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CLEVELAND. — The Cavaliers overcame their first bout of adversity this postseason to deliver a brutal counter to the Raptors via a 116-78 Game 5 win on Wednesday night.

Coming off back-to-back losses in Toronto that represented the first signs of vulnerability from the Cavs in weeks, the team responded by showing that lapse was momentary to take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.

If the previous two games on the road were a reflection of Cleveland at its most vulnerable, then Game 5 was a reminder of how dangerous the team can be at its best.

The Cavaliers neutralized the Raptors’ All-Star backcourt after getting torched the past couple contests, dominated the boards and recovered the hot shooting touch that had eluded them on the road.

After the first quarter, Cleveland was already up 37-19.

By halftime, the Raptors were looking at their largest deficit in franchise history. Not a great time to have the worst first half since the team came into existence in 1995.

The Cavaliers would push the lead up to 40 points by the end of the third quarter, then pull their starters and coast to victory.

Toronto outscored Cleveland 18-16 in the fourth quarter, but that’s hardly even a moral victory considering it came with most of the primary players in this series sitting on the bench.

The Raptors continued to struggle guarding certain pick-and-roll combinations used regularly by Cleveland, such as when LeBron James is rolling to the basket with Channing Frye set up on the wing.

The Cavaliers repeatedly used that pick-your-poison play earlier in the series, forcing Frye’s defender to choose between guarding his man or protecting the rim. It was another successful play for the offense in Game 5.

The Cavaliers shot 57 percent from the field as a team, led by the resurgent effort of Kevin Love.

The forward, who struggled badly in Games 3-4, led all scorers with 25 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

Unlike in recent games where his shot hasn’t fallen and his engagement went with it, Love got into his groove early Wednesday night and stayed in it for the first three quarters.

The other two big names played well for Cleveland, too. James recorded 23 points, eight assists and six rebounds in 32 minutes.

Kyrie Irving scored 23 on 9-of-17 shooting and put up three steals in just 27 minutes.

When the Cavs can get over 70 points on better than 60 percent shooting from the Big Three, like they did in Game 5, then they’re very difficult to beat. — SB Nation.