Raptors are up 60-57 at halftime in Game 1 – would’ve been more if it weren’t for us picking up a bunch of offensive fouls/charges, finishing off the second by missing some easy looks, turning the ball over, and Cleveland dropping some threes.
Overall, we were the far superior team for 90% of the half but don’t have much to show for it. The good news is that, 1) we haven’t gotten blown away as is the norm against Cleveland, and 2) other than Siakam and Patrick Patterson Serge Ibaka, everyone’s playing relatively well.
Let’s face it: we’re not going to blow Cleveland away, and our best bet is to keep it tight, stay out of foul trouble and rely on team ball in the end. At some point DeRozan and Lowry will be put into pressure situations to perform and they have to do it in a controlled manner without going one-on-one every possession because that’s when turnovers happen and long rebounds happen, which Cleveland will feast on.
Here’s the box and the numbrs (other than fouls) are pretty even across the board. The refs will have a part to play here and when even Jack Amrstrong is complaining about the refs and LeBron, you know there’s something to it.
Shout out to FVV for a couple sweet drives and holding the Raps steady for that early second period. I say keeping feeding JV because Cleveland has no answer for his size and send a lot of help, which can free things up.
https://twitter.com/CornerSniper/status/991489801235779584
