NBA scores 2016: A friendly reminder that the Cavaliers still rule the East

It’s Cleveland’s conference thanks to LeBron James.

Nov 16, 2016, 1:30 PM UTC

NBA: Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Sure, the Cleveland Cavaliers are different this season. They have a bit more swagger. They just visited the White House. The whole team feels more cohesive, if that’s possible. But nothing has changed about how good they are.

No, Cleveland sure isn’t releasing their death grip on the East. The conference that LeBron James has ruled over for more than a decade (winning it six straight times) is still his to rule, and a 121-117 victory against the Toronto Raptors confirmed that — as if anyone had doubts.

It wasn’t easy from start to finish, but Cleveland outscored the Raptors 7-2 in the final minute, erasing the narrow one-point lead the Cavaliers had to start the quarter. Their defense ratcheted up, Channing Frye nailed a huge three-pointer to put Cleveland up, 117-115, and the rest was sealed with some shoddy late-game Toronto offense.

Besides the extra finger bling, there are changes with the Cavaliers this season. LeBron James is making a concerted effort to let Kyrie Irving shoot more — you’ll frequently see him immediately give it back to Irving after a kickout pass, in a position where he might take in himself in year’s past. Kevin Love didn’t shoot too well on Tuesday (5-of-16 from the floor), but his shots feel more in the flow of the offense than they ever have. The team is showing tremendous courage to keep playing without Delly on the roster, and this is only mostly a joke. It’s probably easier to see these things knowing Cleveland is the NBA’s reigning champions, but they still seem poignant.

The win moves the Cavaliers to 9-1 on the season, and it looks like they’ll be the inevitable No. 1 seed who is likely destined for the Finals. So far, the Raptors look like their most likely challenger. We thoroughly enjoyed last year’s Cavaliers vs. Raptors matchup, so what’s wrong with one more? But you also can’t watch Tuesday’s game and not feel even a little sympathy for the Raptors.

Toronto is as good as they’ve ever been in franchise history — and they didn’t even see it coming, almost blowing up the team before they started winning everything back in 2013. They’ll happily take another loss in the conference finals, even if they’d love to have more. You have to feel a little sympathy that maybe the Raptors would have a better chance if it wasn’t for James. But in the end, there’s nothing they can do. He’s just so good, as is the team in Cleveland around him.

Welcome back to the Eastern Conference. It’s pretty much the same as last year, with the Cavaliers on top, and that’s totally fine.

The Timberwolves’ third quarter woes are baffling

Minnesota beat the Hornets by 12 points in the first, second and fourth quarter on Tuesday. But that wasn’t enough for a win, because the Timberwolves lost the third quarter by 19.

Nineteen.

This is a continuation of a very bizarre trend. Take a look at this.

That’s right: the Timberwolves have the second-best net rating in the first and second quarters, along with the ninth-best one in the fourth quarter. But in the third quarter, they’re the worst and it’s not even close. That’s a net rating of minus-33.1.

Holy cow. The Timberwolves are 3-7, but Jim’s assessment in his tweet could be spot-on. If Minnesota could just figure out what’s screwing them coming out of the half, this might be a team that easily wins more than 40 games despite the poor start.

But while it seems likely the Timberwolves’ third quarter performances improve, perhaps that negative net rating spreads itself out among the other three frames as well. I’d lean towards Minnesota being good, but with strange splits like this, it’s really anybody’s guess.

Let’s watch this Ricky Rubio pass forever

Enjoy the simple things in life.

Tuesday’s top performers

Kemba Walker (30 points, 12-of-19 shooting, five rebounds, six assists, five steals)

There’s no bigger contributor to Charlotte’s 7-3 start than Walker, who is shattering his career marks by averaging 25 points and hitting 47 percent of his three-pointers. His game on Tuesday was more of the same.

Kyle Lowry (28 points, 11-of-23 shooting, five rebounds, nine assists, four steals)

There’s no denying how great DeMar DeRozan has been — or how bizarre it is he’s leading the league in scoring. But Lowry might still be Toronto’s best player, and the fiery point guard made a play for the Raptors almost every chance they needed one despite the eventual loss.

LeBron James (28 points, 9-of-14 shooting, nine rebounds, 14 assists)

James makes several plays on a nightly basis that are totally ridiculous, and still seem completely normal for him.

Hassan Whiteside (19 points, 25 rebounds)

Whiteside wasn’t great on offense, but sometimes that stuff just doesn’t matter as much when you grab TWENTY-FIVE rebounds.

Julius Randle (17 points, 5-of-8 shooting, 13 rebounds, 10 assists)

There were good performances by several Lakers, including seven triples from D’Angelo Russell. But Tuesday was about Randle and his continuation of a really good season.