ECSF: P1 | (1) Toronto Raptors vs Cleveland Cavaliers (4) | TIED 0-0

[guess_wh0]

Not only did LeBron have the best team. He had the well rested team. Two years ago he got the Raps after two grueling 7 game series and last year after a weeks rest. Lowry hobbled & injured to boot.

All this mental edge BS from armchair psychologists doesn't even deserve a response. He just got a tired team with no legs while his was fresh.

So when the Raptors finally do get their revenge, I don't want to hear the LeBron is tired excuse. Instead we'll go with the Raptors are in Lebrons head narrative.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Toronto 4-1.

LeBron can't play any better and they can barely win at home against the 5th seed.

Raps are not winning 4-1. They have no one that can stop Lebron and I guarantee Love plays better. Cavs have just enough guys that can hit shots to cause issues for the raps. Plus don't underestimate how the Raps are historical chokers in the playoffs.

Cavs in 6. Maybe even 5.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

East is terrible like always, watching Pacers vs Cavs was painful. I expect this series to be painful as well because Raps will go back to old raps... 4-2 CLE

Yeah because the western conference playoffs have been so thrilling with two series going 4-1, one series a sweep and another going 4-2.

[xfactor99]

It's a great question Honestly Hill is super super important against the Raptors, he's one of the only guys who you can trust to guard Lowry, please don't even try Calderon or Clarkson LOL. He's gonna need 4 or more injections, he's got to give the Cavs good minutes if they want to win the series.

[lambchop]

East is terrible like always, watching Pacers vs Cavs was painful. I expect this series to be painful as well because Raps will go back to old raps... 4-2 CLE

Yeah because the western conference playoffs have been so thrilling with two series going 4-1, one series a sweep and going 4-2.

Yea and in the East even the 4-1 sixers heat sixers was fun to watch. In the West I liked the Jazz - OKC series, though OKCs stars played poorly. The 2nd round in the west is looking like two sweeps, but I'm praying that the WCF will provide some much needed excitement in the west

[Mrakar]

East is terrible like always, watching Pacers vs Cavs was painful. I expect this series to be painful as well because Raps will go back to old raps... 4-2 CLE

Yeah because the western conference playoffs have been so thrilling with two series going 4-1, one series a sweep and going 4-2.

Yea and in the East even the 4-1 sixers heat sixers was fun to watch. In the West I liked the Jazz - OKC series, though OKCs stars played poorly. The 2nd round in the west is looking like two sweeps, but I'm praying that the WCF will provide some much needed excitement in the west

As i already mentioned above, i wasnt writing about "fun factor" or that matches are close. I was writing about quality of play...

[lambchop]

It's a great question Honestly Hill is super super important against the Raptors, he's one of the only guys who you can trust to guard Lowry, please don't even try Calderon or Clarkson LOL. He's gonna need 4 or more injections, he's got to give the Cavs good minutes if they want to win the series.

Yes, hill is the 2nd ball handler they desparately need. Though he won't break down any defense off the dribble, he's very shrewd at using the pick n roll and uses that to create. Him and Love can do some damage together and provide an alternative on offense.

I don't think the cavs are not that worried about defending Lowry. They can just put JR Smith on him and live with the results. Yea smith defended Dipo and yea he did a soso job, but Dipo shot 40% from 3, Lowry 43%, however, Dipo is super athletic and Smith didn't have a height advantage against him, which he has against Lowry. Hill will be more important on offense than defense

[HeartBreakKid]

East is terrible like always, watching Pacers vs Cavs was painfull. I expect this series to be painfull as well because Raps will go back to old raps... 4-2 CLE

East playoffs have been better than the west .

More interesting? Yes. But im talking about actually playing the game properly. Only team thats playing good is Philla, rest of east is hard to watch...

Yeah, teams like the Timberwolves and Thunder played some real beautiful basketball.

[Heej]

Raptors have the best bench, but if Ty Lue goes with what he saw in that stretch LeBron was on the bench today, the Hill-Love pick and pop with the left side of the floor cleared out so Love can pop into a wide open corner will murk that bench's production. If anyone can blow that up and get over the screen it's FVV, but it's gonna be tough. If they're going to that in the 2nd quarter he'll be gassed by the 4th. But even still it's either Cavs in 6 or raptors in 7. The raps are that good. They're legit one of the best teams LeBron has had to face in the East in years. Possibly as good as the 2013 Pacers.

That Heat bias no?

2013 Pacers: 49-32 / 3.34 SRS / 20th offense / 1st defense
2018 Raptors: 59-23 / 7.29 SRS / 2nd offense / 5th defense

Just because those Pacers took the 66 win Heat to 7 doesn't mean they're anywhere near as good as this year's Raptors. And for comparison's sake let's compare with the 2014 number 1 seed Indiana.

2014 Pacers: 56-26 / 3.63 SRS / 23rd offense / 1st defense

No comparison. This year's Raptors are MUCH better than those Pacer teams that battled with the Heat in the ECF. Not as good defensively but still elite in their own right however their offense is WAAAAAY better than those Pacer teams' offenses. The Raps this year are comparable statistically to the 2009 and 2010 Orlando Magic and one of those Magic teams went to the Finals.

You got me. I didn't wanna go overboard and sound like I'm hyping the Raptors to kingdom come, but objectively speaking this team is better. That being said, those Pacers had a scarier 5 man closing lineup. Much of your strength comes from your bench being just as productive as your starters. In a playoff series we're already seeing why that matters less. In the playoffs it's not as cut and dry whether the Raptors are even better than those Pacers teams imo

[lambchop]

Yeah because the western conference playoffs have been so thrilling with two series going 4-1, one series a sweep and going 4-2.

Yea and in the East even the 4-1 sixers heat sixers was fun to watch. In the West I liked the Jazz - OKC series, though OKCs stars played poorly. The 2nd round in the west is looking like two sweeps, but I'm praying that the WCF will provide some much needed excitement in the west

As i already mentioned above, i wasnt writing about "fun factor" or that matches are close. I was writing about quality of play...

hm well, imo in the west the quality of play was high among the winning teams. The losers apart from the Spurs played pretty badly. Westbrooks 40 shots per game were not a great display of basketball acumen, neither were the schemes of the blazers. Then of course, the wolves - their best player was playing hurt, their 2nd best player averaged 6.5ppg in the first 2 games and then one Derrick Rose emerged as one of their best guys. Rose, a player who got cut from a dysfunctional cavs squad and wouldn't even be on an nba roster, if him and thibs didn't go waaay back.

So yea, there has been some trash in the west, but hou, gsw, jazz, spurs, pels played some high quality basketball. But it's not like raps, celts and sixers haven't played a nice brand of basketball too. Cavs are an exception cause their approach is different. If you can even call that an approach lol

[Green Backpack]

If the Raptors win this series, it will be in 7 I think. There's no way LBJ goes down easier.

[hedo15]

cavs need to slow down the pace more than they did against the pacers. cavs are at their best in the half court (as awkward as it sounds when you have a freakish athlete like lebron). look at how the cavs went to the finals under blatt when love and kyrie were out injured. they really slowed down the game and played grit and grind type of basketball and nearly won that finals series against the warriors (they would have done so if lebrons body wouldn't have worn down after game 3).

look at that series against the pacers, cavs never really slowed down the pace game of the pacers who scored in transition time after time. put blatt at the sideline instead of lue and cavs close the pacers out in 5 games, at the latest in 6 games, i'm very sure of that

[Madhouse]

East is terrible like always, watching Pacers vs Cavs was painfull. I expect this series to be painfull as well because Raps will go back to old raps... 4-2 CLE

East is far from terrible.

[bb22]

If the Raptors win this series, it will be in 7 I think. There's no way LBJ goes down easier.

This young Raptors team led by Lowry and Derozan beating Lebron in a game 7 when things get really tight? That would be something.

[gpoon]

Games 7 Lebron was tired... he was having cramps during the 3rd/4th lucky Love/Hill stepped up to give him his much needed rest. Yes the raptors dont have anyone to guard Lebron but do the Cavs have anyone to guard the other 4 spots on the raps? i think it will be a good series going 6-7. Not sure why everyone thinks the Raps are going to go back to being the old raps? they played 82 games with this new offence and even a playoff series. they reverted back a bit in the 4th of game 4 with iso ball but im sure they learned from that.

[bb22]

Not only did LeBron have the best team. He had the well rested team. Two years ago he got the Raps after two grueling 7 game series and last year after a weeks rest. Lowry hobbled & injured to boot.

All this mental edge BS from armchair psychologists doesn't even deserve a response. He just got a tired team with no legs while his was fresh.

So when the Raptors finally do get their revenge, I don't want to hear the LeBron is tired excuse. Instead we'll go with the Raptors are in Lebrons head narrative.

I don’t know how anyone can use the “lebron is tired excuse” after all the minutes and games he’s played the last decade.

He has a career average of 42mpg in the postseason! He’s literally played almost every minute of every postseason game. He didn’t look “tired” when he hit that shot over Kawhi or when he blocked Iggy. So I’m pretty sure he won’t be tired in the second round against the raptors.

Also, people are acting like the raps have had a month off to prepare. They played one less game than the cavs. Both teams had a tough series.

[Warchant]

Games 7 Lebron was tired... he was having cramps during the 3rd/4th lucky Love/Hill stepped up to give him his much needed rest. Yes the raptors dont have anyone to guard Lebron but do the Cavs have anyone to guard the other 4 spots on the raps? i think it will be a good series going 6-7. Not sure why everyone thinks the Raps are going to go back to being the old raps? they played 82 games with this new offence and even a playoff series. they reverted back a bit in the 4th of game 4 with iso ball but im sure they learned from that.

Where did Hill step up? He was 1-3 on FGs...he made a few FTs when Indy was fouling...thats far from stepping up

[lobosloboslobos]

So the Cavs going 7 with the Pacers means the Cavs greatly declined. But the Raptors going 6 with the much worse Wizards shouldnt matter?

Had the Raptors swept the Wizards, I would be signing a different tune. But the Wizards limped into the post season, had chemistry issues all year, and still took you guys to 6. It quite possibly could have been 7 if Otto never gets injured.

And things would have ended earlier if Fred didn't get hurt.

Fred is good, but if you are counting on a 20MPG player to put you over the top, you are going to have serious problems come playoff time.

i know you are enjoying the attention so won't respond after this but that last line just shows you have no idea what you are talking about. there are 6 or 7 20MPG players on the Raptors who have made the difference for us all year. clearly you don't know anything about how we play ffs

[Warchant]

Basketball is all about matchups. Indy was just a bad matchup for Cleveland. I expect a very good performance vs the Raps.

I would love an explanation how Indy is a bad matchup?

Pacers have tools to neutralize LBJ and Love.

Raptors, OTOH, have the tools to sweep the Pacers... But don't have the personnel to cover LBJ and Love.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

Well Indy did a great job vs LB as he avgd 42 pts in their 4 wins....Love stands at the 3 pt line...thats not difficult to defend....a lot of people are acting like Indy was a GOOD team....Lowry and DD are WAY better than Collison and Oladipo, OG is a defender that isnt great on offense, but Bog is very inconsistent on offense and a decent defender at best....Ibaka and Young are a wash and JV is a lot more physical than Turner, but he can space the floor....now the bench is night and day better for Tor

[MHeatfan]

Make LeBron average 45 and make him work as much as possible. Keep others in check.