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After a day off the Cavs conclude their three-game road trip with a visit to Toronto. The Raptors are 19-33 and after getting off to a rough start decided to throw in the towel. First they traded OG Anunoby followed by Pascal Siakam on January 17. Since the Siakam trade the Raptors are 4-8. Siakam and Anunoby combined to average 37 points and 10 rebounds per game before they were traded.
These teams last met on New Year’s Day and the Raptors won 124-121 as Siakam scored 36 points in 40 minutes, making 13-of-20 shots. Tonight will be a lot different; the Raptors won’t have Siakam but the Cavs will have Garland and Mobley, who missed that game.
I don’t think it’s worth going over the season stats for Toronto since they are a much different team after trading perhaps their two best players. For what it's worth, they rank 19th in both scoring and scoring defense. They are 11-13 at home.
The Raptors just made another trade, picking up Kelly Olynyk and former Cav draft pick Ochai Agbaji for two guys that weren’t playing and a first round pick. Olynyk is having a solid year for the Jazz, shooting 56% from the field and 43% on 3’s and averaging 8 points and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes. Agbaji averaged 5.4 points in 20 minutes and is hitting just 33% on 3’s, which was supposed to be his strong point. Both Olynyk and Agbaji were available for the Raptors game last night but did not play. They probably make their first appearances in a Raptors uniform tonight.
The new Raptors’ lineup consists of PG Immanuel Quickley, who averages 16.8 pts and 6.3 assists in 16 games since being traded from the Knicks. Quickley is shooting 44% on 3's since coming to Toronto. SG Gary Trent Jr averages 12 ppg while SF RJ Barrett is having a great year at 21.3 points on 55% overall and 39% on 3’s.
PF Scottie Barnes is averaging 20.2 points, 8 rebounds, and 5.7 assists on 48% from the field and 36% from deep. Barnes ranks near the top at his position in blocks, steals, offensive and defensive rebound percentage, and assist percentage. He's average in points per shot attempt.
C Jakob Poeltl averages 10.8 points and 8.4 rebounds in 27 minutes. In his last six games Poeltl is shooting 75% from the field. In two games against the Cavs this year he’s averaging 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Their starting lineup of Quickley, Trent, Barrett, Barnes, and Poeltl looks pretty decent to me and Olynyk and Bruce Brown are solid pieces off the bench. After that I’m not impressed with their depth. In fact, in the last 15 games the Cavs' bench ranks 2nd at +5.3 while the Raptors bench ranks 29th at -4.6 according to NBA.com.
Toronto is certainly capable of playing well; six days ago they lost at Oklahoma City in double overtime. The Thunder are 20-6 at home so that was an impressive game by Toronto. All five starters scored between 16-23 points and took 15-20 shots, except Poeltl who took 9. The Raptors had 38 assists. It looks to me that without Siakam they are sharing ball and divvying up the shots equally.
The Raptors look a lot different without Siakam, Anunoby, and Fred VanVleet, who were 1st, 2nd, and 4th in scoring for them last year. The Raps only scored 107 points against Houston last night (the Rockets give up 113 on average), so I’m not sure about their offense. But Quickley and Barrett, their new players, are averaging a combined 38/11/10 while Siakam and Anunoby averaged 37/10/8, so they don’t appear to have taken a big step back with these deals and they added four first round picks.
The Raptors played the Rockets last night in Toronto and did not look great, winning by 3 against a team that came in 5-18 on the road, so they will be on the second night of a back-to-back, but with no travel. The Cavs are the NBA’s hottest team and will have the best player on the floor in Donovan Mitchell as well as a much deeper bench. On paper this should be another W, but I expect the Toronto starters to play well as they have five players who can score and they are playing very unselfishly. Our bench might have to be the difference.
These teams last met on New Year’s Day and the Raptors won 124-121 as Siakam scored 36 points in 40 minutes, making 13-of-20 shots. Tonight will be a lot different; the Raptors won’t have Siakam but the Cavs will have Garland and Mobley, who missed that game.
I don’t think it’s worth going over the season stats for Toronto since they are a much different team after trading perhaps their two best players. For what it's worth, they rank 19th in both scoring and scoring defense. They are 11-13 at home.
The Raptors just made another trade, picking up Kelly Olynyk and former Cav draft pick Ochai Agbaji for two guys that weren’t playing and a first round pick. Olynyk is having a solid year for the Jazz, shooting 56% from the field and 43% on 3’s and averaging 8 points and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes. Agbaji averaged 5.4 points in 20 minutes and is hitting just 33% on 3’s, which was supposed to be his strong point. Both Olynyk and Agbaji were available for the Raptors game last night but did not play. They probably make their first appearances in a Raptors uniform tonight.
The new Raptors’ lineup consists of PG Immanuel Quickley, who averages 16.8 pts and 6.3 assists in 16 games since being traded from the Knicks. Quickley is shooting 44% on 3's since coming to Toronto. SG Gary Trent Jr averages 12 ppg while SF RJ Barrett is having a great year at 21.3 points on 55% overall and 39% on 3’s.
PF Scottie Barnes is averaging 20.2 points, 8 rebounds, and 5.7 assists on 48% from the field and 36% from deep. Barnes ranks near the top at his position in blocks, steals, offensive and defensive rebound percentage, and assist percentage. He's average in points per shot attempt.
C Jakob Poeltl averages 10.8 points and 8.4 rebounds in 27 minutes. In his last six games Poeltl is shooting 75% from the field. In two games against the Cavs this year he’s averaging 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Their starting lineup of Quickley, Trent, Barrett, Barnes, and Poeltl looks pretty decent to me and Olynyk and Bruce Brown are solid pieces off the bench. After that I’m not impressed with their depth. In fact, in the last 15 games the Cavs' bench ranks 2nd at +5.3 while the Raptors bench ranks 29th at -4.6 according to NBA.com.
Toronto is certainly capable of playing well; six days ago they lost at Oklahoma City in double overtime. The Thunder are 20-6 at home so that was an impressive game by Toronto. All five starters scored between 16-23 points and took 15-20 shots, except Poeltl who took 9. The Raptors had 38 assists. It looks to me that without Siakam they are sharing ball and divvying up the shots equally.
The Raptors look a lot different without Siakam, Anunoby, and Fred VanVleet, who were 1st, 2nd, and 4th in scoring for them last year. The Raps only scored 107 points against Houston last night (the Rockets give up 113 on average), so I’m not sure about their offense. But Quickley and Barrett, their new players, are averaging a combined 38/11/10 while Siakam and Anunoby averaged 37/10/8, so they don’t appear to have taken a big step back with these deals and they added four first round picks.
The Raptors played the Rockets last night in Toronto and did not look great, winning by 3 against a team that came in 5-18 on the road, so they will be on the second night of a back-to-back, but with no travel. The Cavs are the NBA’s hottest team and will have the best player on the floor in Donovan Mitchell as well as a much deeper bench. On paper this should be another W, but I expect the Toronto starters to play well as they have five players who can score and they are playing very unselfishly. Our bench might have to be the difference.
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