Cleveland, Dec 27 (BUS): Kevin Love and Darius Garland scored 22 points each, the Cleveland Cavaliers tied with 46 points in the third quarter of a 144-99 defeat over COVID-19 and exhausted the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. a night.
Lauri Markkanen added 20 points and Garland eight assists for Cleveland, who led by 47 points twice in the fourth inning. The Cavaliers won their fifth straight home run and made 22 three-pointers in 52 attempts, according to the Associated Press.
It was Cleveland’s biggest margin of victory this season and the first time Toronto had lost by more than 17 points in 2021-22. The Cavaliers provided 39 assists, two of the most goals scored by the NBA this season.
“We are fortunate to be in this position where we have such a good thing,” Markkanen said. “We play hard and we play selfless basketball. Once we brought in the energy we needed, the gates kind of opened after that.”
Utah Watanabe scored a career high with 26 points and 13 rebounds for Toronto, and Chris Boucher scored 21 points. The Raptors have 10 players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, including top scorer Fred Vanfleet, rookie Scotty Barnes and Pascal Siakam.
“We should have had a good loss tonight, but we’re going back,” said Raptors coach Nick Norse. “It was a good match for Utah, and that’s it.”
Toronto’s active eight-man roster—which includes four hardship signatures—wasn’t even together for a brief training contract on main court at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse before the game. DJ Wilson scored 15 points and eight rebounds on his debut with the team.
“We met these guys on the bus on the way to the track,” Watanabe said. “Since we haven’t been allowed to do anything together for the past few days, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the gym alone putting on shots. That’s all you can do.”
The Raptors’ previous two matches were postponed when they could not fit eight players needed. Boucher, Watanabe, Svi Mikhayliuk and Dalano Banton were the only rest of the pre-outbreak lineup.
Denzel Valentine scored 17 points and had nine rebounds, Dean Wade scored 17 points, and Ricky Rubio 16 points and six assists for Cleveland. Love grabbed nine boards and Taco Fall scored three points and seven rebounds in 11 minutes off the bench.
“We have something good and I’m having a lot of fun,” Love said. “It will be great to watch this young team develop. We know we will have everyone’s best chance going forward, so I hope 2022 will be a year of growth.”
Rookie Evan Mobley and quarterback Garrett Allen were among seven Cavaliers sidelined due to safety protocols. Cleveland has the fifth best record in the Eastern Conference at 20-13.
“The Raptors came out and played really hard, but as the game went on we got more physical and obviously that affected them,” Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff said.
Hints
Raptors: G Gary Trent Jr. F Precious Achiuwa, F OG Anunoby, C Khem Birch, F Isaac Bonga, F Justin Champagnie and G Malachi Flynn are also in health and safety protocols. …G Goran Dragic (for personal reasons) and G David Johnson (left leg strain) were officially active, but not available. … F DJ Wilson, F Juwan Morgan, C Daniel Oturu and G Tremont Waters on 10-day contracts via list exceptions.
Cavaliers: JI Isaac Okoro missed his third game in a row as he is working on conditioning after he was cleared of safety protocols. … F Cedi Osman was added to the protocols earlier in the day, joining C Ed Davis, G RJ Nembhard, G Lamar Stevens and F Dylan Windler. … Cleveland leads the East and is third in the NBA with 15 double-digit wins. The Cavaliers have had their last 11 wins by at least 10 points.
Birthday gift
Bickerstaff, who was promoted to the job on February 19, 2020, signed a multi-year contract extension on Saturday morning. The son of NBA coach and current Cleveland advisor Bernie Bickerstaff has taken the team into disarray following the resignation of John Palin. “If you look at our list, you will find men who have been held here for a long time,” said Bickerstaff, who is between 47 and 69 years old with the Cavaliers. “Now, with this training device, we’re locked in for a long time, too.”
next one
Raptors: Philadelphia hosts Tuesday night.
Cavaliers: Visit New Orleans on a Tuesday night.