Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell force Raptors to 9-year NBA Playoffs drought after Game 2

Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell force Raptors to 9-year NBA Playoffs drought after Game 2 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have now taken a commanding 2-0 NBA Playoffs series lead over the Toronto Raptors. For most fans, this will still be a shock. But for longtime members of the Cavs faithful, it was not at all new. This is because Donovan Mitchell and James Harden are just continuing an Eastern Conference legacy that was started when LeBron James still played for the franchise.

Cavaliers force Raptors to endure 9-year NBA Playoffs win drought

The reason why the Cavaliers were heavily favored against the Raptors was more than the fact that they were the higher seed six wins. It was because the Raptors had not won a single NBA Playoffs game against the team for nine years, per StatMuse. For context, the last time the Raptors were able to triumph was when LeBron James still played for the Cavaliers back in Game 4 of the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals.

After that, the Raptors would lose 11-straight NBA Playoffs games and end their postseason fast in the hands of the Cavaliers.

This game was not different and showed. Donovan Mitchell put up an offensive masterclass which brought the Cavaliers to a 115-105 win. He put up 30 points while knocking down 56.52% of his shots from the field while also knocking 40% of his threes. Mitchell also dropped a game-high five assists to keep the Cavaliers offense going.