Casey: Game 4 is about 'pride' as Raptors look to avoid sweep

Any fantasies of the Toronto Raptors upsetting the Cleveland Cavaliers are long gone.

Toronto is down 0-3 in the second round to Cleveland, and, quite frankly, none of the three losses have been particularly close. For two teams that finished with identical records in the regular season, the Raptors don't even look like they belong on the same court as the Cavaliers in the playoffs.

Head coach Dwane Casey tried to rally his troops after losing Game 3 by 21 points, just as he did after a cruel shellacking in Game 2, and his message was one of pride.

"Sunday's game is about pride. You don't want to get swept, especially in your home building," he said. "I think our guys will come out and compete on Sunday."

The only silver lining to take into Game 4 is that the Raptors at least stuck with the Cavaliers through three quarters Friday. Toronto exploited Cleveland's soft interior defense for driving opportunities early on, but their lack of outside shooting came back to haunt them when their legs gave out in the fourth.

Casey is hoping for some regression to the mean on that front to buoy his team Sunday.

"I know we're going to do better than 2-for-18 from three and we'd like to get that 3-point number up ... they're going to be there on Sunday and we just got to knock them down."

But it's clear that the Raptors are simply outmatched on that front. They've been outscored 93-21 at the 3-point line over their last two games. Cleveland's shooters can't seem to miss, while Toronto's can't make wide-open shots.

Nevertheless, Casey would just like to see his squad give a decent effort and save some face before inevitably yielding to the reigning champions. Just give the home faithful something before the year ends.

"Our team has played with pride all year long," Casey finished.