ROUNDUP
Cavs whip Raptors, head back to Finals
It's the third finals appearance in team history for the Cavaliers. They lost to the Warriors in six games last year and got swept by the Spurs in 2007.
For James, it's his sixth straight trip to the finals, including four with the Heat, and seventh overall. He broke the 30-point barrier for the first time this postseason and finished with 11 rebounds and six assists.
Kyrie Irving scored 30 points and J.R. Smith 15 for the Cavs, who will face the winner of the Warriors-Thunder series on Thursday. The Cavs would open at home against the Thunder but would be on the road against the 73-win Warriors, who trail 3-2 against the Thunder heading into Saturday's Game 6 in Oklahoma City.
The Cavs will be seeking to end Cleveland's 52-year championship drought, the longest by any city with at least three professional teams. No Cleveland team has won it all since the Browns blanked the Baltimore Colts 27-0 to win the NFL championship in 1964.
Kyle Lowry scored 35 points and DeMar DeRozan had 20 as the deepest playoff run in Raptors team history ended, much to the disappointment of a sellout crowd of 20,605 dressed in red-and-white T-shirts that formed a maple leaf pattern on either side of the court. Fans stood and cheered, “Let's go, Raptors! Let's go, Raptors!” throughout most of the final three minutes.
The Raptors prolonged the series with back-to-back home wins in Games 3 and 4 but never mounted much of a challenge to the conference champions in Game 6, falling behind by 21 in the third quarter.
The Cavs came in 0-4 at Air Canada Centre counting the regular season and playoffs, but looked much more like the team that handed the Raptors a trio of lopsided losses in Cleveland this series.
James scored 14 in the first period and five of the Cavs' nine field goals were from long range as they led 31-25 after one. They went 10-for-15 on 3s in the first half, compared to a 2-for-12 showing by the Raptors, who trailed 55-41 at halftime.
Tempers flared early in the second when the Cavs' Richard Jefferson reacted angrily to catching an elbow from Jonas Valanciunas as the two battled for a rebound. Patrick Patterson came over and shoved Jefferson out of the way. Both Patterson and Jefferson were given technical fouls.
The Raptors trailed 88-78 on a jumper by DeRozan with 10 minutes, 23 seconds remaining, but James led a 14-3 run that gave the Cavs a 102-81 lead with about six minutes left.