No Bosh
No Lebron James
No Mo Pete
No Larry Hughes.
Oh...and no RaptorsTV.
Regardless, the Cavs couldn't stop the Raps who won easily in a 103-88 blowout to continue their pre-season winning ways.
Leading the way for the Raptors on the scoreboard was Jorge Garbajosa with 16 points and four rebounds. Also having solid games for the Raptors were Andrea Bargnani with 13 points, Fred Jones with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal and TJ Ford with 11 points and five assists.
But the stat-sheet MVP for the Raps? None other than Kris Humphries with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals and 2 assists in only 18 minutes.
The Cavs for the game shot only 61.9 per cent from the free throw line and had 21 turnovers while the Raptors shot a blistering 88.5 per cent from the line and turned the ball over only 12 times. The other difference was the Raptors' depth. With the Cavs' subs in the game Toronto took control finishing strong in the fourth quarter to keep their pre-season unbeaten record intact. This also handed the Cavs their third loss in four pre-season games.
Perhaps the real losers of this game though weren't the Cavs but the fans in Rochester who undoubtedly were primed to see Lebron James and Chris Bosh in action when they originally purchased their tickets. And even with the fans chanting "we want Lebron," Cavs coach Mike Brown didn't budge.
Really I feel that this is an issue the NBA should be addressing. If fans are going to be paying full price for pre-season tickets, then the players they came to see, barring injury of course, should at least see some minutes in the game. Many Raptor fans, especially from the Atlantic provinces, know all too well about situations like this and seeing them continue year after year really does not sit well with us at the HQ. I'm not sure what the solution is as obviously the coach has the ultimate say concerning his team's health and prospertity...but it just seems to me that the fans end up with the short end of the stick way too often.
FRANCHISE