The Cleveland Cavaliers entertained their fans in the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Toronto Raptors, but they’ll be all business even while having fun. LeBron James hasn’t missed the NBA Finals in seven years and he has all intention of taking care of the Raptors as soon as possible in order to conserve energy. Whether the Raptors truly believe they can stop him and the Cavs will be clear after the Game 2 on Wednesday evening in the Quicken Loan Arena.
Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers Game 2
LINE: Cleveland -7.5 (-105); moneyline -345
Total: 213.5 (-106o, -106u)
Game 1 loss brings memories back
The Toronto Raptors vowed not to get embarrassed after the 2016 playoffs when they lost by margins so large that even the two win they managed to pull out felt like aberrations. They shaped their roster moves to address the bad matchups the Cavaliers have using to their advantage, bringing in Ibaka and Tucker to try to stop Love and James. They worked all year to get a chance to compete with the reigning champions again. On Monday, it was a moment of truth for the only Canadian franchise in the NBA. The truth was not what they had hoped for. The Toronto Raptors couldn’t keep up with the lively Cavs, falling behind by 17 points in the middle of the first half. To their credit, they responded to that first blow and retaliated by a big run of their own, but fell behind by double digits by the halftime again. Third quarter was ugly. Toronto players lost their composure and there was no signs of belief in what they are doing, at least not in the sense that it is sufficient to beat the Cavaliers.
What the Toronto Raptors did was to revert to the normal, not Norman starting lineup. It was a good recognition, as the Raptors have tried to play this rival undersized and it was not working. The problem was not in the lineup, but in the fact that the coaching staff couldn’t find a way to make things work for both Serge Ibaka and Jonas Valanciunas, who don’t mesh well together. They don’t operate in the same space, so this should work theoretically, yet, coupled with Lowry’s long absence and the lack of time to build the required chemistry, the Raptors are not playing well with Valanciunas starting. The big fella finished the Game 1 with a paltry 6 points and 6 rebounds and -21 on the plus/minus as the Raptors trailed by 20 points throughout the second half, trimming the margin in the last two minutes when the benches were emptied.
But this loss shouldn’t be put on the Lithuanian. The Raptors switched between all sorts of lineups, operating with Tucker, Powell and Patterson in order to find a lineup that would keep James out of the paint, but nothing worked. The Cavaliers scored at will, putting up 96 points after three quarter. The Raptors are too challenged offensively to keep up with such a pace, even on a good day of Kyle Lowry. He didn’t seem troubled by the painful back in this game, leading the team in scoring with 20 points and dishing 11 assists. Lowry shot above 50 percent from the field, but keep in mind that he’s going against one of the worst defenders in the league at the point guard position, so these kind of lines should be expected going forward. DeRozan scored 19 but was -32 on the plus/minus for the game, by far the worst number on the team. Ibaka, Tucker and Powell added double digit points and the Raptors scored a solid 105 points on 43.8 shooting and 10-of-26 on three pointers. Tucker was probably the best Raptors player in Game 1, so he’ll likely see his minutes increased.
Place: Quicken Loan Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Date/Time: Wednesday May 3rd, 2017. 7:00 PM ET
TV Coverage: TNT
Well rested Cavaliers enjoy the first game and the lead
The Cleveland Cavaliers returned from the eight-day break looking refreshed, starting with their main force, LeBron James. They were confident, even cocky, in the Game 1 116-105 win over the helpless Raptors. While it’s just only one game and they can still slip the home court advantage if they don’t triumph in the next one, the whole display of superiority could prove crucial to their mental preparation for the repeat. Whether it’s Irving’s dribbling that provoked oohs and aahs from the packed crowd, or the James’ showmanship that even included the unsuspecting fan, the Cavaliers are having fun and rightfully so.
LeBron James made his point clear through emphatic dunks and extremely good shooting, finishing the game with 35 points, 10 boards and 4 dimes. His teammates followed the lead. Irving scored 24 points and added a playoff career best 10 assists, as the Cavaliers offense ran smoothly as ever. They shot just an average 45.9 percent from the field, but were getting much points of the easy variety, in transition, on wide open three pointers or by getting to the foul line. Love and Thompson combined for 29 points and 23 rebounds as the Cavs didn’t need any help from the reserves in this one.
The Raps will have to go back to the drawing board and you can bet there will be plenty of discussions surrounding whether to start JV or Powell, or even Tucker, going forward. But judging by the Game 1 performance, it’ll all the same for the team with the best player on court.
Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers Game 2 Trends & Prediction
Toronto fell to 48-40-1 ATS record overall, which is still a good number. They are 26-19 when playing on the road, so despite their lack of efficiency, they seem to stick in the game long enough to cover. Unfortunately, their opponents are clearly the better team in this series, and they don’t fare well in these situations, road or home. On the total points market, the Toronto Raptors are 47-42 against the over/under overall and 19-26 away from home. This is obviously be much different series that the Bucks one, so the sooner they adjust to the pace and the quality of their opposition, the better they’ll fare. If they manage to keep up with the Cavs, the over punters will see green.
Cleveland got some much needed relaxed, entertaining game for the fans, and those who had backed them in Game 1 were happy as well. The joy isn’t a regular thing when betting on the champs though. The Cavs went 39-45-3 against the spread overall, splitting the record at home. But the paydays were frequent on the over betting and the Cavs wouldn’t disappoint in that regard in the previous game either. They are 26-17 against the over/under at the Q and 51-35-1 for the season.
The Cavs were so dominant that it’s hard to resist the temptation to account this one game for more than usual. The bookmakers did increase the spread to -7.5 but luckily we started the series with an early advantage and can act without panic. We had the Cavs set higher in Game 1 already, so I’m not going to overreact to one game. Still, even with a mild adjustment, it’s still enough of a value to take the home favorite and punish the books for undervaluing them in the first meeting. Take the home favs once again and cash in their supremacy. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with the overs. The books shut down the value on the overs in this series immediately after the first game, increasing the line even further than the market drove it in Game 1. I’m also at 213.5 this time, so there’s no value on the either side of the projected line.
My Pick: Cleveland Cavaliers -7.5 (-105)
Total: Pass
