It seems more and more ideal that the Cleveland Cavaliers are heading to the NBA finals, and in fact, such should feel this way. But in order to get there, they will have to have a rematch with last year’s Eastern Conference opponent the Toronto Raptors.
Fresh off an extremely tough sweep against the Indiana Pacers, the Cavaliers are clearly coming in as favorites to win the series. With the rest they have had, the are also coming in fresh as well. During the sweep, the Cavaliers saw great production from key players, but more so Tristian Thompson, who average 11 rebounds per game. As for te rest of the starting lineup, here are their stats:
Kyrie Irving (25.3 ppg, 3.0 APG, 2.3 RPG), LeBron James (32.8 ppg, 9.0 APG, 9.8 RPG), Kevin Love (15.5 ppg, 2.0 APG, 9.3 RPG), J.R. Smith (6.8 ppg, .8 APG, 1.8 RPG), Tristan Thompson (6.8 ppg, .8 APG, 11.0 RPG)
As for the Toronto Raptors, they are coming off a scare against the Milwaukee Bucks. After winning the series 4-2, the Raptors got great production from Demar DeRozan, who averaged 24 PPG during the first round:
Kyle Lowry (14.3 ppg, 5.2 apg, 3.2 rpg in postseason), DeMar DeRozan (23.5 ppg, 3 apg, 5.5 rpg), Serge Ibaka (12.8 ppg, 1.7 apg, 8.2 rpg), DeMarre Carroll (6.2 ppg, .5 apg, 3.2 rpg), Norman Powell (12.4 ppg, 1.8 apg, 2.8 rpg)
Gane 1 tips off tomorrow at & ET in Cleveland
*If necessary. All times Eastern.
- Game 1 – Monday, May 1 at Cleveland, 7 p.m. on TNT
- Game 2 – Wednesday, May 3 at Cleveland, 7 p.m. on TNT
- Game 3 – Friday, May 5 at Toronto, 7 p.m. on ESPN
- Game 4 – Sunday, May 7 at Toronto, 3:30 p.m. on ABC
- Game 5 – Tuesday, May 9 in Cleveland on TNT*****
- Game 6 –Thursday, May 11 in Toronto on ESPN*****
- Game 7 – Sunday, May 14 in Cleveland on TNT*****
