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Cavs perfect playoff streak ends at hands of Raptors

Xinhua, May 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

Cleveland Cavaliers suffered their first loss of the 2016 postseason in a 99-84 loss to Toronto Raptors in the third game of the Eastern Conference Finals series on Saturday evening NBA action.

After taking the first two games of the series against Toronto and sweeping Boston and Atlanta earlier in the postseason, Cleveland was looking to match the record of 11 consecutive wins to start a postseason held by the 2001 and 1989 Lakers.

During the game, Toronto's defence overwhelmed Cleveland, holding All-Star Kyrie Irving and forward Kevin Love to a combined 4-for-28 (14.2 percent) from the field.

As a team, Cleveland shot 28-for-79 (35.4 percent) from the field, compared to 47.2 percent in the ten wins prior.

"We didn't play our game, and they made us pay for it," said Cavaliers forward LeBron James following the loss in Toronto. "Early on at the start of the game we weren't as physical as we should have been, especially coming into a building that we knew we had to be a little bit more physical."

In front of a sold out Air Canada Centre crowd, Cleveland managed to score 84 points, well below their playoff average of 108.5 points per game. This was also the first time in the postseason the team has scored less than 100 points.

"We just had a bad night," said Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue following the game. "Our team knows that we can play way better than we played. I think it just has to do with the effort of playing harder, being more aggressive, being physical. They came out and they did that tonight, and that's why they were able to win the game."

With the loss, Cleveland falls to 10-1 in the postseason. Despite that, the team still hold the best record among the remaining playoff teams. Warriors hold a 9-3 record, Thunder hold a 9-4 record while Toronto has a 9-8 record in the postseason.

Cleveland will look to bounce back in game four on Monday in Toronto before returning to Cleveland for game five on Wednesday. Endit