“The Land vs The North” The Cleveland Cavaliers return to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year, after easy efforts in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Cleveland swept both Detroit and Atlanta and come into this matchup a perfect 8-0. Things have been a little more difficult for Toronto. The second-seeded Raptors were put to the test in twi full seven games in their first round series win over Indiana. Against Miami, Toronto again needed seven games, finally finishing off the Heat in Sunday’s 116-89 home victory. This is the first ever trip to the Eastern Conference finals for the Raptors in their franchise history.
After a horrible slump to start the postseason, Kyle Lowry has heated up. The point guard averaged 35.5 points over the final two games of the series against Miami. In Game 7, Lowry had 35 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, and four steals. Teammate DeMar DeRozen averaged over 20 points and five rebounds in the series with the Heat. Toronto won two of the three games against the Cavaliers in the regular season but lost by 22 points in their only trip to Cleveland. One reason that both of the Raptors‘ previous series have gone seven games is that their offense is prone to go in the dead run stretches, which will be something they can’t afford to let happen against this talented Cavs’ team.
The Eastern Conference defending champions begin their title defense tonight. They are the only undefeated team in the playoffs and just the ninth team in NBA history to start the postseason 8-0. In their Eastern Conference semifinals sweep over Atlanta, the team hit 77 3-pointers, averaging 19.3 per game. The 77 makes from distance are the most in NBA history for a series that lasted six games or less. They also became the first team in league history to make at least 15 threes in four straight games. J.R. Smith is shooting 50.8 percent from beyond the arc, having made 31 of 61. Canning Frye, Kevin love, Kyrie Irving, Richard Jefferson, and Iman Shumpert are all shooting at least 44 percent from 3-point range. The defense has not been too shabby either. The Cavaliers have held their opponents to under 100 points in six of their eight playoff games.
All things look to favor the Cavaliers in this series as everyone is predicting a sweep or maybe in five games. I think the Raptors stand their ground and take at least two games. If Lowry and DeRozan can continue to play at a high level there’s no telling how many games they can win. Then again, LeBron seems to be on a mission and sorry to say, but the North is not going to get in his way.
Cavaliers in 6.
