Raptors vs Cavaliers: in with a chance, or toast once again? Pt 1 of 2
By Brian Boake
The Raptors are tipping off against the Cavaliers once again. Let’s set the stage, then look at Cleveland’s starters.
Background
It’s deja vu all over again...attributed to Yogi Berra
The Toronto Raptors will face the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time in as many seasons in the NBA playoffs. This iteration isn’t the Eastern Conference finals, but the semi-final matchup.
In preparation, I’m going to consider Cleveland’s roster, with a look at their starters today and the bench tomorrow. Which team has the advantage?
The first game is in Cleveland on Monday, May 1, which gives our team a reasonable opportunity to get those lingering bumps and bruises healed. Of course, there will be a whole new set created courtesy of big horses like Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and some guy named LeBron James. We can hope Kyle Lowry, in particular, receives help for his ailing back. Assuming he does, neither team is suffering on the injury front.
There’s also time to examine a bunch of film about the Cavaliers, and try to figure out why they played so poorly in the season’s last third. From February 25 (Game 57) to Game 82, Cleveland’s record was 11-15. You can’t even claim they were coasting; they had a purpose, which was to repeat as the #1 seed, with home court advantage until the league finals. They were nosed out by Boston, which went 16-10 over its last 26.
The Cavaliers swept a game but undermanned Indiana Pacers squad in Round 1, which sounds impressive on the face of it. However, the margin was a total of 18 points in four games, so the Cavs certainly weren’t brushing aside their opposition.
The Cavaliers Achilles’ heel is their defense. What’s odd about that statement is that it wasn’t true early in the season.
The Raptors barely scraped past the Milwaukee Bucks in 6 difficult games. Toronto struggled mightily to overcome the Bucks’ length and managed to find the winning formula by going super-small, starting in Game 4.
A look at Cleveland’s starters
Cleveland puts a smallish lineup on the floor to start. Their tallest man of that group is PF Kevin Love, hardly a monster at 6’10”. He’s a do-it-all competitor who’s as likely to lead his team in rebounds as points.
Tristan Thompson at 6’9″ is tiny by center standards, though he doesn’t back down from anyone. The Canadian earns his money on the offensive boards, in particular. He’s not Dennis Rodman, but he’s not that far off either.
I hesitate to put a position description in front of LeBron’s name. He plays anywhere he wants, from point guard to center; officially he’s the small forward. One of the many reasons he’s in the GOAT conversation [20-second timeout: My Greatest of All Time list is 3 players long: Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and yes, LeBron. With regret I leave off Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell because I didn’t see them in their primes. I pass on Bird-man and Magic only because the list becomes too long.] is his astonishing ability to know what his team needs, and then provide it. I’ve never seen anyone, not even MJ, who was so willing to put aside his personal scoring in order to provide effective facilitation. King James can score 14 points in Q1, and then not take a shot in Q2, but dish out 6 assists. He’s uncanny. Want proof? He leads the Cavs in post-season assists with 9 PG.
J.R. Smith creates a lot of points from beyond the arc, so I suppose the position he theoretically starts at, namely shooting guard, is reasonably accurate. He’s 31, and never was a top-rank defender. If he’s having an off-night shooting, or is being killed by his opposite number (go DeMar DeRozan!), he will sit down. Cavaliers’ coach Tyronn Lue has plenty of bench options, as we’ll see later.
Last, but certainly not least, among the Cavaliers starters – here’s Kyrie Irving. He’s the point guard and true to the position, his team’s second-highest scorer. Irving ranks ahead by a tiny margin over Kyle Lowry in PER this season. I don’t think either team has an advantage.
Final thoughts
The Cavaliers have proven they can score the ball. However, the Raptors have allowed the fewest 3-ball attempts of any team in the playoffs. Given the importance of the long ball to the Cavs, I think that stat alone, if maintained, lends plausibility to the Raptors’ chances.
Which team has the best starters? Cleveland, because they have LeBron. Otherwise, it’s very close.
Tomorrow, we’ll consider each team’s bench players.