A series that looked lopsided is now even. And it’s the favorite Cavaliers on the ropes after dropping two straight in Toronto. After a 10-0 start in the postseason, the Cavs are counting on home court advantage to help them reach the NBA Finals.
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Toronto Raptors +11
Cleveland Cavaliers -11
Over/Under 199
LOOK AHEAD
The Cavaliers enjoyed one of their most devastating stretches of offensive basketball in the second half of Monday’s game and, considering their playoff run, that’s saying something. But it came after a long stretch of some of their most puzzling play in weeks. After Game 3, veteran Luis Scola stressed that the Raptors needed to put Cleveland in the position of having “to react to a bad game, to a team that outplayed them, to a team that played with more effort and more energy.” Identifying the need is one thing, turning in the performance that puts the Cavs in that position is quite another.
Toronto produced exactly the kind of game it needed on Monday. Not just to even the series, which the Raptors had to do to entertain any thoughts of advancing, but to declare that they belong on this stage. But let’s be honest, the teams were separated by only game in the regular season standings and while the difference between the teams looked wide after the first two games, it has gotten much closer since. All the Cavs have to do to advance is win on their floor, which has happened quite frequently. They head back to the States knowing they’re 3-0 this season at home against Toronto winning by a combined 72 points.
INJURIES
Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas continues to progress from his badly sprained ankle that has shelved him since Game 4 of the Miami series. He was active for Monday’s contest, but did not play.
Another poor shooting night from Cavs forward Kevin Love was punctuated by what appeared to be a left ankle injury. Love shot 1 for 9 in Game 3 and was 4 for 14 in Game 4, but didn’t play the fourth quarter after he appeared to injure the ankle when he stepped on one of the officials late in the third quarter. “It didn’t feel too great,” Love said. Coach Tyronn Lue said Love’s health was “no concern.”
KEY MATCHUP
While Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are without a doubt the players that lead the Raptors, they can’t do it alone. The pair combined for 67 points on Monday night, the most points between the two ever in a Toronto game, yet the contest was still up for grabs in the final moments. One player who stood out in the Raptors’ two home wins was center Bismack Biyombo, who hauled down 14 rebounds Monday, one game after getting franchise record 26 boards.
Biyombo is doing what he’s supposed to, grabbing rebounds and playing defense. He’s throwing in a few blocked shots as well, seven in the last two games to be exact. Toronto’s shift in defensive philosophy was predicated on Biyombo patrolling the paint and protecting the rim. He’s done that very well as the Raptors held the Cavs to fewer than 100 points in each of the past two games. It marked the first two times Cleveland failed to reach triple digits in scoring this postseason.
QUICK PICK
How surprising the shift of a series is. After two convincing wins to start, the Cavs have opened the door and Toronto came charging through. However, a return home should get Cleveland back on track after some puzzling moves on Monday cost the Cavs a chance to go up 3-1. The Cavs do have a rookie head coach who took over midway through the campaign and Lue may have had a knee-jerk reaction to his first postseason loss.
Still, the Cavs put on a tremendous display, came back from 18 points and had the lead with about five minutes to play. They appeared to run out of gas down the stretch after expending so much energy to get back in the game and couldn’t finish the deal. But to come back the way they did after a horrendous start shows just how talented the Cavs are. They were upstaged by Toronto’s All-Star backcourt of Lowry and DeRozan, who were magnificent together for the first time in these NBA playoffs. But getting back home is what the Cavs need to get back on track.
NBA Odds: Cleveland 109, Toronto 101
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