The Toronto Raptors looked beyond sluggish in last night's crucial Game 5 matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the scoreboard reflected as much. The Cavs dismantled the Raptors from wire to wire, cruising to a 116-78 win and a 3-2 series lead.
So what exactly happened?
According to the Toronto Sun, some of the poor play could be contributed to a late night casino trip on the eve of Game 5. Raptors players, DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph, were spotted at a downtown Cleveland casino at around 2am with a large group in tow.
The real shocker here is that Carroll and Joseph didn't bump into JR Smith during their late night trip to the Jack Casino.
Carroll, a starter, was a -25 and had just five points and two rebounds on the night. Joseph struggled as well, shooting 1-5 in just 10 minutes of action. Although it is unclear if the players were drinking/gambling/partying, it's apparent that they weren't too concerned with their franchise's most important game of all time.
After the game, coach Dwane Casey didn't seem to concerned with the reports.
“I didn’t know that,” said Casey, when told his starting small forward and backup point guard were spotted at the Jack Casino, a short walk from the Quicken Loans Arena early Wednesday morning. “This has nothing to do with curfew.
“This isn’t why we lost ... This is the NBA, they’re grown men. These are grown men. These things happen.”
[Via]