Playoff Live Thread: Cavs vs. Raptors, Game 2

The Cavs and Raptors square up tonight in the Q for game 2. Cleveland won game 1 by 11 points and looked the best they have to date in the playoffs. They went up by as many as 25 points. Halfway through the second the Raptors pulled within two for roughly 20 seconds. That was the closest the Raptors would get for the whole game though.

Throughout the series against the Pacers, the Cavs gave up leads. They would tighten up and stop moving the ball. They would stop playing defense for stretches when shots wouldn’t fall. This series may be different. Cleveland’s offense featured non-stop movement against the Raptors.

After averaging 19.8 assists in the first round, Cleveland had 26 dimes on 39 buckets Monday night. There was a joy to them. Kyrie was dancing around, tossed an oop off the backboard , and made other grown men stumble with his dribbles. LeBron James acted like he was going to pound a beer. Dahntay Jones got ejected for basically dunking too hard. Every single guy on the Cavs was smiling.

And, that’s important for a team that’s trying to get into June. Guys have to be willing to play hard all the time. I like to think that letting guys touch the ball gets them to do that on both ends of the floor.

The Cavs held the Raptors to a very respectable 43.3% from the field, and ripped the ball away from them eight times. They threw different looks at DeMar DeRzoan all evening. They doubled him. They showed hard. They switched on him. And, in all cases, they recovered how they were supposed to. DeMar scored 19 points on 16 shots and had just two assists.

The Cavs are in a position to lock this series up with a win tonight.

Things to Watch

1.  The Cavs should continue to throw different looks at DeMar. Until he proves he can make a difference with his passing, they should double him every chance they get.
2. Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson did a great job keeping Jonas Valanciunas in his place with just six points and six boards. Can they do it again?
3. Will the free flowing Cavs continue? It’s nuts what the Cavs do to opposing defenses with their passing. They can make two passes, and a guy ends up open just from timely cuts. It’s very violent, and it’s amazing to watch. They score so quickly.
   It’s almost the complete opposite playing style of a team like the Warriors whose play involves five guys moving gracefully passing the ball until there is some daylight to shoot, five seconds into the shot clock or twenty seconds in.

I’m picking the Cavs to win tonight, 124-101. LeBron should be in an especially assertive mode after Great Lakes Brewing violated his wishes and posted a picture of him holding their beer as a marketing gimmick.