After Tuesday night’s 113-112 victory, the Cleveland Cavaliers are now leading their Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Toronto Raptors, 1-0. Though they trailed right up to the final horn in regulation, several players, including Kyle Korver, stepped up to lend the Cavs a helping hand when it mattered most — in overtime.
“Everybody contributed tonight and we definitely needed it,” Cavs superstar LeBron James told Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com after Tuesday’s win. “My teammates were unbelievable tonight. “They stepped up when I wasn’t at my best.”
Korver logged 38 minutes against the Raptors on Tuesday night, scoring 19 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime, on 7-of-17 shooting from the field (5-of-12 from beyond the arc), to go along two rebounds and one assist. According to Vardon, the last time Korver took 17 shots in a game was back in Jan. 17, 2007.
“I haven’t shot 17 shots in I don’t know how long,” Korver said during his post-game media availability.
“I thought I missed a bunch of good looks tonight, actually,” Korver said. “I’m not trying to force the issue. I’m just trying to take what’s there. There have been some looks for me. I’m just trying to stay in motion. The team really looks to me to create energy off the ball, so I’m just trying to do that and knock down the shots that come.”
“We feel good about the win but I think we were also very fortunate,” Korver noted.
The Raptors had several chances to close out Tuesday’s game. However, the team posted a 5-of-24 mark from the field in the fourth quarter, with Jonas Valanciunas missing six of his seven attempts. All in all, Toronto missed its final 11 shot attempts in regulation.
According to ESPN, the Raptors had nine turnovers in the first half, leading to 15 points for the Cavs. In the end, Toronto finished with 14 turnovers, leading to 21 Cleveland points.
Game 2 is set to tip inside the Air Canada Centre at 6:00 p.m. EST on Thursday night with ESPN having live broadcast coverage.
