The Raptors are 3 games out of last place in the East, and 3 games out of a playoff spot. Say what you want about this lot, but they play hard and give a lot of effort considering the talent level. It’s been quite some time since I’ve been able to watch them lose games and not question their heart.

The Cavs on the other hand have been utterly brutal. They are 1-17 in their last 18 games; they lost 10 in a row, beat the Knicks in overtime then lost 7 in a row heading into tonights game. To say this is a shell of a team is an understatement. That first game against the Heat was one of the most disappointing things I’ve ever watched. Sure, injuries have played a role on this team this season, but they have some talented vets and a couple youngish players; so they should be at least playing with some heart.

The last time these guys played, Sonny Weems had this to say after the game:

We weren’t trying to disrespect them, we weren’t trying to humiliate them or nothing, we did that for our fans. You get 100 points, fans get pizza and that’s every game with us.

Needless to say, that game didn’t go well for the Cavs; tonight shouldn’t be any different.

Injuries

Toronto
Reggie Evans – Out
Peja Stojakovic – Out
Sonny Weems – Day to day
Jose Calderon – Day to day

Cleveland
Anderson Varejao – Day to day
Daniel Gibson – Day to day
Mo Williams – Hurting, but should play

Match-ups

Point Guard
You really can’t ask more from Bayless, a career backup who has shown primo flashes during his short tenure as a Raptor (and starter). His speed and ability to penetrate are better suited to coming off the bench, but he’s filled in admirably for an injured Calderon. Last night against the Bulls, he was a beast making great passes and leading the brigade. He ultimately fell short against Rose, but what else did you expect?

Tonights match-up against Williams and Sessions makes me nervous, since the Cavs 1-2 at the point is one of the better combos in the league. Mo has been battling injuries, but has played very well considering he isn’t the kind of player who excels at creating his own shot. What he doesn’t do well is create high-quality scoring opportunities for his teammates, which Ramon does a better job of. If the Raptors fight through the pick-n-roll, and force these two to go it alone, this game is over. What I don’t want to see is Williams or Sessions coming off a high screen with a few options, which should be doable considering this team is brutal. The down-side to this is that both guards can get hot and drop 20 points.
Edge: Cleveland

Shooting Guard
While he didn’t put up the same numbers as the last two games, DeMar, played as well as can be expected with the return of Bargnani to the lineup; in fact, he’s treading the elevated expectation-territory in my books with a weeks worth of great games. I’m hoping that Calderon will meld DeRozan’s and Bargnani’s game’s together more cohesively once he gets back from injury. Triano will need to try something new to ensure both these guys play up to potential at the same time in the same game; I have no bright ideas on how to make this happen though.

Against Parker tonight, I’d like to see DeRozan use his athleticism, get into the lane, and get to the line at least 8 times. Parker wont be able to stop him off the dribble, and the Cavs have nobody to challenge him at the rim.
Edge: Toronto

Small Forward
Unless you’re of the opinion that Jamarion Moon and Stephen Graham are legit, the Cavs have nothing at the 3. While I appreciate Linas’ recent resurgence, the guy hasn’t seen a shot he didn’t like. Far too often the offense breaks down with a Kleiza heave that doesn’t fall with enough consistency for my liking. What I love is how he crashes the boards, especially on the offensive glass; makes like for smaller/weaker 3′s that much harder to check him.

I feel that if we keep talking about Julian Wright, that Triano will play him at some point with some degree of consistency. The guy plays good defense, makes decent decisions, and doesn’t play outside of his comfort zone. What else do you want from a bench player? Seriously, play the guy, it can’t get any worse.
Edge: Toronto

Power Forward
Antwan Jamison has been enjoying a resurgence of sorts; averaging 23pts 6rebs over the last five games. While Hickson has fallen out of favour with Byron Scott, he seems to have found some motivation coming off the bench. The two are a formidable duo to deal with, and have me concerned, as this is a spot where the Cavs can take advantage if Amir Johnson can’t put up something close to 15pts 10rebs. Amir’s play of late has been good, but not what is needed: 9pts 7rebs over the last 5 games (the two games against Houston and Dallas excluded, he played great there).

To his credit, he has been playing like a champ through some injuries, big minutes and very little help in the paint *cough* Ed Davis *cough*. Aside from that monster 17pt 12reb game against the Mavs, Ed hasn’t been providing a whole lot of what is expected, which makes life for Amir that much tougher. Fortunately, Bargnani is back, and will be pulling the guy who is defending him out of the paint, giving Amir more room to operate.
Edge: Cleveland

Center
Bargnani didn’t miss a beat last night after a few games off with injury; it was nice to see him back in action. Varejao is expected to play tonight, returning from injury, but will be fitted with a face mask to protect his broken cheek. Anderson is one of a few centers who has the ability to defend Bargnani all over the floor. With the face injury, he will be less likely to play tough in the block, which is exactly where Bargnani should attack. Where Varejao will hurt Bargnani is on the offensive glass, where his hustle is something Andrea has had problems dealing with in the past. Regardless, Bargnani should own this one.
Edge: Toronto

The Line

The gamblers have the Cavs as 1.5 point favourites with an over/under of 204. Since the game is in Cleveland, this is as close to a push as you can possibly get. I’d bet against that personally.

I’ll say it again, the Cavs are 1-17 in their last 18 games, and currently on a 7 game losing streak. After tonight, they play 10 of their next 13 on the road, so they will be looking to steal this one before heading out on a nasty road swing. They’ve had some injuries to boot, but this is a team that is hurting badly inside. The Raptors need to jump all over them from the tip and not let up one inch. Win the first half, and the Cavs will crumble; that’s got to be the plan.

My life just got 30% better with the season starting today. The Raptors host the Cavs, who just came off a 95-89 loss at the hands of the C**tics last night. Seeing Anthony Parker in a Cavs uniform was unsettling for me. For those of you who didn’t want the guy back, just remember, he is starting for a team that has their designs on a championship, dude can play.

A few things happened in that game that has me feeling good about the Raptors chances of winning tonight:

• First of all, the Cavs look lost offensively with LeBron on the bench. They have no one to carry the load, no one! LeBron only sat 3 minutes, dude played 45 minutes on opening night, this shouldn’t bode too well for them.
• Shaq out gunning on all cylinders, but that didn’t last too long. By the 3rd quarter, he looked old and slow(er then usual).
• No Delonte West

Matchups

Calderon vs Williams
We finally have an injury free Calderon, who looked better as the pre-season went on. With some of creating burden being passed on to Hedo, Calderon should be good to spot up for some open 3s. Williams isn’t much of a defender, and considering he played 35 minutes last night, he wont be playing as aggressively as Mike Brown would want him too. He will be attacking Calderon on offense, but the two should cancel each other out.
The Edge: Even

Parker vs DeRozan
Parker is one of my favourite Raptors of all time. It was good to see him play well along side LeBron last night, but he played 40 minutes. He didn’t shoot great from the field (3-9), but he hit some timely 3s and some solid defense on Ray Allen. He now has to chase DeRozan up and down the court on the second night of a back-to-back. DeRozan needs to attack him from the tip, and keep going at him. This could be a long night for Parker in his return to the ACC.
The Edge: Even*

Turkoglu vs LeBron
Doesn’t matter how good Turkoglu plays, LeBron is LeBron. In 45min last night, LeBron dropped 38pts 4rebs 8ast. You can’t beat that. You only hope that Turkoglu gives up more jumpers then drives. If he can keep him out of the lane, and force LeBron to shoot deep jumpers, I can live with whatever happens.
The Edge: LeBron

Bosh vs Varejao
We know how this will turn out, Bosh will win the overall match-up, but Varejao will win every single hustle play. The guy leads the league in ran down rebounds (errr, yea, he runs down rebounds more then anyone else). He isn’t a threat to score, but that doesn’t mean Bosh should ignore him. The guy is the consummate garbage man. It will be a long night for him though, Bosh looks good to start his max-year campaign tonight.
The Edge: Bosh

Bargnani vs Shaq
Shaq can’t cover Bargnani on defense, and Bargnani can’t cover Shaq either. This match-up comes down to who is going to grab more rebounds, and play better defense. Bargnani should have the advantage, as he will force Shaq out from the key on defense, opening up some space to maneuver. Should Shaq cover Bosh on defense, the same situation will happen as Bosh likes to play from 18ft in. Factor in Shaq played 30min last night, and looked worse as the game dragged on.
The Edge: Bargnani

Bench
With Delonte West not even wearing Sean John on the sidelines, the Cavs have a pretty bad bench. Amir Johnson will neutralize Ilgauskas, Jack will neutralize Boobie, Wright will own Moon. In fact, looking at the Cavs bench, I am hard-pressed to think how this is a championship calibre team, they need to get healthy quick!
The Edge: Raptors

Injury Report

Raptors
Reggie Evans

Cavaliers
Daniel Green
Leon Powe
Delonte West

The Line

The line is set at Cavs -5.5 with an over/under of 191.

Game Simulation

This is a new feature we are running with this season, our boy Jeremy Visser from That’s What I’m Saying, Guy… will drop a simulation every game-day with complete boxscores and highlights. You can hit him up on twitter @jeremy_visser. We’ll be keeping track of them here.

LeBron James led the way for Cleveland in the NBA 2k10 opener, recording a triple-double (28 points, 13 boards and 16 assists) to lead the Cavs past the Raptors 117-98. Toronto hung tough, trailing by just six points entering the fourth quarter, before King James & co. put them away with a late run.

Andrea Bargnani led the Raptors with 20 points and nine rebounds. Chris Bosh, limited all night by foul trouble, finished with 19 in just 19 minutes. Hedo Turkoglu struggled in his debut with Toronto, finishing with 10 points of 4-of-14 shooting.

Aside from James, the Cavs got a strong performance from all-star Mo Williams, who scored 29 and added six assists. Shaquille O’Neal scored 19 in his second game as a Cav.

Boxscore

Keys to Winning

• Hit the glass – the Cavs have an active front court, and need to be containted
• Limit LeBron – easier said then done, but if we can limit his options, and make him beat us one-on-one on every possession, will get hard to carry the load
• Pick-n-Roll – I know I don’t have to say it, cause that’s all the Raptors do, but between Shaq and Ilgauskas, the PNR defense is wanting.

Prediction

The Cavs will be tired, but pissed off. The Raptors don’t play defense like the C**tics, but if they can run the Cavs around, and not let up, it will be a long night for the LeBron et al. I called a Raptor win earlier in the summer, and unless LeBron drops 50, I like the Raptors to represent.

Catch us tonight on live chat.

Boston Celtics

My Prediction: 0-4
Nov – Fri 27 @ Boston L
Jan – Sat 02 @ Boston L
Jan – Sun 10 vs Boston L
Apr – Wed 07 vs Boston L

Easily the cream of the crop of the Atlantic, and quite possibly the East (I still contend that if they were healthy last year, they would have won it all). The Raptors were 0-4 against them last season, and I expect the same this year. The Raps will struggle with Boston’s size up front, it’s not as though foul-prone Johnson is rounding out an elite Raptors front court. If they can counter that front court somehow (which they will have a very hard time with considering the Celtics just replaced Leon Powe with Rasheed Wallace), they still have to figure out what to do with Pierce and Allen. Excuse me if I don’t like our chances.

New Jersey Nets

My Prediction: 4-0
Dec – Fri 18 vs New Jersey W
Feb – Wed 03 vs New Jersey W
Feb – Fri 19 @ New Jersey W
Mar – Sat 20 @ New Jersey W

I have a feeling the Nets are going to be an interesting team. Thy don’t have a whole lot surrounding Harris, Lopez and Lee, but looking at this roster, they seem like a tough lot who is sure to be a well coached one. The Raptors were 2-2 against them last season, but in those two losses, VC had 39 and 27 points respectively. That first loss of the year was the gut wrenching one where VC sent the game into OT with a clutch trey then won it with that reverse alley-oop…we wont have to worry about him doing to that to us with the Nets, the Magic get that honour now. Anyways, they have no one that will give us any trouble, and we sure as hell can’t afford to lose even one game against them if we have post-season designs.

New York Knicks

My Prediction: 4-0
Jan – Fri 15 @ New York W
Jan – Thu 28 @ New York W
Mar – Fri 05 vs New York W
Apr – Wed 14 vs New York W

They will score in bunches and be exciting to watch, but wont be very much better then the 32 wins they got last season. The David Lee situation has not been resolved as of today (to my knowledge), which is a disaster as he has been one of their best/most consistent players over the last few years. Jordan Hill brings much needed size/toughness, but the only way the Knicks beat the Raptors this season is if they score loads and it comes down to a coaching battle. In any event, they can’t be slept on, they have the type of team that can get hot and run you off the court, but that will be few and far between. The Raptors went 2-2 against them last season, but have improved athletically and and bulked up. I have a feeling the Knicks will be worst team in the Atlantic.

Philadelphia 76ers

My Prediction: 3-1
Jan – Fri 08 @ Philadelphia W
Feb – Wed 10 vs Philadelphia W
Mar – Sun 07 vs Philadelphia W
Apr – Sat 03 @ Philadelphia L

They lost Andre Miller, signed a gangster and replaced Cheeks with Jordan. Forgive me if I don’t get too excited for them. I don’t follow the Sixers too closely, but for a team that went .500 last season, got the 6th seed in the playoffs, and took Orlando to 6 games, they sure as hell regressed (IMHO) this past summer. It’s not all bad for them. They went to the playoffs last year, have a slew of talented young wings that can get hot and give folks fits on the perimeter and a healthy Brand. Philly will be nipping at the Raptors heels, and be one of the middle-tier teams in the East fighting for the 5-8 playoff spots (the Hawks have 4 locked up, especially with the addition of Joe Smith up front). Each game against these guys will be a very important one, as the Raptors and Sixers will be neck-in-neck in that playoff hunt. They split the season series last season.

Boston aside, I have the Raptors going 11-1 against the Knicks, Nets and Sixers. Seems very ambitious, but if the Raptors want the 4th seed (which they wont get), they have beat these type of teams each and every time they play them. Even going 7-4 against them – and they steal one against the Celtics, drops them to 42 wins in my scenario, which will probably get them into the playoffs kicking/scratching/clawing and screaming, but with a 7th or 8th seeding.

Boston Celtics – 60+ wins
Toronto Raptors – 45 wins
Philadelphia 76ers – 40 or so wins
New York Knicks – 32 or so wins
New Jersey Nets – 30 or so wins
* please note, I had accidentally switched the Knicks and the Nets predictions, apologies.

That’s how I see the Atlantic shaping up this year.