This was the first real glimpse of what a playoff series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors would look like in this current iteration of the two teams.

Excuses could be made on both sides (Raptors playing a back-to-back, third game in four nights, 9th game in 14 nights; Cavaliers playing without four useful players in Larry Nance Jr., Kyle Korver, Rodney Hood, Cedi Osman, and a wasteman from Brampton) but both teams sensed the importance of the moment and played accordingly.

The atmosphere at Predatory Loans Arena was electric. Cleveland’s crowd was roaring, and the game was broadcast on ESPN. Both teams brought their best effort.

Having said that, neither team was particularly interested in playing defense in the first half, and some hot 3-point shooting by the Raptors (12–18 3PT) and phenomenal ball movement (17 assists) allowed them to have the lead.

Cleveland closed the gap with an emphatic 34–20 third quarter. Toronto’s shaky 3-point shooting reared its ugly head, which set the stage for a narrow finish. Neither team pulled ahead too far, but the Raptors’ nip-and-tuck approach eventually caved to the Cavaliers’ sheer talent advantage when it came to shooters who could actually make shots.

(Also, LeBron James had one of the best games of his career, so much so that I could have sworn Chris Bosh’s girlfriend was shit talking him from the sideline or something.)

Given the importance of this game, I’ve expanded the 10 things column accordingly.

LeBron rules everything (1)

Every single possession comes down to LeBron James now that Kyrie Irving is gone, and that’s a problem for the Raptors.

Irving and James used to take turns running the ship, and that presented moments where the Raptors could capitalize. The Raptors cannot stop James whatsoever and that has held true forever. But Irving would sometimes run hot and cold — most notably in Game 3 of the 2016 ECF when he shot 3–19 and Toronto won — the Raptors could capitalize. These opportunities no longer exist.

James only sat for two quick four-minute breathers in the second and fourth quarters. The Raptors were plus-9 in those minutes, which largely comes down to their bench walloping their counterparts.

James also had the best game of his career in terms of playmaking. He dished out 17 assists (11 threes, 4 layups) while scoring 35 points on 11–19 shooting with 12–14 on free throws against zero turnovers. He’s LeBron fucking James. Never forget this.

What didn’t work against LeBron (2)

This title is somewhat misleading, since nothing really works against James.

There are only degrees to which you get dominated by him, as demonstrated by Andre Iguodala’s 2015 Finals MVP for “holding” James to 36–13–9.

Let’s arrange these into levels:

dominated — think DeMarre Carroll where you put up no resistance at all and need help.

— think DeMarre Carroll where you put up no resistance at all and need help. beaten — think P.J. Tucker where you put up some resistance but still need help.

think P.J. Tucker where you put up some resistance but still need help. smothered — uhh … maybe Kawhi Leonard in 2014? Maybe?

OG Anunoby was just flat out dominated, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. Not only is he a rookie coming off an ACL injury, but he’s also been shaky since his ankle injury. Harrison Barnes torched him, so James walking right by OG from start to finish was not surprising.

The hope is that OG can at least make James work a tiny bit and hopefully exhaust him over the course of a game. He did no such thing.

Jonas Valanciunas was dominated on switches, which shouldn’t be a surprise. The most defense Valanciunas has ever played against James was in 2015 when he tackled him. James can attack Valanciunas in pick-and-roll at any time and get a bucket.

Serge Ibaka was dominated on switches. Again, this is not surprising since James literally spun the ball in front of Ibaka last year. The expectation when the Raptors traded for (and then re-signed; although I think that was a combo deal with his agent Andy Miller who also represented Kyle Lowry) was that Ibaka could at least hang with James on switches, similar to how Bismack Biyombo did in 2016. Ibaka is no Bismack.

Kyle Lowry was beaten by James. Lowry wasn’t the primary defender on James very often, but when he did check him in transition and on switches, Lowry played above his size as you would expect. It’s all smart and heart with Lowry and he does rise to the challenge quite often.

Pascal Siakam as the lone hope (3)

Siakam was the only primary defender who was beaten by James, and he rightfully closed the game along with his life partner Jakob Poeltl.

Part of this speaks to James’ unfamiliarity with Siakam. You could see the supercomputer whirling in James’ mind in the first half as he tried to post up and drive over Siakam to no avail. Siakam’s length and quickness was a nuisance, and some dutiful help defense by Poeltl at the rim really did the trick. James was momentarily bothered and Cleveland scored just 22 points in the second quarter.

James eventually solved Siakam and Poeltl by the end, as he threw down two monster dunks in the fourth quarter. But there is hope in that it took actual effort to get past Siakam, whereas it took nothing for James to power past Ibaka and Anunoby.

Expect more of Siakam’s minutes to overlap with those of James going forward. However, this presents the issue of spacing, as no Cavalier made any effort to guard Siakam on the perimeter. This also would require Dwane Casey to shuffle his substitution pattern, and is usually a push-comes-to-shove decision maker rather than a proactive one.

Scoring isn’t a problem … (4)

Cleveland’s defense is hilariously bad, and no matter how they shuffle the lineup, they will always be nothing more than average.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Raptors scored at will. The changes to their offensive system is such that there will be open threes and layups in abundance. Most nights it comes down to converting them, but you really can’t ask for much more than 14 threes.

(Granted, C.J. Miles missing this game to shit his guts out really was not ideal, especially when the Raptors needed a quick three in the dying minutes.)

DeRozan has a one-on-one advantage over whoever he goes up against, which is why Cleveland sends double teams. He did a good job of passing out of them when he needed to, while also remaining aggressive when attacking in isolation.

Lowry’s pull-up three was deadly tonight, but that comes and goes. He’ll be hot at least twice in a playoff series. Lowry can also get inside the paint and find his big man for easy pick-and-roll scores since Cleveland is so disorganized after conceding dribble penetration.

Toronto’s bench is much better than Cleveland’s. Even without Miles, Delon Wright can still get to the rim, Fred VanVleet can still get open on threes, and Poeltl can still have his assorted duck in’s and offensive rebounds.

… Until it is (5)

Having said that, the Raptors still needed a few calls to go their way for the crunch time offense to work, whereas the Cavaliers can consistently generate a good look.

Lowry and DeRozan were both awarded free throws on their desperation drives in the fourth, which can disappear based on the whim of the officials. Rely on these calls have not worked in the past and will not work in the future.

Otherwise, the crunch time offense is uncertain. DeRozan can get you a bucket, but that bucket is usually a midrange pull-up. He could get to the rim but he will see double- and triple-teams. It’s on the other players to capitalize.

Siakam, again, was the hero.

Love lockdown (6)

Stopping James is impossible, but giving a decent effort against Kevin Love shouldn’t be out of the question for a supposed stopper like Ibaka.

It’s one thing for Valanciunas to get burnt. Love had Valanciunas chasing ghosts with his pump fakes and outside shot which directly exploit Valanciunas’ two biggest weaknesses (quick decision making and lead feet). You live with those possessions because Valanciunas scores on the other end with the same amount of ease and unlocks the pick-and-roll game.

(As a point of reference, I added some clips of how Siakam guarded Love.)

It’s another thing for Ibaka to get worked by Love. His sole purpose is to defend, but just as in last year’s playoffs, Love torched Ibaka just as much as he did with Valanciunas, except Ibaka was soul-suckingly awful on offense.

What was disappointing was that Poeltl also struggled against Love. Cleveland got great mileage from a two-man action in the corner between Love and a shooter (usually George Hill or J.R. Smith). The Raptors tried to play it straight up, Love’s movement created gaps for James to exploit.

The bottom line is that the Raptors cannot survive Love scoring 23 points on 15 shots. This is where Ibaka’s shortcomings hurt the most.

Serge Ibargnani, what are you even saying? (7)

I’ve reached the point where I cannot keep typing through gritted teeth, as even hours later it still cheeses me how utterly awful Ibaka was at just about everything.

Ibaka was quite possibly the worst player on the floor tonight. OG got burned but he didn’t play much. Jordan Clarkson insisted on shooting awful shots but none of his misses were as important as Ibaka’s bricks.

Credit DeRozan for making the right play. The Cavaliers trapped him, and DeRozan would routinely make quick passes out of the double to reverse the ball and get open shots.

Here’s the result of DeRozan’s hard work (WARNING: This video will make you want to throw your phone in disgust):

That’s the halfway culture change. DeRozan changed his approach with his passing and playmaking, but that Patrick Pattersonitis still remains. Ibaka’s clanked threes ensured that the Raptors couldn’t hold the lead in the third quarter, and just for good measure, be bricked another key three in the fourth.

Without the threes, Ibaka is useless on offense. He lacks touch on his driving layups and his high dribble is prone to theft. His midrange shot is decent but it doesn’t make a difference. Ibaka is also awful on the offensive glass.

Having said that, Ibaka’s main job is to defend, and he couldn’t even do that. He failed on every level.

Could he guard his own man? Nah. Love killed him.

Could he guard LeBron on switches? Don’t be ridiculous.

Could he effectively help at the rim? He makes no difference and just leaves shooters open.

Could he even stop George Hill? What part of “Ibaka is a $20M IG honey” didn’t you understand?

I want to give him and his Lego Bionicle knees the benefit of the doubt in this packed stretch of games, but mostly, I just want to not have to rely on Ibaka whatsoever because he is consistently unreliable.

Fluky shooting (8)

The Cavaliers hold both the regular season and playoff record for most threes made in game, so they can definitely get hot.

They shot 15–24 for 62.5 percent from deep, and the game-winning shot was a tough Love three over a wicked contest by Siakam.

When the outside shot is dropping, there’s simply nothing the Raptors can do. Even the otherwise unbeaten 2017 Warriors lost a game to the Cavaliers on this rule. Cleveland’s shooters will kill you, and they didn’t even have Korver or Hood for this game.

Having said that, the combination of George Hill and Jose Calderon going for 36 points on 15–18 shooting is just insane.

Veteran tricks (9)

You’re going to see this sneaky grab by Hill in the Last Two-Minute report on the drive-and-kick by James that set up Love’s three.

If you look carefully, Hill grabs Siakam on the screen, which gives James a vital first step towards the basket. That allowed him to draw the help, and Love makes no mistake.

My point here isn’t to cry foul, but rather it’s to illustrate how experience works in Cleveland’s favor. Hill knows that officials wouldn’t call a ticky-tack grab at the end of the game, so he capitalized. Knowing when to color outside of the lines is important.

Lesson learned (10)

What this game should do is dispel any fantasies that the Raptors are a clear cut above the Cavaliers. You are out of your goddamn mind if you think a team with shooters around prime LeBron is going to be an easy out.

It’s obvious that the Raptors have improved as compared to previous seasons. Their offensive approach is no longer as reliant on Lowry and DeRozan to get buckets, and they’re generating better shots that should lead to better results.

However, Cleveland’s talent advantage on offense is still quite clear. And without a viable defensive solution against James, their shooters will probably make more threes than the Raptors would.

Having said all that, the two teams are close enough such that it should be a competitive series. Given that the Raptors will have home-court advantage, let’s call it Cavs in 6 until further notice.