The Cleveland Cavaliers apparently remembered to eat their Wheaties when they woke up Wednesday morning.
While America was busy apologizing to the Toronto Raptors for overlooking them, the Cavaliers casually took their two consecutive losses in stride and prepared for Game 5 at home. Whatever they did worked, as the Cavs set an NBA record en route to a lopsided 116-78 Game 5 blowout, pushing Toronto to the brink of elimination.
.@cavs raced out to a Conference Finals record 31-point lead, 65-34, at half of G5 #CAVSvRAPTORS, shot 62.5% FG% pic.twitter.com/3031z155aV
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) May 26, 2016
One more win for Cleveland means LeBron James would advance to his sixth consecutive NBA Finals. James already became just the second player in NBA history to reach five consecutive Finals, joining Hall of Famer Bill Russell, after the Cavaliers won the Eastern Conference last season.
Cleveland dominated the game from tip-off. Kevin Love scored a game-high 25 points for the Cavaliers, while Raptors All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry combined for just 27 points and a horrific minus-57 plus-minus rating. James and Kyrie Irving added 23 points each for the Cavs.
Love (25p), LBJ (23p) + Kyrie (23p) combined for 71p on 61.4% FG% (27/44 FG's) in @cavs G5 #CAVSvRAPTORS win. pic.twitter.com/EdUcbG9rnA
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) May 26, 2016
*7-0.
7th time this season LeBron/Love/Irving have each scored 20+ points in a game.
The Cavaliers are 6-0 this season when they all do so.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 26, 2016
Cavaliers reach 100 points within 3 quarters for 2nd time this season (also did it earlier in playoffs vs Hawks)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 26, 2016
The 38-point margin of victory for the Cavaliers is tied for 5th-largest in Conference Finals history
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 26, 2016
For the Raptors, it seems playing at Quicken Loans Arena is like their own personal Earth-destroying asteroid 64 million years in the making.
The #Raptors are now 0-4 in Cleveland this year. In those 4 losses to @Cavs, Toronto's lost by a combined total of 110 points! #CavsRaptors
— Kenny "The Roadman" Roda🎙🎧📻🏈⚾️🏀🏒⚽️ (@TheKennyRoda) May 26, 2016
And history isn’t on their side.
LeBron James is 8-1 all-time in series in which his teams take a 3-2 lead including a perfect 3-0 in the Conference Finals
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 26, 2016
The Raptors have at least one last chance at survival, as the series shifts to Toronto for Game 6 on Friday night. And, hey, now that the asteroid hit, things can only get better. Right?
Thumbnail photo via David Richard/USA TODAY Sports Images