Live Thread: Cavs @ Raptors (Welcome to Jurassic Park)

The Cleveland Cavaliers will venture into the Raptor cage for this Friday night match-up. While the Cavaliers have shown some fight throughout December, netting four wins, including one against the tough Pacers, the Raptors are a hold other beast. Though Toronto is coming off a brutal 12 game stretch, they still managed some big wins. The Raptors managed to take a chunk out of the Warriors, beating them twice in that same stretch of games. While Lowry and Ibaka are not expected to play in this one, that won’t stop the Great White North from taking a shot at the soft underbelly of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In an attempt to hold off the carnivorous contenders, the Cavaliers will rely on the new found point guard skills of Larry Nance Jr., the hopeful return of Matthew Dellavedova, and rookie point guard, Collin “Young Bull” Sexton. It will be interesting to see how the Raptors handle Nance and whether or not they opt to have Kawhi guard the big man. Should they do so, it will make for an interesting challenge for him. Leonard definitely has the length and strength to make things a lot more challenging for LNJ than he’s used to and he’s likely their best option considering Jonas Valanciunas is still out (not that he’d be a good option), and Serge Ibaka may not be playing either. I look forward to the possible match-up and hope the Cavs can keep this one interesting for as long as possible. Still I think the Raptors win this one handily, 116-101. As always, Go Cavs!