Round 2 Game 1 Toronto Raptors @ Cleveland Cavaliers Mon May 1st 2017 7pm

[Adam]

Welcome to the annual ass-kicking of the Toronto Raptors!!!

Deja Vu​

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MONDAY, MAY 1
TIME: 7:00 P.M. ET
Quicken Loans Arena
NBA on TNT
WTAM 1100 / 87.7 FM (ESP)
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Introducing your 2016 NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers!!!!​

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The coaching matchup:​

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Tyronne Lue: Has had a week of practice to prepare the guys for a familiar foe. I'm sure he will have some head scratching rotations ready for us​

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Dwayne Casey: Often thought of as one of the worst coaches in the NBA it will be interesting to see if he decides to double kyrie in the pick and roll or bron on the block. Raptors in the playoffs have been quick to flood the paint on dribble penetration and jump for shot fakes when rushing back out to the perimeter. Will they keep this up with the cavs shooters??​

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Champs Starters.​

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PG: Kyrie Irving: 25ppg 6apg but only 22% from 3. Still a bit rusty or hurt hopefully the rest has got his triple working. Needs to keep aggressive and see the weakside as the raptors will crowd the paint​

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SG: JR Smith: 7ppg 43% 3pt. The main job for him is to keep Derozen above the foul line and with a hand in his face.
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SF: LeGoat: 33ppg 9apg 10rpg 45% 3Pt. Seriously he does in fact spoil us with his play, at the time I thought he was a right prick for saying that but it's true.​

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PF: Kevin Love: 15.5ppg 9.8rpg 40%3pt. His shooting needs to be there for us to stretch the floor. He will spend time guarding JV on the block.​

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C: TTop: 6ppg 11rpg 42%FT 1.5 thumbs. TT stepping up in the playoffs hoping to retain his king of Canada crown​

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Champs Bench:​

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Raptors Starters:

Kyle Lowry:

DeMar DeRozan:

DeMarre Carroll:

Serge Ibaka:

Jonas Valanciunas:

Raptors BENCH

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My Thoughts: I'm guessing the Raps go back to a more traditional starting 5.
Just watched the Raptors Bucks series and to be honest I came away unimpressed. Raptors seemed to make a meal out of a poor offensive team in Milwaukee. DeRozan seems to have improved off the dribble since last year and they managed to pack the paint well. I just dont seem how they can maintain coverage of our three point shooting and manage to create a rebounding advantage. We will have to trap derozan at the foul line and also watch for a middle lane cut on any drive as this seems a staple read for them with derozan due to his poor 3 point shooting.
Lue needs to find a way to survive stretches without lebron on the floor, say 3 mins. He also needs to ensure he matches well to get frye out there whilst still holding their own defensively.
No doubt this will be all about the cavs offense. If they unleash their potentially legendary offensive firepower the raptors wont be able to keep up but if a disinterested turnover prone cavs come out then the raptors will take full advantage.
If the cavs play hard for 48 mins and shoot a high percentage they could in fact sweep them. But this is as rare as Reggie Miller talking about players amazing length and not licking his lips

Spoiler: Lady Raptors

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[wuck]

Sorry to interrupt off-topic, but I'm looking for a game previewer for Cavs/Raptors Game 4. If anyone is interested, PM me or post in the game preview thread.

 

[Andrew]

Lady Raptors are the best kind of Raptors.

 

[iMoeJoe]

ITS GAME DAY BABY! Our week long wait is over! 4 more wins and we get another week! LETS GO CAVS!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Omar The Horse]

Kyrie
JR
Love


WE NEED YOU AT YOUR BEST.

 

[Zog]

I hope the rest has paid off for Kyrie. We need him at 100% going into the Finals. If he's not feeling right I hope he has the big picture in mind and asks to rest. Deron's size is a good matchup to keep Lowry out of where he wants to go anyways.

 

[The Oi]

Cavs will lose this game.

One of the two teams will get out to a hot start and get that early 10-12 point lead...not sure which. Cavs will eventually end up with their usual big lead, blow it and Raps will win a close one.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

Where is the obligatory raptor falling on its face as it rolls down the stairs?

 

[JFT]

We're all set now...

View: https://twitter.com/LegionReportNBA/status/858870747665760256

 

[Cratylus]

Toronto in 6.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

 

[amurderofcrows]

Never
Gets
Old
Thanks.

 

[HurricaneKid]

I will be surprised if PJ Tucker isn't starting within a few games and even early in the series he will be playing heavy minutes. Carroll never has put it together for Toronto. PJ is one of a handful of guys in the league that can slow LeBron a little.

I would like to see us put our foot on their collective throats early. This Raps team made the trades they could to make this the year to go toe to toe with us and if we destroy them the way we should they won't exist in a similar fashion after this year.

Get 'em Cavs.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

I will be surprised if PJ Tucker isn't starting within a few games and even early in the series he will be playing heavy minutes. Carroll never has put it together for Toronto. PJ is one of a handful of guys in the league that can slow LeBron a little.

I would like to see us put our foot on their collective throats early. This Raps team made the trades they could to make this the year to go toe to toe with us and if we destroy them the way we should they won't exist in a similar fashion after this year.

Get 'em Cavs.

Tucker is a good iso defender and did a fine job against Giannis but it's completely different now.
Giannis couldn't back him down much from the post because he was weak, Tucker is thick and strong, but I believe Lebron can still will his way inside from the post agianst Tucker and has huge length advantage over him.

Tucker isn't much of a good PnR defender as he is an ISO defender (I don't have stats to back it up, just the eye test).. having the ball in Lebron's hands in the Pick and Pop with Frye is going to be a huge key yet again in this series and I expect Frye to be a big factor in this series.

Tucker has been very poor on offense in the playoffs and shot the ball poorly. Having Lebron on him would allow LBJ to help Kyrie on penetrations.
I don't think Tucker is that big of a difference but we'll soon find out.

@jking948 do you have Tuckers PnR defense stats?

 

[bob2the2nd]

the best part is the tail