Live Thread: Cavs @ Raptors (#WeAreBack)
2018-10-17
If you haven’t read Nate’s ode to our Aluminum Anniversary… make sure you check it out here at halftime.
Meanwhile… are you ready for the 2018-19 NBA regular season?! Because, it’s finally here! The future is now for your Cleveland Cavaliers. Time to find out if Kevin Love can become a Terminator… if Collin Sexton can be the next John Connor to save the franchise from a bleak existence… or if this year is just an introduction to an oncoming post-apocalypse.
The wine and gold trot out a starting lineup of Love, Cedi Osman, Tristan Thompson, Rodney Hood and George Hill. They’ll face a slightly different looking Raptors team than they faced in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. Toronto adds a potential T-1000 in Kawhi Leonard (replacing DeMar DeRozan), to start alongside OG Anunoby, Serge Ibaka, Danny Green and Kyle Lowry.
Not many give these new Cavs much of a chance against a Raptors team that should contend for the best record in the Eastern Conference (Cleveland was a 13 point underdog for this one). Yet, what chance really did Sarah Connor have of taking down SkyNet?
Prediction: With LeBron gone, the Raptor machine gets some revenge on the team that terminated them from the last few playoff series… but the scrappy Cavs make it interesting 112-108.
Catch all the action from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, starting at 7:30 EST on Fox Sports Ohio. And, as always, come back and comment below…
GO CAVS!
I think Lue needs to play Zicic more, he’s so smooth running pick and roll and consistently crashes boards…use his size for 15 min a game. TT is useless…curious about Nwaba, he got the obligatory 1 minute of playing time. Dekker just looks like a white dude who has very little skills to offer, is Preston that ‘green’ that he wouldn’t handle anything better? Clarkson is who he is, same with Hood. I think once Cedi develops consistent jumper, especially 3s, he’s going to be very good. Think first few games, especially with injuries, will be a lot of weird… Read more »
Cedi is gonna be a near all-star in the coming years. He needs to dribble a little more under control and he’s gonna be finishing more often and dishing even better looks. Defensively, I loved him tonight.
AFTER A ROUGH START FOR KLOVE –( BELIEVE IT WAS 1 / 10 OR 11—SETTLED DOWN 4 / 7 REST OF GAME FG’S )—-SEXTON —1ST GAME JITTERS AGAINST A QUALITY OPPONENT –CAN ONLY GET BETTER —-CEDI”JEDI “–THE REAL DEAL——LNJ MAKES OUR ROTATIONS DEEPER —IMPROVED AS SO DOSE SWISH——RAPTORS WILL BE IN THE THICK OF THINGS FOR EASTERN CONFERENCE—–JUST GOOD THAT CAVS PLAYED HARD FOR AN ENTIRE GAME ————-“32 WINS ” IS WHAT I AM STICKING TO
If I were the Raps, I’d do everything I could to get rid of Ibaka. He stinks!
He had 3 blocks and played really good defense. He was a factor.
How many of those blocks were against a 19 year old rookie?
He came off the bench and gave them what they needed. I’m not saying the guy is anywhere near what he was in OKC but I wouldn’t say he stinks. TT stinks. I would take Ibaka over TT in a heartbeat.
Well my comment isn’t just related to this game, which he wasn’t impressive (2-10, -1), but his entire time in Toronto. I think he will hurt them more than help them.
And for that team, I’d rather have TT over Ibaka, especially in the playoffs.
Agreed.
Mostly encouraging. Fight back.
Cedi was REAL good. Clarkson & Hood were good. Zizic was good. OK = Love, Hill, Korver, Sexton. Dekker even had a couple good moments.
But I liked the fight. 30 -35 win team, at worst. D has to be better. Tons of open 3s. Lowry went bananas there for a bit.
Raps are a serious threat for the Finals.
I think the one thing that could give us some decent playoff chances in the east is that if they continue to play with that kind of effort, they could catch some teams off guard.
30 win team means no playoffs and no draft pick.
Cedi was pretty awesome. Can be even better. We should be more than competitive when Lue figures the lineups out. Gulp.
Cedi could be the best player on this team sooner rather than later. He was tonight.
Not every team has two All Star level ISO guys like Lowry and Kawhi… tough first test for the youngish Cavs…
even tougher without two starters…not sure if JR or Nance make difference but always possible
Sexton will continue to grow; we will get JR and Nance back in rotation soon, more Nwaba instead of Decker, and CAvs need to shoot more 3s….Raptors shot a ton and made a few which was always difference in game, even when we cut it close. felt fouls at end were very tacky, but that shit happens when you’re an elite team. Think this Cavs team will only get better. I would also bury TT at end of bench, not coincidence, when Zicic came in Cavs starting coming back.
TT -20 in 27 minutes… ZZ +11 in 14 minutes…
I didn’t think TT was that awful. He looks like a switchable defender again, which he was not last year.
He got good offensive boards, but got blocked a couple times and got beat by Lowry on his switches…
Most bigs get beat by Lowry on switches.
again based on one game, Zicic appeared more mobile and made plays on both ends of floor in limited time. He is so much better finishing in pick and rolls then TT…Lue and staff had to figure that out rather quickly
I’ve said it for a whole year, Zz is the player TT wishes to be when he grows up. Our own B-level Paul Gasol.
Lol, if we could just merge the two, they’d be awesome.
TT kills our offense, and does not protect the rim. He hustles, does OK on the boards, but struggles vs legit bigs. And he isn’t THAT good on switches to make up for it.
I would just go ahead & start Zizic vs big bigs & Nance vs smaller Cs. If it it a game where one of those guys are struggling, or we need some grit, put TT in.
I hope we see a lot loess of Dekker if/ when Nance is healthy…
Man Lowry gets away with so much flopping.
“Held em under 120! Yes!”
http://thumb.usatodaysportsimages.com/image/thumb/650-510nw/8469259.jpg
😄😄😄
Some good things and some not so good. Love wasn’t effective. Not sure if it’s just the fact of going against JV/Ibaka/Siakam – all good and tall defenders, or just trying too hard. TT needs to be benched/traded asap. He brings absolutely nothing to the table offensively. You’re literally playing 4 on 5 on offense when he’s out there. Dekker needs to be sent to Canton. KK needs to be a central piece to the second unit. That’s extremely hard when you have both Clarkson and Sexton controlling the ball. We need more Cedi as a point with Love, Zz,… Read more »
*Wish
The offensive board he gives you are negated by all the dumb stuff he does plus his lack of offense.
5 offensive boards from TT arent nothin, but I agree it would be ok to give some of his mins to channing
Or zizic
Got the score prediction close +/-4…
Backdoor cover on the line….
Cavs need to shoot better, turn the ball over less, and defend the three better.
ACtually…. backdoor cover for the CAVS!!! LMAOOO WOW!
I’ll take the effort they put forth. Switching a ton on defense and fighting for the most part. George Hill can’t cover guards anymore, and Sexton has a lot to learn about defense at this level and finishing, but he showed some legit stuff at times. Can’t ask for much more.
Could ask for an assist from an aspiring point guard
Lue still completely clueless on rotations. I get that its game 1 but he there were times he pulled the trigger irrationally fast and times he forgot he was the one who had to call guys up
‘Jaw drops as I see Lowry’s line.’ 25 points on 9/11, 5/6 from three and 11 assists! Wow that is efficiency. No wonder I felt like he had a good but quiet game, he only took 11 shots. Holy @#$* he had himself a game
Yeah he wont do that again the rest of the season. Or his career.
Lowry 5-6 from three…those were killers…
Nice effort by team though but really don’t know who to trust to make 3s now
Korver.
outside of him, and I don’t think he will last on team full season, thought Hood was pretty decent and even hill but they don’t really shoot anymore
Yeah those two guys weren’t bad. I don’t think Korver or hill will last the season
Had it down to 7, just couldn’t finish… no shame in that on the road in Toronto…
Refs were what kept the cavs in the game early to be fair.
But I do not recall any real favorable calls for us, save a bailout on Clarkson.
Felt raptors got more calls at end but that’ll happen when you don’t have superstars anymore
Good effort. Hard to fight bad rotations and the ref. S
That is ballgame. Dang.
Still, a couple more shots, a call or two, and less fumbles, & we are right there. Lot of ifs.
Looks like the old Kawhi almost…
Feel like love gets bumped off his spots so easily now down on the block.
Need threes now…
Don’t leave your feet Rodney!
Already MVP chants for Kawhi… man they really want to keep him… LOL
I like the fact we kept fighting.
Cedi 17-10-4
He’ll be a trip doub machine once guys start hitting shots…
Yeah. Really good signs there. He should have played a ton more minutes last year.
Cedi gotta get a bit more wiggle there.
True, but I think his downhill momentum and decisiveness is part of what makes his drbbel drive game work
Van Vleet & Lowry have the hesitation, cut in front of the guy, and lean in stuff on drives down.
Sexton & Cedi are more straight line guys. They will learn.
Van fleet and Lowry are also about 9 inches shorter and super quick point guards.
Than cedi. Obviously Sexton needs that
Shot blocking is worth 10+ pts a game.
Cedi didn’t get same call that Lowry just got.
He didn’t jump into him like Lowry did.
That could be game. Tough break on a nice block
Nice block by Siakam…
Damn… I thought Cedi had that…
Another bailout call there.
Lowry just threw his body into KLOVE and got the foul…. BS.
Smart play by lower. Knew he could probably put love in a tough position and put the on us on the officials.
Onus
Another garbage call.
Oh my GOD Lowry getting Harden calls…
Cavs with 5 guys in double digits… Sexton at 9…
Cedi is a really good up tempo point forward
Commissioner Gordon unhappy with that call.
Love the effort by the Cavs, win or lose…
For sure. Very refreshing. Just want to see a team try hard for 48 minutes
KEEP FIGHTIN CAVS!
Cavs not giving up. Like the aggressive drive by hill
Single digit game…
Raps didn’t get away with that many fouls… since they’ve been in the bonus a LOT this game…
Yeah. They have had a fair number of perimeter fouls on them.
Frustrating… Love gets mauled on offense but gets called for ticky tack stuff
Great swings… JC just couldn’t knock down the three…
Yup… he had it. THought he’d knock it down since he was in the corner.
Another terrible call…. ball don’t lie.
And another BS call.
God I hate NBA refs.
Terrible call on love
BALL DON’T LIE
Ridiculous technical call….. I wanna see the same call for Draymond.
Hahahahahahahaha…..hahahahahahahaha…..hahahahahahah….*whew*
LMAOOOO
Qwhole lotta home cooking for the Raps tonight.
CLEAN BLOCK! WTF???
BS call there. And a tech.
Dumb T, Kev…
HOOD GREAT PASS TO HILL!!!!
Awful foul call… questionable tech on Love…
HOW IS THERE NO FOULED CALLED? ON HILL??? OR KLOVE???
That tech was garbage.
Gotta love this team’s fight…
Still in it. If they lose by single digits, that is not a bad effort on the road to Toronto for the first game without lbj
Boy could have used that three by love. Great hustle by hill!
Cedi is pretty crafty with avoiding blocks at the basket. Wrapped the ball just enough under and around jv to get the foul
Is Jordan Clarkson made of Silly Putty? His tats look like he rolled on a newspaper…
NICE DRIVE CEDI!!!! Draws the foul
Despite being 5/14, Love has 20. And he misses 2 at the line….