Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

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Valanciunas questionable for Game 4, and other shootaround notes

The Raptors look to do the unlikely and even up the series.

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The Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers held court early on this holiday Monday ahead of their pivotal Game 4 showdown at 8:30 tonight. Here are your usual notes and quotes from their shootaround media availability.

Valanciunas is a game-time call

Jonas Valanciunas participated in shootaround and sounds like a game-time decision tonight.

Head coach Dwane Casey repeatedly said “we’ll see” when asked follow-ups about Valanciunas’ status, saying that Valanciunas is still experiencing soreness in his sprained ankle but the team will wait to see how he responds this afternoon.

UPDATE: He’s been upgraded from doubtful to questionable.

There’s a lot to unpack from that small update. Like with his upgrade from out to doubtful on Sunday, today’s note accomplishes at least three things: It gives the Raptors the option to play him, it speaks positively to the potential for a return later in the series, and it forces the Cavs to at least consider how they’ll approach him if he can do. The Cavs have operated as if Valanciunas isn’t playing, per head coach Tyronn Lue, and keeping Valanciunas’ status up in the air may include some gamsemanship on the part of Toronto. They could even dress him and opt not to deploy him, really.

At the same time, this is also just cause for earnest optimism. There’s no chance Valanciunas will be at 100 percent after so much time off, and he’ll be thrown into the fire of the Eastern Conference Finals against a frontcourt that will really test his mobility. The Cavs have hinted at using Kevin Love and Channing Frye even more, perhaps even together, to further stretch out Toronto’s defense, and that would be effective against Valanciunas. The counter to that is that even a hobbled Valanciunas could make a lot of hay at the offensive end and on the glass against those lineups. It’s an interesting trade-off for both sides. Valanciunas is simply too good not to play if he’s physically ready, and Casey will just have to try his best to pick advantageous spots. If the Cavs go with more Love-Frye looks, that means a little more Tristan Thompson with second units, which could benefit Valanciunas.

Now, should you expect him? It’s tough to say. There are conflicting rumblings from around the Air Canada Centre about the true likelihood of him playing, which is probably exactly what the Raptors want from an Art of War perspective (shout out to that one commenter). If he can play, manage your expectations and anticipate him coming off the bench. If he can’t, cross your fingers again for Wednesday and hope the uncertainty messed with the Cavaliers some.

Exciting stuff.

Fines and suspensions and nuts and bolts

Nobody was willing to talk much about the fine to head coach Dwane Casey, the suspension of Dahntay Jones, or the Draymond Green-Steven Adams incident from Sunday night. That’s probably for the best, and the sooner we can all stop talking about punishments and officiating, the better. I’m a fan of basketball. (Jones, for what it’s worth, said it was unintentional and that he was surprised by the suspension.)

One thing the league hasn’t done, by the way, is rescind Bismack Biyombo’s flagrant foul from Game 3. That means he remains one flagrant point from suspension, something that doesn’t seem to be fazing him much at all.

Biyombo is awesome

“I don’t play the game to be scared of anybody.”

Biyombo consistently getting podium time now is one of the best developments of the playoffs. The only thing more fun than watching Biyombo seems to be being Biyombo.


Speaking of fun, Biyombo admitted that it bothered him in Games 1 and 2 that the Cavaliers were having a good time, joking at pressers, and so on. Expect the Cavaliers to feel a little bit the same, though the Raptors really haven’t been too celebratory or loose in the days since.

Assorted

*The media contingent continues to grow as the playoffs roll along. It’s fun but it is hard to get good microphone positioning.


*For those who think the Raptors took their best shot in Game 3 and might regress, Kyle Lowry is in disagreement.


*Cory Joseph declined to challenge Tristan Thompson to a match at Money in the Bank. Maybe they draw this “feud” out to Summerslam. He did speak really highly of the opportunity to play at home, and with Survivor Series rumored to be coming to Toronto in November, maybe they’ll save the blowoff for then?

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