Cavaliers vs. Raptors: Game 6 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

The home team won the first five games of the Eastern Conference Finals, but the Cleveland Cavaliers bucked the trend with a series-clinching 113-87 victory over the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre on Friday night.

The Cavaliers are now headed to their second consecutive NBA Finals, while LeBron James will make his sixth straight appearance with a Larry O’Brien Trophy on the line. According to ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst, James and teammate James Jones are the first players to qualify for six straight Finals since Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics did so in the 1960s.

Adi Joseph of Sporting News put James’ historic run into perspective: 

Kyrie Irving was wrapping up high school the last time LeBron wasn’t in the Finals.

— Adi Joseph (@AdiJoseph) May 28, 2016

James, who played 41 minutes before sitting for the final 3:06 of the contest, finished with 33 points (13-of-22 shooting, 3-of-6 from three), 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocks in a signature closeout performance. Game 6 also marked the first time he has topped 30 points in a postseason game this year. 

NBA.com’s John Schuhmann noted James’ performance throughout the series could shift some narratives: 

Over the last week or so, LeBron & KD have been making the “best player in the world” question incredibly difficult to answer.

— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) May 28, 2016

And as was the case in Game 5, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love provided plenty of reinforcements. Irving poured in 30 points (12-of-24 shooting) and doled out a personal playoff-high nine assists, while Love tallied 20 points and 12 boards for his fifth 20-point, 10-rebound performance of the postseason. 

The Cavaliers are now 8-0 this year, including 6-0 in the playoffs, when James, Irving and Love score 20 points in the same game.

J.R. Smith (15 points) and Channing Frye (six points) were also superb on an evening when the Cavaliers shot 17-of-31 from three-point range.

DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry did the heavy lifting for the Raptors with 20 and 35 points, respectively, but they didn’t find their groove until it was too late. As a team, the Raptors shot just 41.8 percent from the field and 8-of-25 from beyond the arc.

James told reporters the Cavaliers needed “urgency from the start,” according to Cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon, and he held up his end of the bargain with 14 first-quarter points on 5-of-6 shooting. James also converted two threes during his opening statement—the same number he made in the series’ first four games combined.

His most emphatic two points during that stretch came on a rim-rocking lob in transition courtesy of his floor general:

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