1.) Execute the Small Ball Lineup
If the Cavs did one thing extremely well in the Atlanta series, it was shooting from behind the arc. The Raptors have already announced that starting C Jonas Valanciunas is out for game one and doubtful for game two with an ankle injury. That leaves Bismack Biyombo as the starting center. Biyombo is smaller than Valanciunas at 6’9” 245 pounds compared to 7’0” 255 pounds. Biymobo, while improved, still does not offer much of an offensive threat when he’s on the floor. This allows the Cavs to switch to smaller lineups with Love or Frye at the five, who are not as great defensively, and puts more shooters on the floor. The longer Valanciunas remains out, the more the Cavs don’t have to worry about putting a bigger body on him to keep him from being a threat in the paint.
2.) Fresh Legs and Fewer Distractions
The Cavs have not played in nine days coming into this playoff series. Toronto on the other hand is coming off a game played two days ago and a series that went seven games. Between traveling, injuries, and the short rest, the Cavs have a perfect opportunity to get off to a great start right out of the gate. They had an 11 point lead after the 1st quarter of game one in the Atlanta series coming off extended rest. The Cavs have the momentum and freshness to keep the pedal to the metal. Playing Toronto should also lead to fewer distractions. If they were to have played the Heat, the questions and focus around LeBron playing his former team would have been distracting or annoying no matter how much the players would attempt to tune it out. Playing Toronto takes away a lot of the media hype around the series which is probably a good thing. The team can focus on basketball and the biggest storylines will be about the statements Lowry and LeBron made and around the Raptors getting the farthest in franchise history.
3.) Kyrie Must Match Up With Lowry
If there’s one matchup worth watching in the series it’s going to be Kyrie Irving going against Kyle Lowry. Lowry is one of two big scoring threats that Toronto has and in his last three games has scored 25, 36, and 35 respectively. Questions surrounding Kyrie’s defense have remained since he came into the league and Cleveland needs for him to step up his defensive effort to negate the biggest scoring threat they have. Kyrie can put up the points if he needs to with the rest of the big three but if the two can cancel each other out, LeBron, Love, and JR can outperform the rest of the Raptors starters.
4.) Go Through LeBron
LeBron has been having an amazing postseason for Cleveland, doing whatever he has to in order for the team to win. He has scored when called upon, with at least 20 points in every postseason game while shooting just under 50% from the field. He’s gotten at least 10 rebounds in half of the games adding another rebounding presence to Love and Thompson. He has also been able to get assists with a minimum of eight in half of the games. His on point distribution to the shooters around the edge could prove deadly with the way guys like JR and RJ have been shooting from deep. This also doesn’t account for his high basketball IQ, defensive prowess, and ability to impact the momentum of the game among others. The Cavs should continue to run through LeBron because he makes the rest of the team better.
5.) Make Tristan The X-Factor
Tristan Thompson is the Cavs X-factor in the series for me. I think it could be a breakout series for him in the playoffs. He made his off-season money from a strong performance in the playoffs last year when Love went down, and he has a matchup that can favor him to have a similar impact in this series. With the big three healthy and some of the other shooters performing as well as they have, Thompson hasn’t had to make a big impact on the offensive side of the ball. With Biyombo in, I think Tristan has a chance to shine. Biyombo has played extremely well in the Heat series but he hasn’t had full time starting duties. Thompson’s length and ability to rebound have frustrated almost every big in the NBA and with Tristan going up against a center that is similar in size to him he should grab double digit rebounds every night. After Biyombo, the next leading rebounder for Toronto this postseason has been Lowry with 4.8 per game. The Cavs have a major advantage in rebounding in the series with Thompson being on the forefront. Tristan’s ability to extend plays is priceless and adding him to the mix before the Finals could take this team to the next level.
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