When the Cleveland Cavaliers barely squeaked by the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the 2018 NBA playoffs, not many people gave them a chance against the top-seeded Toronto Raptors. Sure, fans knew that LeBron James could keep the Cavs competitive but he needed to do it almost alone in a Herculean effort just to beat the Pacers. However, LeBron got help in the second round as Kevin Love finally came back to life and the two ended up destroying the Raptors in a four-game sweep. They won one game in overtime and won Game 3 on a last-second shot.

However, Cleveland came into Game 4 and won by 35 points in a complete demolishing of the Raptors, sweeping their Eastern Conference rivals and waiting to see who is coming for the Eastern Conference Finals.

Raptors players react to the loss

The Toronto Raptors never expected this to happen. Even if they lost to the Cavs, no one on the Raptors team could have expected another sweep -- following up the sweep from last season as well. Toronto finished the season with a record of 59-23, the best in the East, and looked poised to finally pass the Cavaliers in the playoffs. It didn't happen and now their season is over with.

DeMar DeRozan said that maybe the Cavs just have their numbers. He said the last three seasons, the Cleveland Cavaliers is the reason they have not advanced in the playoffs and it has been rough for them to compete against LeBron and the Cavs.

He said that things just don't go right for them when Toronto plays Cleveland.

DeRozen refused to give LeBron James all the credit, saying that the teammates with James are just as responsible for the wins and the sweep.

Kyle Lowry called the entire situation "frustrating" and said that the fact they lost by 35 points makes it just as frustrating as losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers by any number of points.

The bad news for the Toronto Raptors is that they have lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers three years in a row.

According to DeRozan, there is a chance that the Raptors will never get this chance again. He did say that they need to get stronger after the loss, but they head into the summer not knowing if this was their last chance or not.

What is next for the Cavs?

While the Toronto Raptors are going home for the summer, the Cleveland Cavaliers will head back to the Eastern Conference Finals for the fourth straight season and are waiting to see who is next. The Boston Celtics are up on the Philadelphia 76ers three games to one, and the East might see the same finals as last season if Boston wins one more game.
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