Winning games is tough in the NBA. It’s even harder when you’re missing five of the top eight players in your rotation. The Cleveland Cavaliers fought hard, but it wasn’t enough to get a win over the Toronto
Raptors in their NBA Cup opener. They fell 112-101.
The Cavs were without the services of Donovan Mitchell (hamstring), Jarrett Allen (finger), Sam Merrill (hip), Darius Garland (toe), and Max Strus (foot). This left a short-handed starting lineup of Lonzo Ball, Jaylon Tyson, De’Andre Hunter, Dean Wade, and Evan Mobley.
Unsurprisingly, this group found it very difficult to put the ball in the basket. Only three Cavaliers — Mobley, Tyson, and Hunter — scored in the first quarter. It was nine minutes into the second quarter before another Cavalier notched a basket. That isn’t ideal on a night where you’re missing as many of your main players.
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The Cavaliers were able to hang around in the first half because of their defense and the fact Toronto isn’t a great team. A Hunter three to close the first half made it a five-point deficit.
Cleveland opened the second half on am 11-0 run to retake the lead. They rode that momentum until midway through the fourth quarter. But in the end, the lack of a reliable scoring off-the-dribble did them in.
The Cavs weren’t able to generate anything going to the basket in the last few minutes of the game. This, combined with some timely baskets from Brandon Ingram did the Cavaliers in.
This result wasn’t too surprising. There’s not much you can do when you’re this undermanned.
Mobley led the Cavs with 29 points on 11-17 shooting with seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. Hunter added in 23 points on 7-15 shooting with six rebounds, two assists, and a block. Tyson provided 18 points on 7-14 shooting with four rebounds, four assists, and three blocks.
The Raptors were led by three scorers that finished with 20 points: Ingram, RJ Barrett, and Jamison Battle. Scottie Barnes finished with 14 points on 6-14 shooting with 10 rebounds and six helpers.
The Cavs have three more group-stage NBA Cup games. They’ll likely need to win each of them by a wide margin if they want to advance out of the group stage for the first time in the now three-year history of the tournament.
The Cavaliers are back in action on Sunday. They’ll welcome the Atlanta Hawks to town for a 6 PM tip.
