NBA Playoffs! Round 2, Game 1: Toronto Raptors 112 - Cleveland Cavaliers 113 (CLE 1-0)

[S.R.]

This is fun to read. I read it twice.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/4...-game-7-pacers

Ha!

One of our resident doctors can weigh in, but I've read heat and dehydration don't actually increase the risk of a muscle cramp.

Anyhow, I'm not sure these are the only two times we've seen Lebron gassed. He's taken possessions off more and more this year.

Run him into the ground, Siakam! Let's see LBJ try to keep up with those 3/4 court outlet passes from Lowry to The Fastest Man in the NBA.

[Nilanka]

Lance Stephenson wasn't able to slow down LeBron, so why would you want him for Norm?

Probably just the "I don't give a damn about LeBron" attitude that he'd bring to the roster.

[octothorp]

The regular season moment I keep going back to, which the Raptors need to avoid: second game against the Cavs. Raptors built up a big half-time lead, and the starters generally maintained it through the first 6 minutes of the 3rd, up 13 at that point. But as soon as Anunoby and JV came off, the wheels started to come off for the Raptors. Lebron stayed in for the whole 3rd, and after those substitutions he led them on a 18-6 run to finish the quarter down 1. Half that run came against Ibaka, the other half against Siakam.

What pisses me off in thinking back on it was how easy it was for Cleveland to get back into it. Raptors played an incredible first half and then had a solid first half of the third. Raptors entirely had Cleveland on the mat, and but let them back up. Part of that is rotational: Anunoby never saw the floor again, and JV remained out until under 3 minutes left with the Raptors down 4. Whatever it is that Casey has been doing with Aunoby's (and to a lesser extent JV's) 4th quarter usage needs to change this series (unless there's some secret health-issue minutes restriction on Anunoby that we don't know about). Pulling JV and Anunoby early in the 3rd when that lineup was working only makes sense if you're saving them to come back in midway through the 4th.

The difficult part for Casey is that this means sometimes not turning to that awesome bench too early. If the starters are getting the job done in the third, let them play it out until late in the quarter, then put the bench on late in that quarter so they'll get going against the Cleveland bench or against a more tired LeBron, then let them run for as long in the 4th as they look comfortable with.

We'll need to use a range of defenders on James... Anunoby, Siakam, Ibaka, even Miles for brief stints. The key is that if a defender is holding his own in that matchup, you let him go until it starts to turn. You never go away from a matchup on James that you are currently winning, because he'll probably torch the guy who's just coming into the game.

[GOLDBLUM]

The regular season moment I keep going back to, which the Raptors need to avoid: second game against the Cavs. Raptors built up a big half-time lead, and the starters generally maintained it through the first 6 minutes of the 3rd, up 13 at that point. But as soon as Anunoby and JV came off, the wheels started to come off for the Raptors. Lebron stayed in for the whole 3rd, and after those substitutions he led them on a 18-6 run to finish the quarter down 1. Half that run came against Ibaka, the other half against Siakam.

What pisses me off in thinking back on it was how easy it was for Cleveland to get back into it. Raptors played an incredible first half and then had a solid first half of the third. Raptors entirely had Cleveland on the mat, and but let them back up. Part of that is rotational: Anunoby never saw the floor again, and JV remained out until under 3 minutes left with the Raptors down 4. Whatever it is that Casey has been doing with Aunoby's (and to a lesser extent JV's) 4th quarter usage needs to change this series (unless there's some secret health-issue minutes restriction on Anunoby that we don't know about). Pulling JV and Anunoby early in the 3rd when that lineup was working only makes sense if you're saving them to come back in midway through the 4th.

The difficult part for Casey is that this means sometimes not turning to that awesome bench too early. If the starters are getting the job done in the third, let them play it out until late in the quarter, then put the bench on late in that quarter so they'll get going against the Cleveland bench or against a more tired LeBron, then let them run for as long in the 4th as they look comfortable with.

We'll need to use a range of defenders on James... Anunoby, Siakam, Ibaka, even Miles for brief stints. The key is that if a defender is holding his own in that matchup, you let him go until it starts to turn. You never go away from a matchup on James that you are currently winning, because he'll probably torch the guy who's just coming into the game.

Yeah, I know right? Those turn arounds happened so friggin quickly. Gotta prevent that from happening.

[Sonny]

Cavs in 5

I just can't see the Raptors beating the Cavs. LeBron is clearly in the Raptors head. They play scared against him.

[Scraptor]

Cavs in 5

I just can't see the Raptors beating the Cavs. LeBron is clearly in the Raptors head. They play scared against him.

Headline: "Raps win their first ever championship!"

Sonny: I just can't see them doing that again. Everything sucks. Wizards in 4.

[KeonClark]

Cavs in 5

I just can't see the Raptors beating the Cavs. LeBron is clearly in the Raptors head. They play scared against him.

He's back! Haven't seen you since the last Raptors loss!

Cavs in 3, Raptors give up before game 4! Sonny c'mon you can do better than that

[The Great One]

Another thing that interest me is the DeRozan/Green matchup. DeRozan just let Green shut him down the last time they played them. I'm not sure if DD was just playing possum or if Green really is that good of a defender.

[slaw]

1.1) Sub-bullet to (1) is that when Kyle & DeMar try to go mano-a-mano with true superstars, they stop playing defense and that never ends well. Lowry/DD have to understand that we are a rich man's Grit 'n Grind team, not a pretty boy team that can get by on their offensive talent. They have to play defense.

Sub-sub-bullet? There will be a time in this series where the offense will need DD and Lowry to carry it for a stretch (i.e. Derozan for the first 3 quarters in Game 5 of the Wiz series). The trick will be each of them understanding when to assert themselves.

[golden]

These numbers are pretty stunning. The Cavs really, really sucked against the Pacers....

Excluding James and Love, no Cavalier averaged more than 10 points per game in the first round. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise then that Cleveland only averaged 94.9 points per game in the first round against Indiana, a stark contrast to the team’s regular-season average of 110.9

https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2018...t-has-arrived/

[RaptorsVictim]

R Miller says Raps in 6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMUCEM2ewP0

[Jclaw]

I only have 2 concerns:

1. How quickly will the likes of JV, OG, Pascal and Poeltl rack up fouls?..cause you know the refs gonna blow the whistle on these guys every chance they get.

2. How hot will LBJ's role players gonna be?...cause they usually seem to shoot well against us.

I think if the refs are fair with our big guys and let us play some physical D inside, and the likes of Love, Hill, Hood and Clarkson aren't shooting lights out from 3, then we should take this series...in 5.

But I'm predicting Raps in 7 cause shit never goes how you hope!

Yeah...that's what I'm a bit worried about. Can see OG coming out, playing strong defence and then getting two quick fouls. Want the game to get here already so we can stop saying "what if?"

[Tmac2darak]

This

He does this so that when the Cavs don't do it...he can criticize LeBron. Raptor fans...move along, nothing to see here. https://t.co/AlWV69K782

— Tim Micallef (@tim_micallef) April 30, 2018

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[hotfuzz]

This is a little concerning. Raptors usually poop the bed when they're favourites. Was wishing they'd be underdogs.

[Truth Teller]

Probably just the "I don't give a damn about LeBron" attitude that he'd bring to the roster.

That was a double edge sword. People only remember the times he "trolled" Lebron. But there were times when Lance was awful in that series and did too much which resulted in them losing.