Cavs’ confidence doesn’t crack after first postseason pitfall

7:13 PM ET

TORONTO – The Cleveland Cavaliers were dominated by the Toronto Raptors in a 99-84 loss in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday. The Cavs were held to just 35.4 percent shooting, were outrebounded 54-40 and never held a lead past the 7:25 mark of the first quarter, trailing by as many as 18 points.

For the first time since LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love all played in a playoff game together, the Cavs lost, breaking a 14-0 mark.

It’s a significant moment for this Cavs team and a potential pitfall for both Love and Irving, who shot a combined 4-for-28 from the field in Game 3, to navigate. If they pick their games up and help send the series back to Cleveland with the Cavs holding a commanding 3-1 lead, Saturday becomes a blip. But should the Raptors tie things at 2-2, with Jonas Valanciunas potentially giving them a boost for the remainder of the series in his return from a sprained ankle, the Cavs could find themselves with a legitimate challenge on their hands.

The timing of the Cavs’ struggles with former coach David Blatt in town to speak at a coaching clinic was purely coincidental, but it served as an opportunity to contrast how the team responds to winning and losing since Blatt was let go.

Sunday marked four months to the day since Cleveland general manager David Griffin dismissed Blatt on a Friday afternoon and delivered a state-of-the-team address to the media at the Cavs’ practice facility.

“I know, and you have all seen, that we have a locker room of guys that really overcome adversity well,” Griffin said then. “I think we’ve shown that over and over again. When we made the trades last year, when you saw us play with …

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