Two more wins and the Cleveland Cavaliers are back to their second straight trip to the NBA Finals. LeBron James and co. have been unforgiving in the Eastern Conference Playoffs with 10 straight wins. The Cavs have utterly dominated the Toronto Raptors in the conference finals with back-to-back blowouts. Those two wins came at home. Can they be as dominant on the road?
Read on as we take a close look at a crucial Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The NBA isn’t the only league with scintillating postseason action. Check out what’s in store in the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs with our complete previews for the Blues vs. Sharks and Penguins vs. Lightning Game 4s.
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Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors Game 3 Preview
Where: Air Canada Centre – Toronto, Canada
When: Saturday, May 21, 2016, 8:30 PM ET
Line: Cleveland Cavaliers at Toronto Raptors – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron James moved past Shaquille O’Neal into fourth place on the career postseason scoring list. He also posted his 15th playoff triple-double as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat up Toronto 108-89 in Game 2 on Thursday night. The Cavs have now become just the fourth team in NBA history to start 10-0 in the playoffs. Only one of the former three teams to do so went on to win the title.
The Cavs may have another big outing in Toronto on Saturday. Their Big Three have been lights out when playing away from home in the postseason. Irving is scoring 25.5 points per game in four playoff road games this year, while James is averaging a solid 21.8 points. Love is coming off a big 27-point performance in his last road playoff game.
The Cavs are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 trips to Air Canada Centre.
Betting on the Toronto Raptors
Some changes were in order after a 31-point shellacking in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Head coach Dwane Casey tweaked his lineup a bit as the Raptors continued to miss Jonas Valanciunas because of a sprained right ankle. Luis Scola was inserted into the starting lineup while Patrick Patterson was moved to the second unit.
The move proved efficient for a time with Patterson and Terrance Ross giving the bench an early lift. Toronto managed to tie up the game at 46-all late into the first half, but that was as far as they would go en route to a 19-point loss. Scola didn’t even contribute much as a starter, being held to six points on one of five shooting in 14 minutes.
What really hurt the Raptors was a poor outing from Kyle Lowry. He was on fire in the last two games of the conference semifinals with 35.5 points per game. But he has since disappeared with just 18 points combined in the first two games against Cleveland. He is shooting 28.6 percent in the series thus far.
With Lowry struggling, the DeMar DeRozan will need to be at his best. He has been a bright spot for the Raptors with 20 points per game in the conference finals. A return home could have him score buckets aplenty. DeRozan has averaged 26.8 points in his last five home games.
The total has gone under in eight of the Raptors’ last 10 home games against the Cavs.
Writer’s Prediction
The Cavs simply are too good for Toronto. They roll to another double-digit victory to move one step closer to the NBA Finals.
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