体坛英语新闻：Cavs defeats Raptors 105-91

TORONTO, Canada, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cleveland Cavaliers, also known as the Cavs, defeated Toronto Raptors 105-91 to extend their winning streak to six games in NBA action on Friday night.

In front of a sold-out Air Canada Centre crowd, the Cavs battled adversity after a tightly-contested victory over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden the night prior.

"Sometimes when you deal with very, very tough travel and immediate turnaround less than 24 hours for a back-to-back against the number one team in the East, it raises your level of motivation and awareness," said Cavaliers head coach David Blatt following the win. "We had a good morning film session and walk through and we just came in to play and it was evident from the very first minute."

Part of the film session was six reviewing the footage from six games ago, when Cleveland hosted a game against Toronto on Nov. 22 and suffered a 110-93 blowout loss.

"We owned them one tonight. We were up with four-minutes left in the first quarter and then they closed the gap and it was a 37-point swing and we ended up losing by 17 points," said Cavs All-Star Kyrie Irving reminiscing of the previous meeting between the two teams. "They came into our house and they gave it to us. It definitely motivated all of us."

Since the 17-point defeat to Toronto two weeks ago, Cleveland has turned it around, averaging 105.7 points per game while holding their opponents to 90.5 points per game. The +15.2 point differential greatly exceeds the team's season average of +3.8.

Irving's teammate Lebron James believes that the main reason for their recent success is their progression on the defensive end.

"We are very close (to where we want to be)," said James following the victory. "I think that the progression we have made in the last couple of weeks is definitely a plus."

The defensive efforts were noticeable, as Cleveland held Raptors' guard Kyle Lowry to 22 points on 9 of 22 shooting (41 percent). In the last three games since losing All-Star DeMar DeRozan to a groin injury, Lowry was averaging 31.7 points per game on 46 percent shooting.

"It has to be part of our identify as a team. We have to consistency do it for 48 minutes," said Irving, echoing the defensive-oriented sentiments of his James. "Everyone that's on the floor, we have to lock-in. I think we are starting to do that."

Cleveland's 14-point defeat was Toronto's first double-digit defeat of the season, their previous four losses were all by single digits; five points to Miami, seven points to Chicago, four points to Dallas, seven points to Los Angeles Lakers.

The two teams will face each other again on Dec.9 when Toronto travels to Cleveland.