10:55 p.m.-CAVALIERS FIGHT WAY TO OT WIN OVER RAPTORS IN GAME 1 OF EAST SEMIS
It was not always pretty, but it did not have to be.
Just two days after an intense Game 7 win over the Indiana Pacers, the Cleveland Cavaliers needed to be one point better than the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals, and that is exactly what they were at Air Canada Centre Tuesday night.
Despite not leading until the overtime period, the Cavaliers pulled out a 113-112 road win in Game 1 and stole away home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series.
WKYC's Dave "Dino" DeNatale had instant reaction to the Cavs' win on Facebook Live. Watch in the player below:
PHOTOS: Cleveland Cavaliers face Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals
10:43 p.m.-CAVALIERS GET EARLY THREES IN OT
The Cleveland Cavaliers went all of regulation without holding a lead over the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals at Air Canada Centre, but the same could not be said for the overtime period.
The Cavaliers took their first lead of the game, 108-105, when shooting guard Kyle Korver buried a three-pointer at the 4:23 mark of the extra session, and then, extended that lead to four points, 111-107, when fellow guard JR Smith hoisted and buried a triple of his own at the 3:02 mark.
10:36 p.m.-CAVALIERS, RAPTORS HEAD TO OVERTIME IN GAME 1
After last-second shots from both teams were off the mark, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors headed to overtime in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
The Cavaliers fought their way to the overtime period by outscoring the Raptors, 23-18, over the final 12 minutes of regulation, thanks in large part to seven points from small forward LeBron James and six off the bench from reserve center Tristan Thompson, who pulled down three offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
A fall-away jumper from James was off the mark at the buzzer, but that followed four misses in the final seven seconds from the Raptors, including a three-pointer from Fred VanVleet and three tip-in attempts after offensive rebounds.
The Raptors missed their final 11 shots in regulation.
10:01 p.m.-KEVIN LOVE SCORES FIVE STRAIGHT, RAPTORS CALL TIMEOUT
Cleveland Cavaliers center Kevin Love had just two points over the first three quarters against the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals, but he got going early in the fourth period at Air Canada Centre.
First, there was a turnaround hook shot in the lane that made it a six-point game, and then, there was the pump-fake, one-dribble three-pointer from the right wing that trimmed the Toronto lead down to five, 94-89, with 8:06 to play in the fourth quarter.
The three-pointer forced the Raptors to call a timeout and regroup after allowing the Cavaliers to go on a 7-2 scoring run.
9:50 p.m.-CAVALIERS TRAIL RAPTORS BY FIVE AFTER THIRD QUARTER
Despite Kyle Korver’s three-point marksmanship, the Cleveland Cavaliers struggled without LeBron James in the game late in the third quarter and found themselves trailing the Toronto Raptors, 87-82, heading into the fourth period of Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals at Air Canada Centre.
Down by double digits early in the third quarter after trimming the deficit to three points at halftime, the Cavaliers found a late surge on the offensive end of the floor, and it started with Korver, who knocked down a pair of three-pointers that forced the Raptors into a timeout.
While the Cavaliers cooled off offensively from the second to the third quarters, they outrebounded (13-12) and out-assisted (7 to 6) the Raptors out of the halftime break. Additionally, they blocked two shots and turned a pair of Toronto turnovers into two points.
9:27 p.m.-RAPTORS HAVE STRONG START TO SECOND HALF
After watching their lead dwindle down to just three points at halftime, the Toronto Raptors wasted no time in putting the advantage back up to double digits, 72-61, with 7:50 to play in the third quarter in Game 1 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals at Air Canada Centre.
Much like the first half, the Raptors started the third quarter strong and used a 12-4 run to extend the lead beyond 10 points.
9:04 p.m.-CAVALIERS HEAT UP FROM OFFENSIVE END OF FLOOR LATE IN SECOND QUARTER
The Cleveland Cavaliers slowly chipped away at the early deficit, and by virtue of late three-pointers from shooting guards Kyle Korver and JR Smith, trimmed the Toronto Raptors’ lead down to three points, 60-57, after the first half of play in Game 1 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals at Air Canada Centre.
In the second quarter, the Cavaliers converted 14 of their 22 attempts from the field (63.6 percent) and five of their nine three-pointers, and defensively, they limited the Raptors to an eight-of-17 showing (47.1 percent).
After team-wide first-quarter struggles, Cavaliers small forward LeBron James got a lift in the scoring department from Smith and power forward Jeff Green, who each scored 11 points in the second quarter.
Smith made three of his four field goal tries, buried a pair of three-pointers and sunk all three of his free-throw attempts in the second quarter, while Green was four for four with a triple and two makes at the charity stripe.
8:55 p.m.-CAVALIERS CHIP AWAY AT TORONTO LEAD
The Cleveland Cavaliers have played from behind for all of the first half of Game 1 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals, but a late second-quarter run cut the Toronto Raptors’ lead down to six points, 51-45, with 3:01 to play ahead of the halftime break at Air Canada Centre.
During the 6-2 run that cut into the deficit, the Cavaliers sunk a pair of three-pointers, including one from shooting guard JR Smith in addition to a triple from power forward Jeff Green, who scored nine points through the first 21 minutes of Game 1 after battling through offensive issues in the opening round series against the Indiana Pacers.
8:44 p.m.-RAPTORS UP BY 12 MIDWAY THROUGH SECOND
The Cleveland Cavaliers got the deficit down to 10 points, but with small forward LeBron James being the only consistent option on the offensive end of the floor, the Toronto Raptors maintained their aggressiveness and held a 44-32 lead at the 6:36 mark of the second quarter of Game 1 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals at Air Canada Centre.
While the Cavaliers found more offense, having made five of their nine attempts in the first half of the second quarter as opposed to their seven-of-23 showing during the first period, the Raptors got their first 11 points of the period from bench scorers.
8:30 p.m.-RAPTORS GO ON MONSTER RUN, LEAD BY 14 AFTER ONE
The Cleveland Cavaliers made a run at the Toronto Raptors in the early part of the first quarter, but a 16-5 scoring burst over the final five-plus minutes gave the home team a 33-19 lead after the first period in Game 1 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals at Air Canada Centre.
The top-seeded Raptors converted 13 of their 21 attempts from the field (61.9 percent) and four of their nine tries from three-point range, while the Cavaliers converted only seven of their 23 looks from the floor and went just two for seven from long distance in the first quarter.
Known for their struggles against the Cavaliers in each of the last two postseasons, shooting guard DeMar DeRozan and point guard Kyle Lowry scored 11 and eight points, respectively, in the first quarter.
8:15 p.m.-RAPTORS CONTINUE TO LEAD CAVS IN GAME 1
The Cleveland Cavaliers found their shot from three-point range, but despite their long-distance offense and hustle on the defensive end, which drew two charges, the Toronto Raptors held a 17-12 lead with 5:25 to play in the first quarter of Game 1 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals at Air Canada Centre.
Out of the timeout, the Cavaliers got a three-pointer from shooting guard Kyle Korver, and just 50 seconds later, fellow guard JR Smith caught a pass from James at the wing and buried his first triple of the best-of-seven series.
While Smith’s three-pointer pulled the Cavaliers to within two points, 12-10, the Raptors answered with a 5-2 scoring run keyed by a triple from point guard Kyle Lowry and running jumper off the hands of shooting guard DeMar DeRozan.
8:06 p.m.-RAPTORS START FAST, FORCE CAVS TIMEOUT
The Toronto Raptors came out with a point to prove in Game 1 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and a 10-4 run with all of their points coming at the rim in the first three minutes revved up the home crowd at Air Canada Centre.
Guard DeMar DeRozan got the scoring started when he took a pass from point guard Kyle Lowry and converted a reverse layup. Then, 30 seconds later, Jonas Valanciunas got a put-back to fall after corralling an offensive rebound on a missed three-pointer.
Following a dunk from forward OG Anunoby, as well as driving shots from DeRozan and Lowry, which gave the Raptors a six-point advantage, the Cavaliers burned a timeout at the 9:14 mark of the first quarter.
6:00 p.m.-CAVS-RAPTORS SET TO BEGIN EAST SEMIFINALS
In postseason competition, there is little to no rest for the weary.
After a hard-fought seven-game series against the Indiana Pacers in the opening round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers had little more than 48 hours to rest their bodies and prepare the game plans for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Toronto Raptors.
The best-of-seven matchup marks the third consecutive year the Cavaliers and Raptors have met in the playoffs, but this series is a little different, as Toronto claimed the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and have home-court advantage, starting with tonight’s Game 1 at Air Canada Centre.
In 2016, the Cavaliers defeated the Raptors in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals on the way to their first-ever NBA Championship, and last year, Cleveland swept through Toronto in the East Semifinals ahead of a third consecutive trip to The Finals.
WATCH: 3-POINT PLAY PREVIEW
WKYC digital producers Ben Axelrod and Matt Florjancic previewed the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals with today's edition of "The 3-Point Play."
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