The Cleveland Cavaliers rode their three best players (Mitchell, Mobley, and Harden) for 83 points to take a 2-0 series lead over the Toronto Raptors.
Let’s go over today’s winners, because there were no losers.
It was somewhere between Donovan Mitchell’s second windmill gather and James Harden’s third step-back jumper of the game that I realized how lucky Cavs fans are to be watching a backcourt with this level of technical craft.
The Raptors altered their defensive approach from Game 1. Rather than earnestly trying to defend Mitchell or Harden, they opted to send multiple defenders and apply maximum pressure on the ball. That had benefits, as it partially took the rock out of the guard’s hands and put pressure on other Cavaliers to make plays.
If only it were that easy to take Mitchell and Harden off the board.
Harden dropped Scottie Barnes and got the crazy three to go down 😳 pic.twitter.com/GnFmEn8vVm
Sure, the Raps could win a possession every once in a while. But the sheer scoring ability of Mitchell and Harden made it impossible for Toronto to contain them. The Cavs guards hit shot after shot, often times launching it over multiple defenders and finding the bottom of the basket anyway.
“I still go crazy sometimes wanting him [Mitchell] to pass the ball, and then he hits a crazy shot,” said Kenny Atkinson after the game. “There’s a couple of times where Don has it in iso, and the defense is crashing, so he just throws it to James.”
Harden isn’t overly bothered by physicality at the point of attack. He has a bulky enough frame to withstand punishment and dish it back out. Meanwhile, Mitchell is too much of a blur to keep boxed up. He might run into a wall at times — but resetting the offense and attacking again ensured he’d find an opening on the second attempt.
The Cavs starting backcourt has combined for 112 points through the first two games of this series. If you’re thinking that’s too much to withstand, you’re correct.
Playoff basketball grants you the opportunity to zero in on an opponent more than you can during the frenzied 82-game schedule of the regular season. That’s proven to be bad news for Brandon Ingram so far in this series.
The Cavs have entered the series with a plan to keep Ingram from beating them. They’ve sicked Dean Wade on him to match his length, and are top-locking Ingram with the dual bigs of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley to deter throwing him the ball over the top. This has mostly stripped away any chance of getting Ingram into his sweet spots — and everyone on Cleveland has done a fantastic job of getting into Ingram’s chest and pushing him away from the action.
And that’s before you even get to his shot attempts.
This is Brandon Ingram's shot chart, and this is Ingram's 4 shots within the restricted area.Was Ingram's lack of free-throws a lack of fouls called, a lack of aggressive or a Cavaliers defense that forced him off his spots and away from the rim? https://t.co/S26fyN9S7a pic.twitter.com/BZRJO8JeEv
Cleveland’s worked relentlessly to stop Ingram from putting up a shot. As a result, he only took one field goal attempt in the second half of Game 1. But even when Ingram was able to fire away, the Cavs were draped all over him, ensuring it would be a difficult attempt. That was on full display tonight as BI finished with 7 points on 3-15 shooting. He also had 5 turnovers.
There’s only so much you can do to take away a 6’8” shot-maker like Ingram. But so far, the Cavs have done as well as you can.
This game might have looked different if the Cavalier bench had been more present. They were kept dormant for most of the night, shooting a combined 3-16 going into the fourth quarter. Only Sam Merrill, Max Strus, and Dennis Schroder had bought a bucket. None of them had more than one field goal between the three of them.
As a result, Cleveland’s bench was being outscored 35-8 through the first three quarters. That’s a big enough disparity to keep Toronto in the game despite the Cavaliers leading the entire way.
We know this bench is capable of more. Strus himself put up 24 points in Game 1, while Merrill, Tyson, and Ellis have all had big games previously. Even Schroder is crafty enough to get to the basket more frequently than he did tonight.
A pair of triples from Merrill and Tyson to start the fourth quarter delivered a wave of relief. Later, Strus would join them with a three-pointer of his own. In just three possessions, they more than doubled the bench’s total output. That was enough for me to finally breathe out.