The Toronto Raptors won their first Conference Finals game in franchise history by taking Game 3 from the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-84 on Saturday.
Raptors' defensive turnaround
For the first time this postseason, the Cavaliers were held to fewer than 100 points. Also, Cleveland was held to under 40 percent shooting for the first time this postseason (35.4 percent).
The key for the Raptors was keeping Cleveland out of the paint. The Cavaliers scored 20 paint points after averaging 53 paint points per game the first two games. The 20 paint points were a season low and tied for Cleveland's fewest in a game since LeBron James returned last season.
Of the Cavaliers' shot attempts, 32 percent came in the paint, compared to 51 percent in the first two games. As a result, the Cavaliers' average shot attempt was 16.2 feet, 4.8 feet longer than in the first two games.
Cleveland shot 1-for-17 on 19 drives in Game 3 after going 17-29 in Games 1 and 2.
Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving combined to shoot 4-for-28 (14.3 percent) from the floor. That's their worst combined shooting percentage since they became teammates.
LeBron James shot 9-for-17 but was only 2-for-7 when guarded by DeMarre Carroll. In the first two games, James shot 9-for-10 when guarded by Carroll.
Biyombo's historic rebounding night
Bismack Biyombo had 26 rebounds, a new Raptors postseason record. That matched Dwight Howard (2015) and Hakeem Olajuwon (1988) for the most rebounds in a postseason game in the past 30 seasons.
Biyombo had almost as many rebounds as the rest of his teammates combined (28). The Cavaliers' starting lineup combined for 29 rebounds. Biyombo had as many offensive rebounds (8) as the entire Cleveland roster.
The Raptors outrebounded the Cavaliers 54-40 after being outrebounded 91-61 in Games 1 and 2. It was Cleveland's worst rebound differential this postseason.
Biyombo was also effective on defense, as he held the Cavaliers to 2-for-8 shooting as the primary defender (all eight shots were contested).
Lowry and DeRozan bounce back
For the 21st time this season, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan combined for more than 50 points. The Raptors are 14-and-7 in those games, including 4-and-1 in the playoffs.
In the first two games of this series, the two averaged 29 points per game and shot 1-for-16 from behind the arc. On Saturday, they combined for 52 points on 51 percent shooting, including going 4-for-9 on 3-pointers. They outscored the Cavaliers "Big Three" of James, Love and Irving 52-40.
It was DeRozan's seventh career playoff game with at least 30 points, the most in Raptors franchise history.
DeRozan did most of his scoring on contested shots, as 22 of his 24 shot attempts were contested. He shot 10-for-22 on contested field goal attempts (45 percent).
Odds and ends
Teams that lost Games 1 and 2 of the Conference Finals by at least 15 points each are 6-and-1 in Game 3. However, each of the previous six teams ended up losing the series.
The Raptors were the 10th team to lose each of the first two games of a best-of-seven series by at least 19 points. They are the fifth team among those 10 to win Game 3 of the series. Two of those five teams went on to win the series: the Trail Blazers this season against the Clippers and the Rockets in 1995 against the Suns.
The Cavaliers' loss snaps their 17-game intraconference postseason win streak, which was an NBA record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. It was the first postseason loss this season for the Cavaliers and the first postseason loss of Tyronn Lue's career. The Cavaliers were trying to become the third team in NBA history to start 11-0 or better in the playoffs (2001 Lakers and 1989 Lakers).
Game 4 will be Monday in Toronto (8:30 ET on ESPN). The home team has won all six meetings between these teams this season (regular season and postseason).
