Kent State Getting Pounded Early
March 20, 2008Gossiping Gooden?
March 21, 2008Toronto Raptors (35-33) vs
Cleveland Cavaliers (39-30)
Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
Friday, March 21, 2008
7:30 PM EST
FSN OH/WTAM
History will be made Friday night at the Q when the Cavaliers take on the Toronto Raptors. With just 5 points, LeBron James will overtake Brad Daugherty as the Cavaliers all-time leading scorer. I doubt his NASCAR schedule would allow, but it would be nice to see Daugherty at the game to offer his congrats to LeBron, mostly because he’s been a bit of a ghost around the organization since he retired. But I digress. The Cavaliers have won 8 straight at home. They have won 11 of 13 against the Raptors and 6 straight against them at the Q. The Raptors are 3.5 games behind the Cavaliers for the 4th spot in the East, and with just 13 games remaining, this one is obviously huge.
Projected Starting Lineups:
Toronto Raptors:
-G Jose Calderon (12.1 ppg, 8.5 apg, 1.1 spg, 21.34 PER)
-G Anthony Parker (12.7 ppg, 2.1 apg, .462 3-pt%, 15.05 PER)
-F Jamario Moon (8.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.2 apg, 14.60 PER)
-F Chris Bosh (22.6 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 24.85 PER)
-C Anfrea Bargnani (10.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 0.5 bpg, 10.83 PER)
Key Injuries: Jorge Garbajosa (Out), Primoz Brezec (Day-to-Day)
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-G Delonte West (7.7 ppg, 3.6 apg, .340 3-pt%, 10.74 PER)
-G Sasha Pavlovic (7.8 ppg, 1.7 apg, .307 3-pt%, 7.55 PER)
-F LeBron James (30.9 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 7.4 apg, 30.28 PER)
-F Ben Wallace (5.1 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.6 bpg, 11.95 PER)
-C Zydrunas Ilgauskas (13.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 1.7 bpg, 18.45 PER)
Key Injuries: Daniel Gibson (Out), Eric Snow (Out)
Team Efficiency Stats
Toronto Raptors:
-Off (100.3 ppg, 40.3 rpg, .467 FG%, .811 FT%, 23.3 apg, Efficiency-107.8, Rank-9)
-Def (97.1 ppg, 41.6 rpg, .457 FG%, Efficiency-103.9, Rank-13)
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-Off (97.2 ppg, 44.3 rpg, .440 FG%, .720 FT%, 19.9 apg, Efficiency-103.4, Rank-17)
-Def (97.4 ppg, 40.8 rpg, .456 FG%, Efficiency-103.9, Rank-12)
Game Notes
This is the 4th and final regular season meeting between these two teams. The Cavs have 2 of the first 3 matchups. This game will be a great test for the Cavaliers’ defense. In particular, it will be interesting to see how well Ben Wallace can handle Chris Bosh, especially since this will be the key matchup when these 2 teams meet in the first round of the playoffs. Ben’s biggest weakness defensively seems to be when opponents are able to lure him outside. With Bosh’s mid range shooting, he will certainly challenge Wallace to come outside and guard him. This should be a fun matchup to watch and I’m looking forward to it.
The Raptors are one of the best offensive teams in the NBA, and their defense is very solid as well. It’s actually a bit surprising that their record isn’t better when you look at their efficiency stats on both sides of the ball. Their biggest weakness at times can be rebounding. In the two Cavaliers victories over the Raptors this season the Cavs won the rebounding battle, but in their only loss to the Raptors, Toronto was able to get the upper hand on the boards. So keep an eye on which team is getting after rebounds more agressively, as it could be an indicator as to which team is setting themselves up to win this game.
Toronto likes to play a half court offense, which again could play into the Cavaliers’ hands, but don’t be fooled by the Raptors’ slow pace. They are a very, very good offensive team. They move the ball around extremely well and rack up a lot of assists, and they can shoot any team out of the building, as they are 6th in the NBA in FG%. Chris Bosh is obviously the focal point of their offense, but stopping them isn’t as simple as doubling and tripling him, because Bosh is an excellent passer as well, and the Raptors will swing the ball and get it to their long range shooters. Toronto is 1st in the NBA in 3-pt shooting at 41% from distance. This is precisely why it will be so important for Ben Wallace to be able to handle Chris Bosh on his own because the Cavaliers need to be able to extend their perimeter defenders on Toronto’s shooters.
For the Cavaliers, on offense, the game plan is simple….let LeBron attack. LeBron has been feasting on the Raptors all season. In the first 3 games, LeBron has averaged 37.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg, and 8.7 apg. The Cavs’ last game, against Detroit, was actually a pretty good model for how the Cavaliers should play offensively to give themselves the best chance to win. I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating….when the Cavaliers are reduced to a 3-point shooting team, they are going to struggle. Getting into shootouts just doesn’t suit this team very well. Delonte West needs to keep driving the lane to put the pressure on the defenders as he has been doing in the last few games. It makes life a lot easier for LeBron and Z. If the Cavaliers can get around 25 assists and beat Toronto on the boards, they should have a great chance to come away with a victory in this one. Either way, these are two fairly similar teams in many ways, and there’s no reason not to expect another great game Friday at the Q.
Vegas Line
Cleveland -5
Over/Under 191
From The Outside Looking In
The Score (Including a nice Q&A with Carolyn from And One)
RaptorsHQ
RaptorsForum
Doug Smith’s Raptors Blog
Cuzoogle
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4 Comments
hopefully they turned a corner on wednesday. it takes a lot for me to say this, but they looked great against detroit. let’s keep it going.
[…] couple great pre-game analyses, check out the Preview by Rock over at Waiting For Next Year and the Raptors Q&A Session hosted by Carolyn of And […]
they looked great against a team that played the night before. thankfully, we have a lot of trends going for us (home court, history v TOR, etc). I’m not sure if Chris Bosh is 100 percent, but I won’t complain if he’s still rusty. I can see his versatility causing some problems.
Also, the emergence of Calderon is a big boost for us as TJ Ford has been a Cav-killer for quite some time.
[…] the Raptors travel to Cleveland to take on the LeBron’s in what has to be considered a huge game if you are a Raptors […]