Raptors vs. Cavaliers: Game 5 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

The Toronto Raptors landed two roundhouse punches in Games 3 and 4, sending the Cleveland Cavaliers reeling against the ropes as they headed back home.   

The Cavs responded Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena with what might have been a knockout blow.

LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving each scored more than 20 points, as Cleveland's three heavyweights spearheaded a 116-78 Game 5 win that sent a crushing blow to Toronto's NBA Finals hopes. The Cavaliers hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Dominant on both ends of the floor, Cleveland never trailed after taking an 8-7 lead with 8:33 remaining in the first quarter. The Cavs scored 37 points in the first and were leading by 31 heading into halftime. They finished the game shooting 57.1 percent, a complete 180 from their brick-filled trip north of the border.

Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun came up with a unique categorization:

Love, derided after a pair of all-around abysmal performances in Toronto, was a standout for the Cavs in Game 5. He went 8-of-10 from the floor, making all six of his field-goal attempts in the first half. The three-time All-Star was as hot as he's ever been in a Cavaliers uniform, even blocking two shots for the first time since March 23.

Fear the Sword offered its thoughts:

"

Kevin Love has heard your slander

— FearTheSword (@FearTheSword) May 26, 2016"

Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal hit the Twitter world with a Love fact—albeit one that could use some context:

James played a team-high 32 minutes despite the blowout, finishing with 23 points, eight assists and six rebounds. He's scored at least 20 points in all 13 postseason games and 23 straight dating back to last year's Finals run.

Shea Serrano made perhaps the most important point of all:

If the Cavs finish off Toronto in one of the final two games, James' run can be classified as nothing short of historic. The only players who have ever matched James' feat of five (soon to be six) straight Finals were members of the Boston Celtics teams of the 1950s and 1960s. There were only two rounds of the playoffs for nearly the entirety of that era and half as many teams.

(Note: James Jones would also be making his sixth straight Finals appearance if the Cavs were to advance.)

Irving, meanwhile, would be making his second straight and get a chance at redemption. He had 23 points and three assists Wednesday, shooting 9-of-17 from the field and adding three steals on the other end. Long forgotten is his 3-of-19 performance in Game 3; Irving's been brilliant offensively save for those 38 minutes.

The Raptors got next to nothing from their All-Star backcourt, with DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry (27 total points) barely combining to equal Kevin Love (25). DeRozan was back to throwing up bricks in a showing reminiscent of his first two rounds, making two of his eight shots and doing most of his damage at the free-throw line.

No shame—this is just a bad (entertaining) pun:

Lowry had as many turnovers as shots made (five) on a forgettable 13-point night. Even playoff darling Bismack Biyombo's game was limited, as the big man finished with four rebounds and only a single finger-wagging block. 

Though Game 5 also marked the return of injured center Jonas Valanciunas, his effect was minimal as well. He scored nine points on 4-of-4 shooting in 18 minutes but failed to grab a single rebound. After dominating the Cavs on the glass at home, Toronto was out-rebounded, 48-27—collecting just one more board as a team than Biyombo brought down himself in his historic Game 3 performance.

In a nutshell: What we saw here was a swift regression to the mean. The Raptors are a team two wins away from an NBA Finals berth; they've also been outscored overall this postseason. They were hot and cold through two seven-game series on their way to the conference finals, a trend that has obviously carried over.

Cleveland has outscored Toronto by 88 points in three home games. That's not a blip on the radar. All of the games have been decided by 19 or more points. The Raptors may be able to force their third Game 7 of this postseason when they return home for Game 6 on Friday—the Cavs were obviously rattled at times by the Toronto crowd—but the odds of taking down Cleveland at the Q feel remote.

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Postgame Reaction

Cavs coach Tyronn Lue spoke of Love, per USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt: "(Kevin's) confidence never wavered. He knew exactly what he had to do. We talked about it. I just want Kevin to continue to be aggressive. I don’t care about missed shots. Take your shots when you have them, be aggressive and that’s what he did."

James complimented Love, per ESPN.com: "He was just locked in. We saw that and just wanted to keep giving him the ball. The easiest one he had tonight, he missed."

Lue also talked of returning to Toronto: "Just a business trip. We know what we’re here for. We have a chance to do something special. Our guys understand that."

Toronto coach Dwane Casey commented on the difference between the Cavs at home and the road: "The force that they play with here is different. We didn’t meet it. They took us out of everything we wanted to do—physically pushed us around."

James seemed ready to finish off the series: "We ought to be able to transfer that on Friday. Playing in that beast of an arena that we're going to we got to be composed, we got to be tough and we got to be sharp."

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter