Shorthanded Cavs Fall to Raptors in 1st Emirates NBA Cup Matchup

*** On Halloween night, the banged-up Cavaliers didn’t get the treat they were looking for in the NBA Cup opener, falling in a seesaw affair to the Raptors and dropping their second straight decision, a 112-101 loss at Rocket Arena. 

Playing without Jarrett Allen (left finger fracture), Donovan Mitchell (left hamstring tightness) and Sam Merrill (right hip contusion) along with Darius Garland and Max Strus, both still recovering from offseason surgery, the Cavaliers grabbed the lead early in the fourth quarter after a back-and-forth battle through the first three.  

But Toronto’s Jamison Battle hit the fourth three-pointer of his six on the night midway through the final period and the Raptors never looked back from there, pulling away late for their second win of the season.

With the absence of the squad’s top scorer, Evan Mobley picked up the slack and turned in his best offensive performance of the young campaign – leading all scorers with 29 points on 11-for-17 shooting, adding a team-high eight rebounds, three steals and a block. 

De’Andre Hunter also had his best offensive showing of the year – chipping in with 26 points, going 8-of-18 from the floor to go with six boards and a block. Getting his second straight start, Jaylon Tyson had a strong effort of his own, finishing with 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting and leading both teams with three blocks. Over his last two outings, the sophomore swingman from Cal has gone 15-for-25 from the floor. 

Hunter talked about working in new pieces early this season. “I think it’s basically knowing where you’re supposed to be on the court, playing off the tendencies of other players,” said Hunter. “But since we have new guys, we have to learn it on the fly. It might not look good now, but I think it’ll definitely help us later on in the season.”

Lonzo Ball, making his first start of the season, added eight points and led Cleveland with five assists. But the Wine and Gold didn’t get much from what was left of their bench – with the Cleveland’s combined second unit going 6-of-27 from the floor in the loss. 

Coach Kenny Atkinson was pleased with his shorthanded squad’s effort in the loss. “I love how we competed – that was the baseline tonight,” said Atkinson. “We’re gonna go out, we’ll make mistakes, it’s not going to be perfect. A lot of guys in different roles. I liked our process. I didn’t like the end of the game, we started isolating. That’s the one negative. But for 97 percent of the game, I told them, I love our process, I like what we’re doing on both ends.

I love how we competed. That was the baseline tonight. We’re gonna go out, we’ll make mistakes, it’s not going to be perfect. A lot of guys in different roles. I liked our process. I didn’t like the end of the game, we started isolating. That’s the one negative. But for 97 percent of the game, I told them, I love our process, I like what we’re doing on both ends."

Three Raptors finished with 20 points on Friday – Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett and former Buckeye, Jamison Battle, who drilled all six triples he attempted on the night, going 7-for-7 from the floor and leading both teams with a +28 plus/minus number in just 15 minutes of work off the bench. 

For the second straight game, the Cavaliers bench was outscored by the same margin, 45-18, and were beaten again on the boards, 48-42. Toronto scored 30-plus points in three quarters on Friday as the Raptors snapped a five-game losing streak to the Wine and Gold, with three of those losses by at least 20 points. 

*** With his blocked shot on Friday night, Evan Mobley registered the 430^th rejection of his career and tied Roy Hinson for 7^th place on the Cavaliers all-time list. He needs 20 more to catch the great Jim Chones at No. 6 and 42 more to catch Tristan Thompson and move into the franchise’s top five. (Zydrunas Ilguaskas is the all-time leader with 1,269.)

*** After falling to the Raptors on Friday night, the Cavaliers tip off the month of November on Sunday when they welcome the Hawks to Rocket Arena. Cleveland wraps up the mini-homestand on Wednesday night when they welcome the surprising Sixers to town. On Friday night, they travel to our nation’s capital for a meeting with the Wizards and complete the back-to-back on Saturday against the Bulls.