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Cavs hold off Raptors in East Finals rematch

Xinhua, October 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

Cleveland Cavaliers defeated Toronto Raptors 94-91 to remain undefeated in Friday night's NBA regular season game.

The game was a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference Finals series where Cleveland defeated Toronto 4-2 on their way to the first championship in franchise history.

Cleveland led for the majority of the Friday's game until Raptors erased an 11-point deficit late in the fourth quarter. The lead was short-lived as Cleveland tied it up at 91 when reigning NBA Finals MVP, LeBron James sank a pair of free throws at the 91 second mark.

With 44 seconds remaining in the game, Cavs All-Star Kyrie Iriving sank a three-pointer that ended up being the final points of the game.

Irving finished with a team-high 26 points, six rebounds and six assists while James added 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue is proud of his team's evolution since he took over in the middle of last season.

"Last year we would have lost this game, a grind out game where we aren't shooting the ball well," said Lue following the team's victory that saw the team shoot 41.8 percent from the field and commit 17 turnovers. "We're not scoring well. Things aren't going our way and we figured out a way to win. So I commend our team for that."

Since James' return to the team in the summer of 2014, the team's core unit of James, Irving, forwards Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson has remained intact for the past two-plus seasons.

The 31-year-old James believed their experience of playing together in winning and losing situations during this period will provide them an advantage in the team's quest for a second title in as many season.

"I think the best teacher in life is experience and we've experienced games," James commented following the game. "We have to continue to push forward. We're a team that's still growing. This is year three and we want to continue to build off that." Endit