THE Cleveland Cavaliers destroyed the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night, leading by double-figures for the final 34 1/2 minutes in a 115-84 win at Quicken Loans Arena.

    Cleveland is now a perfect 9-0 in the postseason, and holds a 1-0 lead in its best-of-seven matchup with the second-seeded Raptors. The 31-point margin is the most lopsided victory in Cavaliers postseason history.

    As 3-pointers fell at historic rates through the first two rounds of the postseason, LeBron James’ message never changed: The Cavaliers are not just a team of jump-shooters.

    In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, James and the Cavaliers proved it. On a night when the Toronto Raptors did their best to take away the 3-point arc, the Cavs instead attacked the paint and stormed their way to a 1-0 series lead.

    The Cavs are rolling, and James and Kyrie Irving are a big reason why.

    James scored 24 points and Irving had 27 as the Cavs made just seven 3-pointers but shot 55.4 percent and scored 56 points in the paint.

    “Tonight they wanted us to be in the paint,” James said. “We tried to take advantage of that. I keep telling you we’re not a jump-shooting team. We’re a balanced team. We’re able to do whatever the game dictates, and we’re able to adjust to that.”

    Kevin Love had 14 points and four rebounds, his first game in this postseason without a double-double. The Cavs rolled anyway, becoming the first team to win their first nine postseason games since the 2012 San Antonio Spurs, who won their first 10 before losing four straight to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

    DeMar DeRozan scored 18 points for the Raptors, but only six after the first quarter. Fellow All-Star Kyle Lowry scored eight points on a tough 4-of-14 shooting night after scoring a career-high 43 against the Cavs in a February victory at Air Canada Center. Neither Lowry nor DeRozan attempted a free throw Tuesday.

    “We’ve got to come out of the gate with that mindset, being aggressive like we usually do,” Lowry said. “I think we didn’t try to do that until later on in the game.”

    After sweeping through the first two rounds of the playoffs by setting records with their 3-point shooting, the Cavs instead attacked the heart of the Raptors’ defense.

    Each of James’ first nine baskets came near the restricted area. Cleveland went inside after averaging nearly 17 3-pointers per game through the first two playoff rounds.

    The Raptors scored the game’s first seven points, although the Cavs had the lead within about seven minutes. Cleveland extended it to double figures within the first two minutes of the second quarter and rolled the rest of the night. The Cavs led by as many as 35 in the fourth quarter.

    Raptors coach Dwane Casey thought the defensive rotations broke down once the Raptors denied the Cavs 3-point looks.

    The sweeps in each of the first two rounds meant the Cavs played just eight games in the last 33 days.

    (SD-Agencies)