An Eastern Conference Finals rematch on national television in the U.S. And it features the Toronto Raptors. I can’t imagine many people would have bet on that just a few years ago.
Most sports betting sites aren’t predicting a rematch, instead favoring the Boston Celtics to reach that point, but that just means there’s more money to be made if you bet the Raptors. Maybe just don’t bet against any Cleveland sports team right now, unless you’re going to dabble with NFL betting. In that case, I think there’s still money to be made on residual Cleveland misery, as the city’s momentum hasn’t quite reached the Browns yet.
In any case, it’s perhaps a little early to be looking ahead to the third round of the playoffs. The Raptors opened their season just two days ago with an encouraging shellacking of the Detroit Pistons, but the Cavaliers represent a much stiffer test. They, too, opened their season strong, lighting up the New York Knicks with ease on Tuesday. LeBron James, the very good basketball player, cruised to a 19-11-14 triple-double in 32 minutes, and matchup planning obviously starts and ends with him. It’s your spotlight, DeMarre Carroll.
The game tips off at 7 p.m. on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 590. It’s also on ESPN, because the 2016-17 Raptors have it like that.
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To help set the stage, I reached out to Justin Rowan of Fear the Sword, surely as he donned his usual black hat. Or a Blue Bombers jersey, whatever that is.
Blake Murphy: First of all, congratulations on the championship ring ceremony. That must have been a cool night for you guys.
Justin Rowan: Well unfortunately I had to stream the ring ceremony after the fact, as TSN wasn’t showing it, but it was incredibly surreal and a moment I never really saw coming.
Blake Murphy: Also cool: The Undertaker being there. Between that and two of the very best wrestlers in the world right now (Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega) hailing from Winnipeg, are you finally going to cross over into wrestling fandom? I mean, it’s less silly than the CFL.
Justin Rowan: I will not stand for CFL slander. But with the Golden State Warriors looking like NWO, I’m okay with the NBA pulling a WWE and making a scripted season where the Warriors fall short of a title again.
Blake Murphy: J.R. Smith signed since we last talked! How big a relief was it to lock him up, and what did you think of the price tag?
Justin Rowan: It was certainly a relief to lock him up, even though I anticipated a Rich Paul negotiation dragging on until close to the beginning of the season, the same way it did with Tristan Thompson. When you consider the salary for an average starter is around $15 million under the new CBA, I’m fine with the dollar amount. It’s nice to have the starting five locked up for the foreseeable future, the key with Smith is making sure he stays within the role that he’s had so much success playing.
Blake Murphy: To keep things simple, I’m just going to paste some of your answers from our preseason chat here. Has anything major changed from your answers/thinking back on Oct. 13?
Justin Rowan: Nothing has changed too much since the last time we talked. However, Jordan McRae has been involved in trade talks along with Mo Williams to clear salary, as well as acquire a back-up point guard. So if that does occur, he obviously will not have much of a role with the Cavs this season. I am a little nervous about the Raptors with Sullinger out. Homecourt means a lot to Toronto, and with a big man rotation that is largely unproven beyond Jonas and Patterson, it may hurt their regular season win total and make an Eastern Conference Finals rematch less likely.
The following are repeated from Oct. 13:
Blake Murphy: At the risk of upsetting people – your specialty around here – do you anticipate a Raptors-Cavaliers rematch in the Eastern Conference Finals this season?
Justin Rowan: I would say the Raptors are the favourite to face the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals again. This Raptors team has the ability to add on the roster they had during last years run with a fully healthy DeMarre Carroll and maybe even an improved Jonas Valanciunas. The Boston Celtics are right there on that same tier, but they don’t have the same experience and I won’t give them the benefit of the doubt until I see take down Toronto. Other teams have an outside chance as well, such as Indiana who is improved and went down to the wire last season with the Raptors. But Toronto is still the favourite in my mind out of the second tier teams.
Blake Murphy: Is Jordan McRae set to become this year’s Norman Powell or Josh Richardson? I know playing time might be tight, but he’s good. And how excited are you about sparkplug Kay Felder, who plays basketball like Twista’s rap come to life?
Justin Rowan: I think Jordan McRae will be the Jamal Crawford for the Cavaliers this season. He’s a long guard with the ability to put the ball in the hoop and went off for 36 points and 7 assists in a game last season, filling in for Irving. Kay Felder is also exciting, as he does possess a lot of poise for a rookie. However, I think the Cavs will be careful bringing him along. The biggest key is that they take care of the ball. But either player will likely play in the same sheltered role Dellavedova played in, alongside LeBron James with three other bench players.
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Raptors updates
Jared Sullinger and Delon Wright remain sidelined long-term, and while head coach Dwane Casey sounded hopeful on Wednesday that Lucas Nogueira could return for this one, that still seems slightly less likely than him sitting one more game and getting the entire weekend to continue rehabbing before hitting the floor.
PG: Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph, Fred VanVleet
SG: DeMar DeRozan, Norman Powell
SF: DeMarre Carroll, Terrence Ross
PF: Patrick Patterson, Pascal Siakam, Bruno Caboclo
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Jakob Poeltl
INJ: Delon Wright, Jared Sullinger, Lucas Nogueira (TBD)
As a refresher, here’s a deeper look at how Wednesday’s rotation played out. It’s difficult to pin down exactly how things may play out against the Cavs, as they’re capable of going big or small. The Raptors will likely stick with two traditional bigs when Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson share the floor, or if Channing Frye joins one of them. If LeBron James or Richard Jefferson is manning the four, however, the Raptors could either task Patterson with the job, give Siakam a pretty major test, or match a little smaller, perhaps freeing up some minutes for Powell in the process.
Cavaliers updates
Cleveland has had some tough luck with concussions early on, as both Kay Felder and Iman Shumpert have been forced into the league’s concussion protocol. Felder has been given the OK for Friday’s tilt, but Shumpert’s status remains up in the air.
PG: Kyrie Irving, Kay Felder
SG: J..R Smith, Jordan McRae, DeAndre Liggins
SF: LeBron James, Richard Jefferson, Mike Dunleavy Jr.
PF: Kevin Love, James Jones
C: Tristan Thompson, Channing Frye, Chris Andersen
INJ: Iman Shumpert (TBD)
The line
The Raptors are underdogs in their own house, a fitting bit of #ProveEm for a team that seems to find motivation in just about every slight, real or perceived. Not only are the Cavaliers favored by two points, 89 percent of the early action was falling their way, although the line opened at Cavaliers -2.5 and quickly moved, so there’s a bit of a mixed signal there. The over-under is set at 204.5, a little high for two of the slowest paced teams in the NBA.
So, think the Raptors can pull off the “upset” on their own court with a lot of eyes watching?
