Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors Predictions, Picks and Preview – 2017 NBA Playoffs – Eastern Conference Semifinals Game Three

Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors Game 3 Preview

Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto

When: Friday, May 5, 2017, 7:00 PM ET

Line: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors – view all NBA lines

TV Broadcast: TNT

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Betting on the Cleveland Cavaliers

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It’s just been too easy for the Cavs. They’ve been mauling Toronto in this series and that was made clear again Wednesday night, when the Cavs handed the Raps with a 125-103 loss.

LeBron James toyed with anything the Raptors threw at him. King James followed up his 35 point performance in Game 1 with 39 points on 10-for-14 from the field and 15-for-21 from the free throw line. The Raptors don’t have an answer for LeBron. They picked up P.J. Tucker midseason, thinking he could slow down the Cavs’ superstar but after two games, James made it clear there’s no one on the Raps’ roster capable of doing that.

As much as Toronto wants to put its entire focus on James, it can’t because he’s got so many shooters to pass the ball to. Cleveland’s three-point shooting is soul-crushing, making 32 so far in this series, including 18 in Game 2. When they’re not drilling treys, the Cavs are putting up dunks.

So far this postseason, the Cavs are shooting 42.8% from deep. James had 4 threes in Game 2 while Kyrie Irving and J.R. Smith sank 3 and 2 three-pointers, respectively.

Game 3 is in Toronto, where the Cavs are 3-0 SU and ATS in their last three trips there.

Betting on the Toronto Raptors

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Somebody play that Barney tune again for the Raptors, who are playing like crap in this series. If you thought the Raptors were going to play better in Game 2 after they were blasted by the Cavs in Game 1, you thought wrong.

DeMar DeRozan looked like a fake All-Star, going 2-for-11 from the field for 5 points. Worse, Kyle Lowry had a left ankle sprain midgame, returned briefly, before getting pulled out of the game for good. He finished with 20 points. It’s unknown as of this writing the gravity of Lowry’s injury. The Raptors need both Lowry and DeRozan to be at their best if they are to win anything in this series.

Jonas Valanciunas had 23 points in Game 2 in 20 minutes off the bench. Valanciunas ruled the paint but the Raptors can’t just score two-pointers while letting the Cavs go bonkers from beyond the arc. Better close outs on Cavs’ shooters will be a big key defensively for Toronto, which is 5-2 SU in its last 7 home games.

Writer’s Prediction

Cleveland wins and covers.

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