CLEVELAND

On the morning of the latest, biggest game in Raptors history — just before 2 in the morning to be precise — two prominent Toronto players were spotted walking through a downtown Cleveland casino with a large group, clearly not in game-preparation mode.

This may have had nothing to do with how or why the Raptors were decimated and embarrassed 116-78 again by the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final. But it makes you wonder.

Why?

Why would DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph put their own reputations in question, possibly put their team in question, by being seen wandering around in the middle of the night?

The Raptors had a team dinner on Tuesday night and stayed together to watch the Western Conference game between Oklahoma City and Golden State. Then it was supposed to be bed time. That’s what coach Dwane Casey believed.

“I didn’t know that,” said Casey, when told his starting small forward and backup point guard were spotted at the Jack Casino, a short walk from the Quicken Loans Arena early Wednesday morning. “This has nothing to do with curfew.

“This isn’t why we lost ... This is the NBA, they’re grown men. These are grown men. These things happen.”

Neither Casey nor the team indicated whether there would be any kind of fine for Carroll and Joseph being outed.

“It was an 8:30 game. That’s the good thing I guess,” said Casey.

Deadline pressure meant neither Carroll or Joseph were available post-game to be asked about their indiscretion.

Excuses aside, the optics aren’t good. The Raptors won two spectacular games at home trying the series with Cleveland. This was their opportunity really to jump into the clouds, to be where no one thought was possible. At least to put them in a position to do so.

But this was this was the most one-sided of the three one-sided losses in Cleveland. This was the foregone-conclusion kind of game many expected this series to be about. The starting lineup of the Raptors was outscored 87-46 by the Cleveland starting lineup.

After the score was 24-20 late in the first quarter, the Raptors were outscored 92-58 the rest of the way.

Carroll played 26 minutes and scored five points. He was eaten alive by LeBron James again.

Joseph played only 10:14 in a blowout, which was indication enough what the coach thought of his game. He had three points and a technical foul: He didn’t hit blackjack.

They weren’t good “but that’s not why we lost,” said Casey.

“They kicked our butts. That’s the bottom line. We didn’t meet that standard tonight for whatever reason.

“It’s embarrassing tonight. But it’s one game. We need the same focus and physicality to meet what Cleveland is doing. We won two, they won three.

“Against Cleveland, we’ve got to come out with a different sense of urgency. We knew they were going to come out like a freight train and they did. They were locked in from the start to the finish. The force they play with is different here. We didn’t meet it. We had an opportunity to do something special and we didn’t get it done.”

That’s why the backdrop of Carroll and Joseph being caught out late has to be troublesome. It may not, as Casey said, be the reason they lost. It wasn’t. But what if it was symptomatic of something else? Players not necessarily prepared? Players not taking their jobs seriously?

“It’s one game,” said Casey. “As much as it hurts, it’s tough.” It’s one game. A 38-point loss in Cleveland after a 19 point loss in Cleveland after a 31-point loss in Cleveland.

Kyle Lowry didn’t have a horrible game. DeMar DeRozan didn’t have a horrible game. The team had a horrible game and the Cavaliers basically removed them from the game. They couldn’t handle the Raptors backcourt in Toronto. They physically controlled all of it Wednesday night.

“We can’t play our game (here), can’t find our energy,” said Bismack Biyombo, so brilliant in Toronto, so invisible here for an enormous man. “We were a completely different team in how we played at home or here ... Now we have to come back here.”

They first have to win on Friday night. Is that possible now? Or is this series basically over? It was a great run by the Raptors, for as long as it has been, for as engaging it has been.

But you expected more from them Wednesday night and more very early Wednesday morning.