The Cavaliers have been shorthanded on countless occasions this year. Monday night’s contest took that to the extreme.
Down seven rotation players and playing the second-half of a back-to-back, the Wine & Gold closed out their recent roadie in the Sunshine State, keeping up with the Raptors for most of the night before running out of gas in the final period – dropping the 112-96 decision to the Raptors in Tampa.
Playing without Collin Sexton (concussion), Larry Nance Jr. (thumb), Taurean Prince (ankle), Matthew Dellavedova (neck), Lamar Stevens (concussion), Dylan Windler (knee) and Isaiah Hartenstein (concussion), the Cavaliers actually jumped out to a 10-2 lead to start the game and held Toronto to just 16 points in the second quarter.