still depend so much on James, who became the NBA’s career playoff leader in steals and minutes played during the first round. He became the points leader in 2017.
James ranks first in points (6,404), first in minutes played (9,415) Patrice Bergeron Jersey , first in steals (399), third in assists (with 1,543), sixth in games played (224), seventh in rebounds (1,993) and 19th in blocks (216).
The Pacers left Bojan Bogdanovic to cover James for much of the series without help and Casey thought it was a good move.
“I thought it was good for Indiana because it took them to seven games,” Casey said. “You are not going to take away everything from anybody whether it’s Cleveland or Boston or Philadelphia. You are going to give up something and you have to decide what that is on that particular play or that particular night that you are trying to take away.
“That is what the chess match is in a playoff series. What you are trying to take away and what you are going to digest and live with?”
James did get some help in Game 7 against Indiana from Toronto-native Tristan Thompson, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
“We started the game with a unit that we knew,” James said Sunday. “All five of us, we knew what we could get out of each other. We’ve been in situations before, we’ve played in big games before, so that’s a comfort to start the game.”
“I just think with it being Game 7, just go with the guys that have been here and been through it all,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue. “They know what it takes.”
“I’ve been telling (Thompson) all series long to just wait his turn until his name is called, and when it’s called, be that spark Kevin Hogan Jersey ,” said Cavaliers guard George Hill, who had a strong fourth quarter. “From the jump, he was that spark that we needed, and I think he just had a phenomenal game — probably the best I’ve seen him play in a while.”
James praised Hill and Thompson. “Half a game ball should go to Tristan and half to G Hill,” he said.
The Raptors do not believe James will be tired when Game 1 comes around.
“You believe he’s tired? I don’t believe it,” Casey said Monday. “I’ll believe it when I see him sitting over on the bench, and I haven’t seen that very much because he’s playing at such a high level. It’s amazing the type of condition he’s in. We’re not banking on that.”
“I don’t believe it, I bet he’ll be ready to go (Tuesday),” Lowry said.
The Raptors do intend to make James work hard.
“He’s on a mission,” Casey said. “But there’s certain things we want to do to make him expend some more energy and there’s a variety of ways we can do that. … I don’t want to sit up here and give away our game plan, what we want to do, how we want to do it, what we want to take away, what we want to give them, that wouldn’t be prudent on my part.”
Justify emerged from the fog and sloshed his way to another impressive victory, holding off several hard-charging challengers to win the Preakness on Saturday and keep alive the chance for trainer Bob Baffert’s second Triple Crown champion in four years.
On a sloppy track similar to the conditions in the Kentucky Derby Joel Eriksson Ek Jersey , Justify improved to 5-0 and will go to the Belmont Stakes on June 9 looking to do the same thing American Pharoah did for Baffert in 2015.
Bravazo finished second and Tenfold took third in the 1 3/16-mile race.
HOCKEY
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) – Ryan Reaves scored the winning goal, Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves and the Vegas Golden Knights pushed their remarkable expansion season into the Stanley Cup Final, beating the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 on Sunday in Game 5 of the Western Conference final.
Alex Tuch also scored for the Knights. They lost Game 1 in Winnipeg before winning four straight to become the first expansion team since the 1968 St. Louis Blues – when the six initial expansion teams were put alone in the West – to get to the final.
Vegas will meet the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Washington Capitals in the final. Tampa Bay leads the Eastern Conference final 3-2, with Game 6 set for Monday night in Washington.
Josh Morrissey scored for the Jets, and Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves.
BASEBALL
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Reliever Sergio Romo started on consecutive days for Tampa Bay, becoming the first pitcher to start back-to-back games since Zack Greinke did it for Milwaukee in July 2012 after getting ejected from his first start after four pitches.
Romo is the first pitcher to pitch at least one inning in back-to-back starts since Steve McCatty did it for Oakland in 1980.
Romo, who made the first two starts of his 11-year big league career during the weekend, struck out the side in the first inning Saturday before striking out three more Sunday. Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash used the unusual strategy with Romo to allow the two young pitchers who followed Romo to face the heart of the Angels’ right-handed order less frequently.
ATLANTA (AP) – The Atlanta Braves released Jose Bautista a month after picking up the veteran slugger and will make Johan Camargo their starting third baseman.
General manager Alex Anthopolous said the team made the decision Saturday before Camargo drove in two runs in an 8-1 win over Miami. Camargo, a switch-hitter, will play every day.
The 37-year-old Bautista hit .143 with two homers and five RBIs in 12 games with the Braves after having his contract purchased from Triple-A Gwinnett. The six-time All-Star struck out 12 times in 35 at-bats.
PRO FOOTBALL
HAMILTON, Ontario (AP) – Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel signed a two-year contract with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League on Saturday, looking to salvage his football career after a turbulent and unsuccessful stay with the Cleveland Browns.
Manziel actively pursued an NFL contract this offseason and played in the developmental Spring League last month, his first action in organized football since the 2015 NFL season. He now comes to a team coached by June Jones, a former NFL and college quarterback and coach.
The 25-year-old quarterback won the 2012 Heisman Trophy at Texas A&M Danton Heinen Jersey Kids , and was selected in the first round – No. 22 overall – in the 2014 NFL draft by the Browns. He was released in March 2016 after posting a 2-6 record over two tumultuous campaigns.
GOLF
DALLAS (AP) – Aaron Wise cruised to his first PGA Tour victory Sunday, shattering the AT&T Byron Nelson record at 23 under on a new course in a race to finish before nightfall after a four-hour rain delay.
The 21-year-old rookie shot a 6-under 65 to beat Marc Leishman by three strokes as both became the first to finish the Nelson at 20 under or better in the first year at Trinity Forest. The treeless links-style layout was defenseless with softer fairways and greens and no wind once the morning storms passed. The Nelson celebrated its 50th anniversary with a return to Dallas after 35 years at the TPC Four Seasons in suburban Irving. Rory Sabbatini set the previous record on that par-70 layout at 19-under 261 in 2009.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – Miguel Angel Jimenez won the Regions Tradition for his first senior major title, closing with a 2-under 70 for a three-stroke victory.
Jimenez held or shared the lead after every round, taking a three-shot edge into the final round at Greystone Golf & Country Club. The Spaniard finished at 19-under 269 for his fifth PGA Tour Champions victory.
Steve Stricker, Joe Durant and Gene Sauers tied for second.
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) – Ariya Jutanugarn birdied the second hole of a playoff to win the Kingsmill Championship for the second time in three years.
Jutanugarn closed with a 5-under 66 to match Nasa Hataoka (67) and In Gee Chun (68) at 14-under 199.
Jutanugarn and Hataoka both birdied the first extra hole, with Chun dropping out. Hataoka putted first on the second extra hole and missed badly before the 22-year-old Jutanugarn rolled in a 15-footer for her eighth career victory. Her older sister, Moriya, won the HUGEL-JTBC Championship in Los Angeles in April for her first LPGA Tour victory.
ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) – Adrian Otaegui of Spain defeated Benjamin Hebert by two shots in the final medal match to win the inaugural Belgian Knockout.
The nine-hole final match was tied when Otaegui ran off three straight birdies starting at the par-3 sixth. The Frenchman countered with a birdie at No. 7, but Oategui birdied the par-5 eighth to go two ahead with one hole to play.
Otaegui won for the second time on the Womens Minnesota Vikings Jerseys
