GAME #1: Cleveland Cavaliers 104 - Toronto Raptors 116 (1-0)

[Hotshot]

OR maybe, just maybe... we'll see some more of that Wednesday and throughout the season (I dare to dream...

What we learned from last season in the playoffs: Ibaka can not be counted on to provide consistent high level of basketball anymore. Someone else better step up when or if he flattened again.

[Yuri Gagarin]

Tt love are likely starting. Id put kawhi on love hed be better than og or serge. Tristan can mix it up but hes not gonna burn us for 30. Stifle love and its game over.

Booked the night off work to watch raptors on tv 😂

[Yuri Gagarin]

Lowry/green/og/kawhi/jv

[LJ2]

It's like Christmas Eve with the added bonus of being able to watch Boston and Philly beat up on each other tonight!

[KeonClark]

On the ringer...they grade the take on a scale of A to E, A being "absolutely will happen" to E being "completely far fetched"

Interesting comment by Tjarks I know some think highly of his writing

3. The Raptors will win the East.

Gonzalez: C. Could certainly happen. Toronto had the best record in the East last year and the second-best record in the entire NBA. Not to mention that their boogeyman, LeBron, will spend most of his season scaring the Western Conference. Plus, they hit the upgrade button on DeMar DeRozan and added a better player at both ends of the floor in Kawhi Leonard. The Celtics appear deeper, and you can’t count out the Sixers (or maybe you can, but I refuse), but there’s a real chance for the Raptors to control the conference and have the last laugh.


Tjarks: B. It’s definitely there for them. The question is whether Nick Nurse figures out (or has the juice to make the call) that Fred VanVleet is better than Kyle Lowry.

O’Shaughnessy: B. Toronto outwardly seems mysterious because its best player, DeRozan, was replaced with Leonard, who managed to play only nine games last season. But its pieces aren’t mysterious at all: The Raptors still have their rock-solid first unit and bench, and Leonard was predicted to be an MVP candidate this time a year ago.


Uggetti: A. I have been on this train since the first week of August. The tattoo is already on my calf. Give me the Kawhi Leonard resurgence in the North, a breakout year for OG Anunoby, plus an even better season for the Bench Mob of VanVleet and Co. I am all the way in on the Raptors, and only half of that is due to Celtics/Sixers contrarianism.

Devine: B. Boston makes the most sense, but if Kawhi Leonard is Kawhi Goddamn Leonard, with that young supporting cast, Toronto might (again) be a top-five team on both ends of the floor, be better equipped to handle postseason pressure, and absolutely make its first Finals in franchise history.

Verrier: C. On paper, the upgrade from DeRozan to Leonard should make a 59-win team better in almost every way. But the last time a superstar had success as the first option in his first season after forcing a trade is … Charles Barkley? And those 1992-93 Suns didn’t have to go through a team that can throw out a closing lineup of current or future All-Stars at all five positions.

Concepcion: B. The Celtics, with a healthy Hayward, are the class of the East. They’re talented, deep, and (as you may have heard) well coached. But the Raptors, on paper, are right there. Kawhi, again assuming he’s healthy and engaged and doesn’t get traded, is a top-five player and the most devastating two-way player in the game. Danny Green, who was part of the deal that brought Leonard over from San Antonio, is a 3-and-D specialist with big-game experience. Toronto getting Green as the “throw-in” is unspeakably incredible. It’s like ordering sushi and getting a free pizza. They join Lowry (still doing it!) and a bevy of promising young defenders including Anunoby and VanVleet. The Raps put up a top-five defensive rating last season with DeRozan, a noted bad defender, in the starting lineup. Now they have Kawhi and Danny Green.

Chau: A. There are worse sentences I could have tattooed to my body. This one actually sounds like I’d be able to play it off as an obscure line from Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park. Just don’t make me get Leonard’s “Klaw” brand logo tattooed on the other calf.

[planetmars]

I'm trying to lower my expectations this year since last year ended in such a dud.. but fivethirtyeight has their annual projections.. and guess who's #1 in the East?

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...e-2018-19-nba/

TEAM	CARMELO	RECORD	OFF.	DEF.	P/O   FINALS    TITLE 
Raptors	1655	56-26	7	4	>99	34%	12%
Celtics	1633	54-28	6	5	99	26	9
76ers	1617	53-29	12	2	98	19	5
Wizards	1569	48-34	10	11	92	9	2
Bucks	1555	47-35	9	16	88	6	<1
Pacers	1520	43-39	16	13	77	2	<1
Heat	1503	41-41	23	6	65	2	<1
Pistons	1489	40-42	19	12	58	<1	<1
Hornets	1474	38-44	13	23	46	<1	<1
Nets	1455	36-46	18	22	34	<1	<1
Magic	1422	32-50	25	15	19	<1	<1
Cavaliers	1396	30-52	21	27	11	<1	<1
Hawks	1373	28-54	30	17	6	<1	<1
Bulls	1367	27-55	26	26	5	<1	<1
Knicks	1326	23-59	27	28	1	<1	<1

12% chance to win it all

[slaw]

It's like Christmas Eve with the added bonus of being able to watch Boston and Philly beat up on each other tonight!

Does Vegas have an over/under for catastrophic knee injuries when these teams play each other?

[slaw]

I'm trying to lower my expectations this year since last year ended in such a dud.. but fivethirtyeight has their annual projections.. and guess who's #1 in the East?

12% chance to win it all

Well, let's see:

1. Contract year Kawhi Leonard looking to prove a point.
2. Ornery Kyle Lowry.
3. Veteran role players in case of emergency
4. New coach effect

I like their chances....

[golden]

I'm trying to lower my expectations this year since last year ended in such a dud.. but fivethirtyeight has their annual projections.. and guess who's #1 in the East?

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...e-2018-19-nba/

TEAM	CARMELO	RECORD	OFF.	DEF.	P/O   FINALS    TITLE 
Raptors	1655	56-26	7	4	>99	34%	12%
Celtics	1633	54-28	6	5	99	26	9
76ers	1617	53-29	12	2	98	19	5
Wizards	1569	48-34	10	11	92	9	2
Bucks	1555	47-35	9	16	88	6	<1
Pacers	1520	43-39	16	13	77	2	<1
Heat	1503	41-41	23	6	65	2	<1
Pistons	1489	40-42	19	12	58	<1	<1
Hornets	1474	38-44	13	23	46	<1	<1
Nets	1455	36-46	18	22	34	<1	<1
Magic	1422	32-50	25	15	19	<1	<1
Cavaliers	1396	30-52	21	27	11	<1	<1
Hawks	1373	28-54	30	17	6	<1	<1
Bulls	1367	27-55	26	26	5	<1	<1
Knicks	1326	23-59	27	28	1	<1	<1

12% chance to win it all

What did 538 predict last year?

[KeonClark]

What did 538 predict last year?

President Hillary clinton

[golden]

We'll see what Nick rolls out. I just wanna play to our strengths as well. And I consider JV a strength when going up against size. He'll get his though, no matter who starts.

CAN'T FRICKIN WAIT TO GIT THIS PARTY STARTED

[planetmars]

What did 538 predict last year?

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com...a-predictions/

Then change the Forecast to Oct17 (preseason - final).

They don't do a conference breakdown.. but they had Raps at 45 wins and by my count 5th in the east after Cleveland, Boston, Washington and Charlotte (lol).

[LJ2]

Does Vegas have an over/under for catastrophic knee injuries when these teams play each other?

LOL, I didn't want to say it, but was thinking the same thing.

[KeonClark]

Been saying this for awhile

[Lowe]: “You hear it from rival executives here and there: ‘Has Curry become underrated?’ I think there is truth to that, as absurd as it sounds. Curry is closer to LeBron than to the jumble of guys below Durant with whom he is often lumped.“

[Maury]

GAME #1: Cleveland Cavaliers vs Toronto Raptors - Oct 17, 7:30 PM ET

Been saying this for awhile

[Lowe]: “You hear it from rival executives here and there: ‘Has Curry become underrated?’ I think there is truth to that, as absurd as it sounds. Curry is closer to LeBron than to the jumble of guys below Durant with whom he is often lumped.“

People don’t appreciate how incredible he is anymore. Unless you’re Stephen a Smith you know Steph is the best player on the best team in the league.