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Cavs crush Toronto in NBA series-opener

Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue has praised Matthew Dellavedova and his other bench players for a decisive second-quarter charge against the Raptors.

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Source: AAP


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The Cleveland Cavaliers have continued to blaze a path through the NBA Playoffs by demolishing the Toronto Raptors in game one of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Cavaliers won 115-84 on Tuesday on their home court, the largest playoff win in the team's history.

The Cavs, yet to lose a game this post-season, were led by superstar duo Kyrie Irving (27 points) and LeBron James (24 points).

Australian guard Matthew Dellavedova was highly efficient, scoring nine points by connecting with three of his four shots and leading a decisive second-quarter charge against the Raptors.

It was Cavaliers' coach Tyronn Lue's decision to go with a lineup of James and bench players Dellavedova, Channing Frye, Iman Shumpert and Richard Jefferson in the second quarter that broke the game open.

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The Raptors started the game with a 7-0 lead.

"We needed a lift," Lue said.

"We had a rough start to the game and our bench came in and did a phenomenal job."

The Cavaliers were up 33-28 at the start of the second quarter and by the time Dellavedova subbed out with six minutes left in the period they had raced to a 50-32 lead and were never challenged.

Dellavedova had a reverse layup, a three-pointer and tossed an alley-oop pass to James during the scoring spurt.

The Cavaliers have stormed through the playoffs, sweeping the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds.

They were so efficient in eliminating the Hawks they had an eight day break waiting for the Raptors to eliminate the Miami Heat in a tense seven-game series.

James' squad, however, showed no rust, while the Raptors appeared tired after a Heat series that saw three games go to overtime.

DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 18 points but it was never close to enough as fellow scoring leader Kyle Lowry struggled for just eight points.

Game two is in Cleveland on Thursday.

In the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors will be desperate for a win in game two of their series against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Oakland on Wednesday.

The Thunder pulled off a come-from-behind victory in Monday's opener 108-102 on the Warriors' home court.

Warriors' Australian centre Andrew Bogut says he will be fit for game two despite a groin strain and a sore knee after knocking knees with Thunder star Kevin Durant.


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