LeBron's late 3 sends Cavs past Raptors
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - LeBron James joined Mark Price at the top of the Cleveland Cavaliers' all-time 3-pointers made list in style.
James' go-ahead triple with 48.1 seconds left lifted the Cavaliers to a 105- 101 win over the Toronto Raptors that upped Cleveland's winning streak to eight games.
The game was tied 99-99 before Kevin Love pump-faked from the left wing beyond the arc, dribbled to the left elbow and dished to James, who knocked down the trey from straightaway for the 802nd 3-pointer in his Cavs career.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kyle Lowry got the much larger Tristan Thompson guarding him on a switch at the other end on the left wing, but Thompson forced him to take a tough fadeaway from the left baseline and Lowry's shot hit the top of the backboard.
Lowry was then called for an intentional foul on James Jones near midcourt, and James made the foul shot with 14.2 ticks remaining for a four-point cushion. Cleveland, though, was whistled for a 5-second violation on the ensuing inbounds.
Terrence Ross' dunk with 4.2 seconds to go cut the gap to 103-101, but Kyrie Irving sunk a pair of foul shots to seal the outcome.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"If you want to be an elite team, those are the plays you have to make at the end of the game," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said.
Toronto shot 58.1 percent (38-of-62) through the first three quarters and led by as many as 10 in the fourth, but Cleveland held the Raptors to a 30 percent (6-of-20) clip in the final frame.
The Cavs outscored them 20-6 in the final 8:37.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"In the fourth quarter we really amped up our defensive intensity," Cleveland head coach David Blatt said. "That was a tough, hard victory."
James finished with 35 points, Love posted 17 points and nine rebounds and Irving added 13 points and 10 assists for Cleveland, which beat Toronto for the second time in five days. The Cavs recorded a 105-91 triumph over the Raptors Friday in Toronto.
The eight-game run in is Cleveland's longest since it also won eight in a row in March of 2010.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lowry supplied 16 points and 14 assists, while Jonas Valanciunas provided 18 points and 15 boards for the Raptors, who have dropped four of their last seven since a 13-2 start.
Landry Fields' dunk capped a 7-2 Toronto spurt late in the first to help it establish a 31-23 advantage prior to taking a 33-26 margin into the second.
The Raptors remained in front until the fourth.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Toronto led 63-55 at the break and were up by as many as 14 in the third before settling for an 88-81 spread going into the final period.
After Patrick Patterson's floater staked the Raptors to a 95-85 lead at the 3:23 mark of the fourth, the Cavs responded with a 12-2 surge to tie it.
Love netted the final five points during the burst, including a triple to cap it and knot the game at 97-97 with 3:50 to go.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Game Notes
Toronto had won its last 39 games coming in when entering the fourth quarter with a lead ... Cleveland had dropped six of its last eight home meetings against the Raptors heading in ... Lowry was 1-of-8 shooting in the fourth ... Cleveland scored 24 points off 15 Toronto turnovers.