Endangered Species - Dreece's Dynasty

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Endangered Species

Posted on March 15, 2013 at 06:44 PM.

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The Raptors enters tonight's contest 4th in the eastern conference and their frontline of Bargnani and Valanciunas is a definite advantage over the smaller defenders that the Cavaliers will throw at them simply because they are official 7 footers with two very different type of game. Throw in dynamic wingman Demarr DeRozan and wily veteran Jose Calderon to the mix and you have a very dangerous team that looks to make noise all season long.

The Cavs come into the game with something to prove in their first conference game since the new regime took over. Stingy defense is what the Cavaliers is all about and the defense makes it easy for talented wing players (Irving, Washington, Muhammad, and Packett) to get out in the open court and get plenty of baskets. Look for Cleveland to try to force Toronto into a track meet so they won't get wore down by the sheer power of Toronto's frontline.

Cleveland stomped out to and early double digit lead by Justin Washingting who had 17 1st half points. The longe range game was working and Calderon was having trouble keeping Kyrie in front of him it looked like a laugher was in the making until Cleveland got sloppy with the ball and let the Raptors right back into the game. Turnovers killed Cleveland early as Toronto made their comeback in the first half. Tale of two quarters: 32-18 Cleveland 1st qt advantage, 30-17 Toronto 2nd qt advantage.

Toronto came out firing in the 3rd quarter lead by the steady play of Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani. Toronto's size initially gave the young Cavaliers fits(Valanciunas had a monster facial jam on Noah) they blocked shots and made it very difficult for Cleveland to get off clean looks.

The fourth quarter started off with a Cleveland turnover, Raptors layup, Cleveland turnover, two Raptor ft's. The lead ballooned to 7 points just like that and it started to look bleak for the Cavs until Cleveland's top pick from a year ago decided that he was going to make this showcase. Kareem "K-Pack" Packett buried a three and finished a strong drive with an and 1 to help Cleveland stay afloat in the game. When Kyrie returned with a little over 9 minutes left in the 4th his focus now shifted to attack mode, he knows Calderon doesn't stand a chance without help so patience and ball security needs to stay at the front of his head. Valanciunas ankle injury late in the fourth put a halt in any of the Raptor's plans on making a rally. He only went to the sideline to get taped up but the team just wasn't the same without him for those couple minutes and they never reverted back to the aggresive power team they showed in the 1st 3 quarters of play.

"We want tacos!!!! rang throughout the stadium as the game came closer to ending. The game was a close as 3 with 41 seconds left when Kyrie Irving broke out a Tim Hardaway-esque crossover on Calderon to seal the game!! Final 105-99 Cavs!! Tacos for everybody

Justin Washington Player of the game 29pts 5reb 2ast

Post-game highlights here!

Next up a trip to San Antonio see you there!!