All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving needed help putting his Duke sweatshirt over his head after the Cavaliers’ 100-96 loss to the Toronto Raptors Sunday, a clear indication that his left shoulder contusion was far more painful than watching his team flounder through another awful third quarter.
Irving was driving to the basket when he took a hip check from Toronto rookie Jonas Valanciunas with 2:04 left in the third quarter and went down hard on his left shoulder under the Cavs basket.
He was asked if he could compare it to the sprained right shoulder that caused him to miss 10 games near the end of last season but he said: “No. Totally different.”
Unfortunately, what was exactly the same was the way the Cavs started the second half. After building a 17-point lead in the second quarter, they let the Raptors get within 55-49 at halftime. Then Toronto outscored Cleveland in the third quarter, 33-19, as the Cavs missed 11 of their first 13 shots and 18-of-24 overall. Terrence Ross had 10 points and Valanciunas added nine for the Raptors, who shot 50 percent in the period.
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