Five Keys: Cavaliers vs. Raptors - Game 5

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There’s no other way to put it – Wednesday’s home contest at The Q is the biggest game of the season for the Cavaliers. It’s not a must-win, but considering the way they’ve played north of the border this year, it’s one that they need badly.

The Playoffs were cruising along for Cleveland, blowing past Detroit and Atlanta, rewriting the history books along the way. When the Cavaliers arrived in Toronto on Friday afternoon, they’d won 17 straight Eastern Conference Playoff games. Coming into tonight’s matchup at The Q, the series is tied at two games apiece after the Raptors backcourt duo of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry combined for 67 points on Monday night and Bismack Biyombo has collected 40 boards over the past two games.

The Cavaliers shot the three-ball at a record-setting pace through the first two rounds, averaging 16.8 treys per game, hitting 134 overall and doing so at a .462 clip. But over the last two games against Toronto, they’ve gone 17-for-82 (.207). Instead of being the aggressors, the Wine and Gold attempted just nine free throws on the evening; just two in the second half, both by LeBron James.

All that said – the Cavaliers have thoroughly dominated the Raptors in Cleveland this year, regular season and Playoffs, manhandling the North by an average of 24.0 points per in three wins. The Cavaliers nudged Toronto by one game for the top seed in the Conference. That regular season win, which might’ve seemed inconsequential at the time, might now be the difference between moving on or going home.

Through the first eight games of the postseason, Kevin Love set a Cavaliers mark, doubling up in each one. He came into the Eastern Conference Finals averaging 19.0 points and 13.0 boards per contest and grabbing an even 100 boards through two straight sweeps.

But he’s run into a rough patch against Toronto – with those averages dropping to 11.5 points and 5.0 rebounds through the first four games – going 5-for-23 from the floor over the last two games. Love hadn’t attempted more than nine shots in any of the first three games, and the Cavaliers tried to get him going early in Game 4, with the three-time All-Star getting up eight shots in the first quarter. But his frustrations continued all night – going 4-for-14 through the first three quarters before accidentally stepping on an official’s foot tweaking his left knee – forcing him to sit out the fourth quarter for the second straight night.

In three regular season games against Toronto, Love averaged 18.3 points and 10.3 boards, so it’s not that Toronto has some magic matchup. Right now, Love just has to shake out of his funk. If the Cavaliers are to extend their season into June, they’re going to need him to.

DeMar DeRozan was already feeling good about his game by the time the Eastern Conference Finals returned to Toronto – averaging 20.0 points on 49 percent shooting through the series’ first two contests. But the sixth-year shooting guard from USC has absolutely erupted over the past two games, dropping 32 points per on the Wine and Gold, shooting 55 percent from the floor and 92 percent from the stripe.

The Cavaliers have tried guarding him with everyone from J.R. Smith to Delly to LeBron, but no one’s been able to consistently shut him down yet. J.R. Smith will try to slow him down on Wednesday night, while simultaneously re-igniting his offense – following up his 22-point performance in Game 3 with a nine-point outing in Game 4, going just 3-of-11 from beyond the arc.

Toronto’s other All-Star guard had been very quiet through the first two games of the Conference Finals, netting a combined 18 points while shooting 29 percent from the floor, including just 1-for-15 from beyond the arc. But he’s a changed man since returning to Canada – heating up with 20 points in Saturday’s win and catching fire with 35 points in Game 4, going 14-for-20 from the field, 4-for-7 from long-range.

Opposite Lowry, Kyrie Irving found his rhythm in Game 4 – going 11-for-21 from the floor for 26 points after struggling from the floor on Saturday night. The Cavs would love to see Kyrie cut back on the turnovers – seven in the last two games – and they’ll need the entire team to do a better job slowing down DeRozan and Lowry in the now-best-of-three series.

You can add Bismack Biyombo to the list of Raptors who became an entirely different player when he returned to Canada for Games 3 and 4.

In the first two games of the series, Biyombo grabbed a total of nine rebounds. He quadrupled that total in two games north of the border, snagging 40 boards in the next two contests.

As good as Biyombo’s been recently, there’s also the spectre of Jonas Valanciunas returning to the series as he continues to rehab from a sprained right ankle injury. The Lithuanian big man was active for Game 4 in Toronto, but didn’t see action. That could change over the final three games.

For the Wine and Gold, Tristan Thompson has struggled to find the same magic that made him a household name during the previous postseason. He hasn’t scored double-figures in any game in the 2016 Playoffs – and went scoreless in Game 3 – and has grabbed double-digit boards in only one contest against his hometown team.

The Cavaliers don’t need Thompson to decorate the boxscore, but they do need him to be more active on the offensive glass and keep Biyombo – an energy guy for most of the season – from channeling Dikembe Mutombo.

The Cavaliers dominated the boards and the paint through the first two games of the ECF, but Toronto flipped the script up in Toronto. The Cavs need to reverse that recent trend.

The Cavaliers knew that they’d need to rely on their bench to advance through the Playoffs, but they probably didn’t realize how vital Channing Frye – who attempted three total shots and averaged exactly 1.0 point while barely seeing action against Detroit in the First Round – would be.

Now, it’s hard to imagine how this postseason would have shaped up without him. Offensively, he and his longtime friend, Richard Jefferson, have been the squad’s most effective reserves. Through the four-game series against Toronto, Frye’s averaging 10.3 points per, shooting 60 percent from the floor and 58 percent from long-range.

Jefferson has dropped off from beyond the arc against the Raptors, but he’s still been extremely efficient shooting the ball – hitting on 50 percent of his shots in the series, including a 4-for-4 performance on Monday night at the Air Canada Centre. The Arizona alumni – paired with Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova – have joined LeBron to form perhaps the most effective group off the bench for Cleveland.

For the Raptors, Patrick Patterson has provided muscle and some offense and Cory Joseph has been good for the Raptors all series.