LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers faces an uphill task as they face Kyle Lowry’s Toronto Raptors at the Quicken Loans Arena in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Cavaliers handily swept aside Detroit and Atlanta, the Raptors were battling through an up-and-down post-season. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry’s recent return to all-star form has been the big story-line heading into the Eastern final.
Over the past three games, Toronto’s dynamic duo have combined to average 60.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game. They clearly have momentum going into the series with Cleveland, but fatigue needs to be considered.
Probable starting line up
Toronto: Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll, Patrick Patterson, Bismack Biyombo.
Cleveland: Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson.
Key matchup: DeMarre Carroll vs. LeBron James. James has long been the toughest assignment in the Eastern Conference, but with a healthy supporting cast that’s shooting at an unprecedented clip — a playoff-best 134 threes made on 46.2 per cent shooting — he’ll be more difficult to check than ever.
Slowing James’ scoring is one thing, but if he’s finding his hot-shooting teammates, it creates another problem for the Raptors. The Raptors acquired Carroll for match-ups like these.
NEED TO KNOW
Kyle Lowry averaged 32 points in the final three games of the second round and and shot better than 50 per cent twice (Games 3 and Game 7). DeMar DeRozan averaged 28.3 points in the final three games . Kevin Love has found his fit with the Cavs. He’s averaging 19 points and 12.5 rebounds per game in the playoffs this year, after putting up 14 points and seven rebounds in the first round last year .
The Cavs will go into Game 1 with nine days of rest, while the Raptors head into their second straight series of a game every other day.
PREDICTION : Cavs to sweep series
NBA Eastern Conf. Finals : Cleveland Cavaliers Vs. Toronto Raptors
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