The Toronto Raptors just robbed LeBron James the opportunity to face buddy Dwyane Wade in the Eastern Conference final. Nevertheless, a Cleveland Cavaliers-Toronto Raptors Eastern Conference finals series should be just as entertaining. Will the Raptors serve Cleveland’s first loss of the playoffs? Or will the Cavs keep on rolling?
Read on for a breakdown of Game 1 of the ECF. And over in the West, check out our preview of the Thunder-Warriors Game 1 here.
Toronto must still be on a high. The Raptors advanced to the conference finals for the first time ever in franchise history thanks to a thorough 116-89 beatdown of Miami on Sunday. A tougher assignment awaits Toronto in the next round, however, as the Raptors prepare to face Cleveland.
The win over Miami was made more memorable by the performances of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, who finally found their shots falling on the same day. Lowry scored 28 points, while DeRozan pumped in 35. The duo know that for the Raptors to take down Cleveland, they’re going to need the same type of outings on a consistent manner.
DeRozan averaged 28.3 points in the three games following a poor nine-point outing in a Game 4 loss to Miami in the second round. Lowry, meanwhile, put up 32.0 PPG during the same stretch.
With Jonas Valanciunas (ankle) still questionable to play, the pressure is also on Bismack Biyombo. Biyombo has limited offensive skills, but his rebounding and ability to protect the rim will be much valued by the Raps against Cleveland. Biyombo had a monster double-double of 17 points and 16 rebounds on Sunday.
The Raptors, who are limiting opponents this postseason to only 94.1 PPG, are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games in Cleveland.
Betting on the Cleveland Cavaliers
That sound you just heard was the Cavaliers taking a big yawn. The Cavaliers’ playoff campaign so far has generally been a snoozefest, having swept both Detroit and Atlanta in the first two rounds. Hopefully for basketball fans, the Raptors will make the Eastern Conference finals more interesting.
But should Cleveland continue to shoot the rock like it did in the previous two series, the Cavaliers will likely be listing down the Raptors as one of their postseason victims.
The Cavaliers are second to Golden State in the playoffs with 107.8 points per game on 46.1% shooting from the field. The Cavs are also hitting 16.8 treys per game on 46.2% clip. They went 16-for-37 from deep in their 100-99 win over Atlanta in Game 4 of the second round. The Raptors are going to have a long day closing out on Cleveland’s shooters while also trying to contain LeBron James.
James is the engine of everything in Cleveland. The do-it-all forward churns out averages of 23.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 7.3 assists thus far in these playoffs. Kyrie Irving, meanwhile, leads the team with 24.4 PPG. His matchup with Lowry is arguably the best matchup of this series.
Kevin Love and Channing Frye, on the other hand, pose a defensive headache for Toronto. Both bigs have the range to take Biyombo (or eventually Valanciunas) out of the paint, thus allowing James and Irving among others to get to the paint without much concern of being blocked.
Cleveland is 4-0 SU and 3-1 ATS in its last four home games.
