Toronto, ON — For the first time in the Raptors’ 23-year franchise history, the Toronto Raptors won a playoff series and had to wait for their next opponent.
But that means, unfortunately for Toronto fans, the King is back in town.
With a monster Game 7 by LeBron James on Sunday, the Cleveland Cavaliers scraped by and made it to the second round, keeping James’ streak of never being eliminated in the first round alive.
This is the third-straight year the Raptors and the Cavs will meet in the NBA playoffs; but unlike the last two years, this is the first time Toronto has home court advantage.
Last season, Cleveland swept Toronto in four games with James averaging 36 points per game — he was unstoppable and scored his way past the Raptors and all the way to the NBA finals.
Toronto was outscored by 102 points from beyond the arc (yes, you’re reading that correctly) in last year’s playoff demolition. But the narrative changed this season; not only in the Raptors new volume three-point shooting, but in the regular season match-ups between the two clubs.
The Raptors were tied for the best home-court record in the NBA, while the Cavs were basically a .500 team on the road. In the one game where the Raptors hosted the Cavaliers this season, they blew them out by 30+ points.
But, despite having that home-court advantage in this year’s playoffs, the stats are still stacked up against the team from north of the border. Since returning to the Cavs in 2014, the Raptors are 6-17 against James in the regular season and playoffs, including a horrible 1-10 in away games (Games 3 and 4 will be hosted in Ohio). On top of that, the Raptors are 6-16 in road playoff games in the DeMar DeRozan/Kyle Lowry era and 1-23 in playoff games where they trail at halftime.
The real test will be which style of play will work best in the long-run of the playoffs: the Cavs are very reliant on LeBron James playing big minutes and scoring big points, while the Raptors rely heavily on their second string along with DeRozan and Lowry.
James has played 288 minutes so far in the playoffs — the most in the NBA. DeRozan and Lowry have played just over 200 minutes each so far. Toronto’s bench mob allows their starters to rest on the sidelines and play high-energy basketball instead of being forced to play through fatigue. Players like Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright have played important roles in the Raptors’ first round of the playoffs, although they’ll have their hands full with Jeff Green and George Hill.
And it’s those young guys on Toronto who will have to step up to guard one of the best players in the world. Twenty-year-old O.G. Anunoby and 24-year-old Pascal Siakam will have the tough match-up of putting a stop to the scoring machine that is LeBron James. He was the only player in the first round for the Cavs that scored 20 or more points, and the Raptors’ defense can expect for other players to step up more in the second round.
Which player has the advantage entering Game 1?
JR Smith < Kyle Lowry
Kyle Korver < DeMar DeRozan
Lebron James > OG Anunoby
Kevin Love > Serge Ibaka
Tristan Thompson < Jonas Valancunias
Raptors bench > Cavaliers bench
PREDICTION: RAPTORS IN 6
