Toronto Raptors 106-112 Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 Talking Points 

In the matchup between two of the top 3 teams in the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers got the better of the Toronto Raptors yet again to clinch the season series. Toronto jumped to an early lead, but it was all Cleveland the rest of the way as the Cavs dispatched the Raptors with relative ease despite what the final score suggests.

LeBron James led the way with 27 points and passed Kobe Bryant for the 3rd most 20-point games in NBA history with his 942nd such game. The win was Cleveland's 4th in a row and the Cavs are finishing strong with just one loss in their last 10 games while the same cannot be said about the Raptors who are stumbling towards the finish line.

Here are five talking points from the game.

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#5 Toronto's bench strength

Fred VanVleet

The only way the Raptors are going to have any success come playoff time is going to be the bench production. The 2nd unit delivered once again with 45 points as Pascal Siakam led the way with 10 points and Fred VanVleet chipped in with 9 points and 6 assists.

The Toronto bench has been one of the best 2nd units in the league all season and despite putting up one of their better performances, it still wasn't enough. The bench really kept the game close for 3 quarters as the starters seemed to falter again and again.

The Cavs started to pull away in the 4th and Dwane Casey pulled the starters out, down 13 with 2 minutes left, only for the Raptors bench unit to slash it down to 4 with 11 seconds remaining, but it was too late by then.

The bench play against one of your biggest obstacles come playoff time should give Casey some encouragement, but the starters will have to play much better.

#4 Raptors needed more from DeRozan

DeMar DeRozan

DeMar DeRozan has been a beast this season which is why it was really disappointing to see him be so passive in the first half. He did end up with 19 points on better than 50% shooting so it's somewhat weird that he didn't shoot more than just 13 times.

He was sensational against Boston a couple of nights back and Toronto needs those kinds of performances every night considering the lack of another go-to scoring option. Jonas Valanciunas and Serge Ibaka put in decent performances and if DeRozan had played better from the get-go they might have had a chance to win this one.

What is a bit worrisome is that this wasn't a one-off against Cleveland. His scoring has dipped when going up against the Cavs and he hasn't put up 20 points in two of the three games.

In their only win over the Cavs, he was a non-factor and it was the bench, which scored a ridiculous 76 points that led them to victory and that won't happen again

If Toronto is to stand any chance against Cleveland come playoff time, they need DeMar to put up close to 30 every game and he hasn't shown any reason why you'd think that's gonna happen based on the three regular-season encounters.

#3 LeBron James delivers again

'King' James

LeBron James did what he usually does when going up against Toronto, dominate them. James finished with 27 points, 6 assists, and 10 rebounds and barely needed to hit top gear.

James attacked the rim with ease and the Raptors had no answer for him. Turnovers remain a problem and he had 5 against the Raptors after that amazing 17 assists 0 turnovers performance last time around.

He had plenty of help too, with Kevin Love dropping 18 points to go along with 15 rebounds and Rodney Hood scored 17 points. The Cavs should be fine against any team in the East as long as the rest of the starters put up solid numbers.

The bench might be a slight concern as they only had 19 points, well below the 41 they usually put up and it was they who allowed the Raptors to cut that double-digit lead down to 4, late in the game. Still, the Cavs would be confident should the teams face off come playoffs, as there's nobody on Toronto's roster who can bother LeBron even a bit.

#2 Kyle Lowry massively underperforms

Another bummer from Kyle Lowry

Oh Kyle, not again!

After laying an egg against Boston, Kyle Lowry had a shot at redemption against Cleveland and he was woeful. Lowry ended with 5 points, 3 assists, and 5 rebounds to go along with 3 turnovers in his 28 minutes on the floor and the Raptors were much better with VanVleet on the court.

What makes this performance even worse was his defense. I'm sorry, but there is no way Jose Calderon should be scoring 14 points by the half. Calderon seemed to be getting open far too often and was even hitting pull-up jump shots over Lowry. Jose slowed down in the 2nd half, but still outplayed Lowry on the whole, ending up with 19 points and 4 assists.

The questions will be asked again about Lowry come the big moments and his playoff failures are well documented. Perhaps going all the way to San Antonio to watch the NCAA Championship game a day before facing Cleveland wasn't the best of ideas, eh Kyle?

#1 Same old Raptors

Serge Ibaka and OG Anunoby

As much as I would like to buy into the Raptors, I just can't. Yes, they've boasted a top 5 offense and defense for much of the year, but they just don't seem to get it done when it counts most.

They have now lost the season series to Cleveland and are already down 2-1 to the Celtics heading into their encounter tomorrow. To make matters worse, both of their losses have come with Kyrie Irving out for the Celtics.

Home court advantage is going to be very important for Toronto come playoff time and they could potentially lose it with Indiana and Miami left on the schedule after Boston. Worryingly for Casey, the Raptors are faltering down the stretch.

An 11 game-winning run at the beginning of March has been followed up by going 3-5 in their last 8 games with all 3 wins against teams which would miss the playoffs as of today.

The last 2 games have once again revealed the same old problems that Toronto has and should they lose to an undermanned Boston again tomorrow, there would be no doubt left in anyone's mind that it's the same old same old.