Of all the possible scenarios to be playing the second game of a back-to-back on, this has to be close to the most ideal. Toronto beat the Milwaukee Bucks by all of the points last night, gave every player some run and rested their starters. Pair that with the emotional excitement of the crowd for Bruno throughout the 4th, and it’s hard to imagine the Raptors waking up tired today.
The best sign from last night’s blowout over the Bucks is the method through which it happened. Sure, the Bucks are not a great time, and they didn’t play anything close to good, but last night’s victory was not a case of lucking into a win. The Raptors played some of their best basketball of the season last night, opening up shots on offence through ball movement, cleaning up their misses with put backs and offensive rebounds and shooting with confidence from every position. This team is starting to find a flow on offence that goes beyond Lowry and DeRozan piggy-back rides. Ross is hitting his jumper, believing in it and playing with much more fluidity. Amir’s ankle appears to be allowing more dynamic movement and Jonas’ per 36 minutes stats over the last week are bonkers. Vasquez and Lou Williams are getting consistent buckets for the ‘Purps off the bench, making this top defensive team very hard to contain offensively.
The Cavaliers are also playing part two of a back-to-back, getting soundly beat last in Washington. It’s a good thing that the game was in Washington instead of Cleveland, as it might have been quiet enough in the 4th quarter had the game been in Ohio for the home fans to faintly hear the chants of “BRU-NO” making their way across Lake Erie.
So what’s wrong with the Cavaliers? Cleveland is giving up the fewest free throws per field goal attempt in the league right now. That’s a crucial defensive category to lead in, or, at least it normally would be if the lack of free throw attempts were coming from disciplined defense instead of laziness and a matador attitude near the hoop. Cleveland is 24th in the league in defensive rating, giving up 108.7 points per 100 possessions. That’s good for one spot worse than the Philadelphia 76ers, a team that is the basketball embodiment of sarcasm.
Lebron and the Heat repeatedly torched Toronto. Guarding Lebron isn’t something that any human being does with excellence, but Toronto in particular has lacked someone with the size and speed combination to do so. While we can hope that James Johnson will play that role much better than the Fields-Ross-DeRozan trio who Lebron bullies into the post or seals behind him in a screen, or the Amir Johnson-Patrick Patterson duo, who Lebron is too quick off the dribble for, we are unlikely to find out tonight with James Johnson likely not dressing. It might not be as much of an issue as in the past, though. Unlike the Miami teams who forced Toronto into either going small, which they were poorly equipped to do, or stay big and suffer the consequences, Cleveland has shied away from going small ball for the majority of minutes. This is part of the reason that Cleveland is taking around the league average number of 3-point shots, compared to the Miami teams that laid siege from behind the arc. They’re hitting a respectable 37% of those threes, but they’re hovering around the league average on the boards at both ends, despite playing big and doing so with arguably the best rebounder in the league in Kevin Love, and they rank 27th in assists. They have the talent to score, but their offense doesn’t even come close to dictating terms. Despite all of their weapons, the Cleveland offence doesn’t force you to adapt to it, alter your lineups or change the way you guard pick-and-rolls. Their putrid defense is what’s letting every team stay in games against them, but that reality of their offence is what’s letting good teams force Cleveland to adapt to them that’s dropped them below .500.
Cleveland is still capable of suddenly becoming an offensive monster and rampaging the scoreboard at any moment. But right now they have a clear problem in figuring out how to use Kevin Love offensively and how to protect him defensively. Dion Waiters is challenging Nick Young’s title for least self-aware player on a nightly basis, and has seen his minutes cut lately in an attempt to make him realize that he is, in fact, NOT the focal point of this team. Kyrie has looked great as a scorer but questionable as a point guard so far this season, and pairing a between Kyrie and Kevin Love on defense has been a Hardenesque treat for opposing teams. Read what you will into internet headlines about any of their big names being unhappy, but the body language on the court is awful. On the teams struggle to come together on either end of the floor, Lebron told ESPN before last night’s loss that , “I have a low tolerance for things of this nature. So it’s something I’m working on, as well, which I knew from the beginning that that was going to be my biggest test to see how much patience I got with the process.” It didn’t look like Lebron had much patience last night, instead looking like he wanted off the court and out of the building for all of the last five minutes of the game.
This has been the best week of the season for the Raptors tonight. If they play to the peak that they’ve demonstrated in recent games, it’s hard to imagine Cleveland suddenly putting things together to the degree where they can keep up. However, if the Raptors take quarters off or let the ball stick in their hands offensively, this game could get away from them quickly. The problems in Cleveland are very real, and they are vulnerable. But make no mistake; if you give this Cavaliers team an opening or allow them to play loose offensively without punishing them for it, they will chew you up in a hurry. Make them shoot jumpers, keep them off the glass, punish their bench units and encourage their guards to be shot-makers instead of playmakers, and you’re likely to see that impatient and displeased look on Lebron’s face come the games end.
I want the Raptors to win this game. Not because I want them to win this one for Toronto. No, I want them to win this one so I can smile smugly at that annoying ‘This one is for Cleveland’ Lebron Nike commercial. It’s on all the time, it’s incredibly self-righteous and it panders to a national audience that it completely misunderstands. Just because the majority of people hated when Lebron went to Miami does NOT mean that a majority of people cheer for or suddenly hail from Cleveland. I mean, it’s neat and all that Lebron went home, sure, but I’m confident in asserting that everyone whose into the NBA is cheering for their home team to win the title, not Cleveland just because Lebron is back. Plus, those guys burnt his jersey, cursed his name and booed him. Now suddenly they’re all on beautifully together? I’m nauseous from the bullshit. Stylistically, it’s impossible to make a black and white commercial that doesn’t come across as pretentious. That’s a terrible aesthetic choice that was doubled down on by ending with the Cleveland skyline, which sounds nice as an idea, until you see it an realize that the Cleveland skyline is ONE BUILDING surrounded by generic, packed in low rises. I hate that commercial. I hate it, and it won’t go away. Please, Toronto Raptors, I implore you; beat this commercial.
