Cleveland Cavaliers (2nd Seed) vs Toronto Raptors (3rd Seed)
Eastern Conference Playoffs – Round Two, Game One
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UPCOMING MILESTONES: LeBron James is four three pointers away from netting 300 in his playoff career and becoming the 4th players in NBA history to do so. He is also 60 points away from 2nd most in league history – trailing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. With five assists in the 1st half, Kyrie Irving has now made the 3rd most in Cavaliers’ postseason history while passing Craig Ehlo.
After a definitive, yet nerve-wrackingly close, sweep of the Indiana Pacers in the first round, the Cavaliers welcome their next opponent standing in the way of their path to back-to-back titles – the Toronto Raptors. With the exact same record as the Cavaliers in the regular season (51-31), the Raptors made it into the playoff just below the Cavaliers with the 3rd seed. In the first round, they came back from being down 2-1 against the Milwaukee Bucks to win the series in six games. Most recently, they won 92-89 on Thursday while on the road. Interestingly, if the Boston Celtics are able to defeat the Washington Wizards on the other end of the Eastern Conference bracket, this may be the last series this year where the Cavaliers have home-court advantage.
During the regular season, the Cavaliers and Raptors faced off four times – with the Wine-and-Gold winning three of those. On October 28th, DeMar DeRozan’s 37 points weren’t enough to counter Kyrie Irving’s 26 and LeBron James’ 21 as the Cavaliers were able to hold out and secure a 94-91 victory. On November 15th, the Cavaliers scored at least 30 points in each quarter in route to a close 121-117 win, with LeBron James’ 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 15 assists matching Kyle Lowry’s 28 points and 9 assists. In the final of the Cavaliers’ wins – a 116-112 contest on December 5th – LeBron James scored 34 and Kevin Love added 28 points and 14 rebounds while DeMar Derozan dropped 31 points. Lastly, on April 12th, without Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, and LeBron James, Norman Powell’s 25 points helped lead the Raptors to a 98-83 loss in the final game of the regular season for both teams.
In the regular season, the Toronto Raptors found success in pushing the ball inside – averaging the third most drives per game (34.4) and the most points per game off of drives (24.2). In the playoffs, the Raptors have more or less continued this trend, with an average 36.3 drives per game in the first series. As a team, they scored a third-most 18.4% of their total points off of free throws in the regular season, and during the playoffs, they have so far bumped that up to a second-best 22.0%. While the Cavaliers have committed the fewest fouls per game in the playoffs so far, they still have to be wary of shooting fouls. In the playoffs so far, the Raptors have put up the second best Defensive Rating, allowing just 100.7 points per 100 possessions compared to the Cavaliers’ 111.0 in the postseason.
Key players to watch for on the Raptors will be DeMar DeRozan (averaged 27.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in the regular season), Kyle Lowry (averaged 22.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game), and Serge Ibaka (averaged 14.2 point, and 6.8 rebounds per game).
Tipoff is set for 7:00 EST and will be broadcast on TNT.
