Inefficient LeBron James Praises Teammates As Cavs Steal Game 1 From Raptors

LeBron James heaped praise on his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates for stepping up in Game 1 against the Toronto Raptors to take a 1-0 lead in their second round series after a 113-112 overtime win.

After clinching their first round series in Game 7 against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, the Cavaliers were back in action on Tuesday night in Toronto as they overcame a 14-point first quarter deficit to tie the game at 105-105 at the end of regulation time.

The Cavs then took their first lead of the game in overtime and later managed to hold on as they failed to score a bucket in the last 2:16 of the game with Toronto's Fred VanVleet missing a three-pointer in the last few seconds.

"Considering the circumstances, we definitely stole one," Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue said, as per Cleveland.com. "I don't think we played our best game. I think they know that as well."

"We didn't play extremely well but to come in and beat a good team like Toronto on their home floor, like you said, it does feel like we stole one," he added.

James finished the game with a triple-double as he registered 26 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists, however, his statistics did not tell the whole story as he went 12-for-30 when it came to his shooting.

Having delivered efficient performances throughout the first round series as he averaged 41.8 points in Cleveland's four wins against the Pacers, James may have suffered from the effects of overplaying against Indiana.

However, his teammates really stepped up for the first time in the postseason as J.R. Smith scored 20 points, Kyle Korver scored 19, Jeff Green scored 16 and Tristan Thompson added 14.

"I definitely wasn't efficient as I like to be," James told reporters after the game. "I missed a lot of open looks, a lot of open threes, they were going under. A lot of floaters on the lane. Because of the injury I had in Game 7 I didn't get an opportunity to get on the court this morning, yesterday as well."

"The only thing that matters is trying to get a win and my teammates were unbelievable tonight, they stepped up when I wasn't at my best."

"They were phenomenal man. Kev [Love] kind of struggled in the first half and Jeff [Green] picked him up. Kyle [Korver] had his second half, Kev came back and had an unbelievable second half, he's just a monster on the glass," James added. "J.R. [Smith] was consistent all game with his ability to shoot the ball and double-T [Tristan Thompson] picked up where he left off in Game 7. Just being a monster that we've grown accustomed to over the last few years on the glass, making his free throws, giving us extra possessions so it was an all-round team win for us, everybody contributed tonight and we definitely needed it."

Game 2 takes place at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Thursday as the home side will look to peg the series back to 1-1.