*Record 8-6*
I’m going to try and make this one short and sweet, because I think it’s evident that the Raptors just do not have enough firepower to compete with the Cavs. Lowry and DeRozan are all-stars, but LeBron James and Kyrie Irving are superstars. The Cavaliers are a level up on the Raptors on just about every facet of the game and its shown thus far. Toronto is a young and inexperience playoff team that has been pummeled by a star-studded, been-there-before Cleveland Cavalier’s team.
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Toronto Raptors
Toronto has to be happy to return to their home court after being outscored by a total of 50 points through two games in Cleveland. But can their elevated level of play at home (6-2 in the playoffs, 32-9 regular season) help them steal a game away from Cleveland’s inevitable run to the finals? Probably not. It all starts with the performance of their regular season all-stars, who have both played to no such standards this postseason. Lowry was 8-28 and 1-15 from three in the first two games of the series and also received some criticism for his non-injury related trip to the locker room in the middle of the second quarter. Looking over to Cleveland, their superstar LeBron James has hit 17-19 shots in the paint through the first two games. LeBron, and his team as a whole, have had their way with Toronto in the paint this series, something that does not figure to change as Jonas Valanciunas plans to continuing missing games. You have to have a lot of confidence to bet on a Raptors team that has looked lost through two games, despite being the 5 point underdog on their home court. In their last 6 games as an underdog of 5 or less, the Raptors are 0-6 SU and ATS.
Prediction: Cleveland Cavaliers (-5, -110)
