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Key: Beasts of the East
The Wine & Gold returned home after their longest trip of the season for a three-game homestand – and they took care of the first phase on Monday night, dropping Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. But their test gets tougher on Wednesday night when the Cavs welcome the Conference’s top team – the Toronto Raptors.
In Monday night’s win – with Larry Drew at the helm replacing Tyronn Lue, who’s taking a leave to tend to health concerns – Cleveland grabbed the lead late in the first half and never looked back. The victory was Cleveland’s second straight and its sixth straight against Milwaukee at The Q.
The Raptors have lost a grand total of three games since the start of February and have taken 12 of their last 13 contests, including a 93-86 win over the Magic on Tuesday night in Orlando.
In their lone meeting this year, the Raptors mauled the Wine & Gold at the Air Canada Centre – handing them the 133-99 loss, Cleveland’s worst loss of the season.
The Cavs – who welcome the Raptors once more this season on April 3 – have won eight of their last nine against Toronto at home, including Playoffs, but both squads are vastly different these days.
Key: Triple Trouble
At age 33, LeBron James might just be having his best season as a pro – and the four-time MVP has been on an absolute tear since the start of February.
On Monday night against Milwaukee, James tallied his 16th triple-double of the season, 71st of his career and third in his last four outings – going off for game-highs in points (40), rebounds (12) and assists (10) on 16-for-29 shooting, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. It was the 51st time in his Hall of Fame career that LeBron has led or tied both teams for the game-high in points, rebounds and assists – passing Wilt Chamberlain for the top spot on the NBA’s all-time list.
Dating back to February 7 – an 18-game span – the 14-time All-Star is averaging 30.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 10.2 assists, shooting 55 percent from the floor and 41 percent from long-range over that span.
Before finishing with 26 points in this year’s loss to Toronto, the King had notched at least 30 points in each of the previous five meetings, including Playoffs.
Key: One-Two Punch
It’s been over a quarter of a century since an Eastern Conference squad has filled it up like the Raptors have this season. The last East team to average at least 112.0 points per were the 1991-92 Indiana Pacers.
The main reason Toronto can score in bunches is because of their explosive backcourt combo of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. Both players’ scoring numbers are actually down this year, but their assist numbers have taken a jump – an indication that the Raptors have built a better team around them.
Before missing last night’s win in Orlando with a bruised hand, DeRozan had notched at least 24 points in each of his previous three games – and tallied 28 points in the second half of a matchup against Detroit on March 6.
Lowry has topped the 20-point mark in each of his two previous games – doubling up with 22 points and 10 assists against Oklahoma City and leading both squads with 25 points in Monday night’s victory in Orlando.
Lowry didn’t play and DeRozan only scored 16 points in their January 11 win over the Cavaliers – which only compounded Cleveland’s frustration in the 34-point decision. Both should be in action for tonight’s heavyweight showdown at The Q.
Key: Feel the Love
There was a question about how long it might take Kevin Love to fit comfortably back into the Cavaliers’ lineup after a 20-game layoff after fracturing his left hand against Detroit on January 30.
It didn’t take long for the five-time All-Star to answer the question: finishing with 18 points, going 5-of-13 from the floor, including 4-of-9 from beyond the arc – the 13th time this season he’s canned at least four triples in a game.
Against Milwaukee on Monday, for the 41st time this year, Love got the start at center. But there’s a chance he could slide back over to forward if Tristan Thompson is able to return to the lineup. Both Thompson and Rodney Hood are listed as questionable for tonight’s contest.
Before the injury, Love was having an outstanding season, averaging 9.3 boards on the year while having notched at least 20 point in 22 games. His 27 double-doubles still rank him in the league’s top 15.
If Love is forced to man the middle on Wednesday night, he’ll have his hands full with Jonas Valanciunas – who’s cooled off over his last two outings after a three-game stretch last week in which he averaged 21.0 points and 14.7 boards per.
Key: Jordan Brand
In Toronto’s drubbing of the Cavaliers back on January 11, we already know that it wasn’t DeRozan and Lowry that did the bulk of the damage. It was the Raptors’ bench that did most of it – with four players netting double-figures and the second unit combining for 76 points in the victory.
Fred VanVleet led the way with 22 points, going 8-of-11 from the floor, including 6-of-8 from long-range. Pascal Siakam finished with 16 points, Norman Powell added 14 and Jakob Poeltl, 12. Jeff Green was the only Cavalier in double-figures in that blowout loss. Of course, the Wine & Gold are a completely different team this time around – despite still being without some key pieces.
In Monday’s win over Milwaukee, the Cavaliers got solid bench contributions from a pair of players who’ve been very good off the bench of late. Rookie Ante Zizic continued to impress – tallying his fourth double-figure outing in his last five games, finishing with 13 points and six boards, going 4-of-6 from the floor in 17 solid minutes of work.
Jordan Clarkson registered double-figures for the 13th time in his 16 games as a Cavalier, chipping in with 17 points, going 5-of-11 from the field and 3-for-7 from three-point range.