CLEVELAND: After extending the Cavaliers to six games in last season’s Eastern Conference finals, the Toronto Raptors have to again be considered the Cavs’ stiffest competition in the East until proved otherwise.
Now it’s a question of how much the Raptors — and by extension the rest of the East — have closed the gap on the defending champions.
The short-handed Raptors easily handled the Cavs 119-94 on Thursday. The fact they did it without DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Ross and newcomer Jared Sullinger is — at most — only mildly troubling since this is still the preseason. The Cavs were playing without LeBron James, but otherwise started their regular lineup.
That the Raptors remain near the top of the East is a credit to re-signing DeRozan, although they failed to add a significant piece outside of Sullinger, whom they hope will be motivated to resurrect his career. Raptors coach Dwane Casey is hardly ready to make any bold predictions on whether or not the Raptors can topple the Cavs this time.
“As long as LeBron is playing, they’re still going to be one of the favorites,” Casey said. “I don’t know if we’re on their level yet, but we definitely grew as a team confidence-wise, just maturity, playing in big games. I thought it helped us tremendously.
“Now whether we caught them or not, I don’t know. The season still needs to be played, but I think our players definitely grew from that experience.”
Kyrie Irving scored 13 points and passed for eight assists while Kevin Love had 19 points for the Cavs. Tristan Thompson returned after missing three games to a foot injury with eight points and three rebounds.
None of the Cavs’ starters played more than Love’s 25 minutes on a night the Raptors caught fire and shot 61 percent in the first half while building a 69-50 lead at the half.
Potentially more troubling than the outcome was Channing Frye, who limped off the court with a right ankle injury in the first half and did not return. After the game, he was diagnosed with a mild ankle sprain after X-rays came back negative.
Irving finished the night making 2 of his last 10 shots, but coach Tyronn Lue praised his conditioning. Part of that is likely because of his work with Team USA over the summer. Lue, however, hasn’t decided how many minutes he wants Irving to play this season, although it’s fair to reason Irving won’t be playing astronomical amounts between now and April.
“I just know in practice he’s probably the most in-shape guy we have now with the way we scrimmage, the way he plays, pushing the ball, never wants to come out and never gets tired,” Lue said.
“It’s going be tough because he’s going to want to fight back and forth about his minutes, but we have to be smart and our main objective is going into the playoffs healthy. We have to make sure he’s healthy going into the playoffs.”
The Cavs’ starters will again rest during Friday’s road game at the Chicago Bulls, their only back-to-back of this preseason. Everyone is expected to play in Tuesday’s preseason finale at Ohio State, however, and Lue has already said he plans to treat that as a dress rehearsal for the regular season.
Uncle Drew finale
Irving has big plans for the final chapter of his popular Uncle Drew video series, but fans are going to have to wait awhile to see it. Irving said Thursday his busy summer, which included an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal, prevented him from filming. He’s not expecting to release anything next summer, either.
“There is something big that we’re planning, which I’m really excited about,” Irving said. “There will be a last chapter that will happen, but I don’t think it will be on YouTube.”
Irving indicated the platform will be bigger than YouTube, where the Uncle Drew character was born and quickly became a viral sensation. It’s worth noting that Irving’s teammate, LeBron James, owns a production company now and has ties to Warner Brothers, although Irving gave no indication of anything on that large of a scale.
Irving created the Uncle Drew character and filmed four chapters. He has used fellow NBA players such as Baron Davis, Nate Robinson, Ray Allen and current teammate Kevin Love throughout the series. Irving concluded the last chapter by sending Uncle Drew out to find a big man and said Thursday the series has run its course.
“Uncle Drew still lives inside of me, so the chapters are continuing,” he said. “I’m almost known as Uncle Drew now, so it’s cool.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.