(Cleveland) Deprived of their top six scorers, the Toronto Raptors struggled well for a quarter before being outclassed 144-99 by the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Sunday.
Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Gary Trent, Scottie Barnes and Precious Achiuwa were missing in connection with the NBA protocol regarding COVID-19.
It was also the case for Khem Birch, Malachi Flynn, Isaac Bonga and Justin Champagnie, among the Raptors (14-16).
Chris Boucher, Yuta Watanabe, Svi Mykhailiuk, Dalano Banton and the rest of the visitors still concluded the first quarter with only one point behind (35-34).
That was before Lauri Markkanen scored 11 points in 3:19 (including three dunks). Cleveland then took the 48-37 lead, en route to an easy victory.
Kevin Love and Darius Garland each had 22 points, Markkanen 20 and Denzel Valentine 17. Watanabe had 26 points, five more than Boucher. DJ Wilson, one of the many players hired at the last minute, scored 15 points.
Toronto showed a low success rate of 25% for three-pointers. The Raptors also committed 21 turnovers, nine more than the Cavaliers.
The Raptors will replay Tuesday night in Toronto, against Philadelphia.
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