Cavaliers rout the Raptors, 108-89, and are 10-0 in the postseason

LeBron James had a triple-double and the Cleveland Cavaliers stayed postseason perfect through 10 games with a 108-89 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.

James had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists as the Cavaliers became the fourth team in NBA history to start 10-0 in the playoffs, joining the Lakers (1989, 2001) and San Antonio Spurs (2012). Only the second Lakers team won a title, and the Cavaliers are now two wins from appearing in the NBA Finals for the second year in a row and trying to end Cleveland’s 52-year sports championship drought.

Kyrie Irving scored 26 and Kevin Love 19 for Cleveland.

The Raptors managed to hang around longer than in Game 1, when they were blown out by 31. But Toronto lacks the necessary firepower to stay with a Cleveland team playing its best basketball this season, one that James likened to a football team.

“We play offense, we play defense and we’re great at special teams as well,” he said.

Game 3 is Saturday in Toronto, where Raptors All-Star guard Kyle Lowry can only hope the rims at Air Canada Centre are kinder than the ones in Quicken Loans Arena.

Lowry scored 10 points and is shooting eight of 28 from the field, including one of 15 on three-point attempts. DeMar DeRozan scored 22 for the Raptors.

James moved past Shaquille O’Neal into fourth place on the career postseason scoring list and posted his 15th playoff triple-double, securing it by running down rebound No. 10 with 8 minutes 1 second left.

Missing center Jonas Valanciunas because of a sprained right ankle, Raptors Coach Dwane Casey tweaked his lineup by starting forward Luis Scola over Patrick Patterson. The move helped Toronto’s second unit, as Patterson and Terrance Ross gave the Raptors an early lift and had them tied with the Cavs at 46-all.

But Cleveland closed the first half with a 16-2 burst, capped by a three-point play from James, who was already flirting with a triple-double when he headed to the locker room.