Game Rap: Raptors 110 Cavaliers 93

Jay Satur - Raptors.com

In an effort to avoid a fourth straight loss on their home floor, Cleveland came out strong and had the Raptors down 26-8 with 4:04 to play in the first quarter. But the Raptors took that initial flurry of shots and began to counter, eventually taking their first lead of the game on a Lou Williams buzzer beater to end the first half.

The third quarter is where the Raptors broke things open, using a 22-6 run over the last 6:13 of the frame to create a 14-point advantage that they built on in the fourth.

"We started getting stops," Casey said. "We slowed them down. We knew that train was going to come out of the gate really roaring and they did and we didn't give in. We sustained our focus and our defensive disposition and just kept on playing. That's what you've got to do against a good team like that."

Lou Williams poured in a career-high 36 points (9-19 FGM-A, 15-15 FTM-A, 3-8 3PT FGM-A) to go with four rebounds and three seals in what has to be one of the finest performances ever by a Raptors reserve. The Raptors don't even get to consider seizing control of this game without his 24 first-half points, including nine of those coming at free throw line and the buzzer beater mentioned a little earlier.

Casey said post-game that part of the game plan was to use Williams and his veteran savvy to exploit some matchups offensively, but the head coach was also quick to laud the guard's defence.

"He had a reputation of being a scorer, but now he's doing a much better job defensively for us, which allows him to stay in and guard guys like [Dion] Waiters and [Kyrie] Irving and people like that."

Speaking of defence, DeMar DeRozan deserves plenty of credit for his in the second half against LeBron James (who scored only four points on 2-of-6 shooting in the last two quarters). Factor in 17 of his 20 points came after the break and it's not hard to see that the All-Star was instrumental in the turnaround.

"No choice. Who else do you recommend?" Casey asked when pressed on why he turned to DeRozan on James. "You kind of get down to the numbers. He's got the size to do it. We don't have James [Johnson]. Out next option was going to be Amir [Johnson] or Pat [Patterson], but DeMar did such a solid job, that we didn't have to do that."

Kyle Lowry was somewhat more succinct about his backcourt-mate's defence against a foe that's absolutely destroyed them over the years.

"I love that kid. I'm proud of him man. You know, that's his next level for him."

Have to say something about the incredible Raptors fans who traveled to Cleveland on Saturday.

These fans were so loud with "Let's Go Raptors" chants towards the end of the fourth quarter that the in arena DJ attempted to drown it out. With Drake songs. These fans had the attention of Casey and many of the players long before that point.

"Oh unbelievable," Casey said post-game about the fans. "It was like old school soccer, travelling with the flag. That was big. Again, I can't say enough about our fans. We have the best in the league. Our guys know it. You could feel it."

Then, there was on the way out....

‎8 - Turnovers for the Raptors, versus 18 for the Cavaliers

64-37 - Cumulative scoring in the middle two quarters, favouring the Raptors

15-15 - Free throw shooting from Lou Williams on his way to a career-high 36 points

15 - Points for LeBron James, matching his second-lowest scoring output of the season. A ton of credit needs to go to DeMar DeRozan, who took on the challenge of guarding the forward for most of a second half where he was held to four points.

5 - Raptors comebacks from double-digit deficits this seaon, which, leads the NBA.

Click the photo below to view the entire gallery from Raptors @ Cavaliers on Saturday

The Eastern Conference-leading Raptors return to Air Canada Centre on Monday for the first of two meetings this season with Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe and the high-octane Phoenix Suns (7:30 PM ET, TSN2, FAN590)