Fresh off their 7th straight win, the Toronto Raptors will host the Cleveland Cavaliers on the second night of a back-to-back at home. Cleveland is in the same situation, having hosted the Clippers on Sunday but has the disadvantage of travelling afterwards. Toronto will take that and whatever edge they can to close out the sweep against the Cavaliers. Despite the fact that they’ve already beaten Cleveland twice, the Cavs won’t go away without a fight.
Cleveland currently sits 3rd in the East behind
Toronto with a record of 12-6. They perform well against teams they should beat, like Memphis, Washington, and Indiana, but have already lost to New York, Boston, Houston, and Toronto, struggling to measure up to other top teams.
Donovan Mitchell is having another all-NBA calibre year, averaging 30-5-5 on 50% shooting from the field. As always, he will be the first point of attack that Toronto will have to stifle. Absent from their first meeting, he answered with a 31-point performance two weeks later. He struggled shooting from long range in that game, but found plenty of opportunities to get to the line. Toronto will have to find a way to limit his scoring without fouling him and letting him get points with the clock stopped.
The pair of bigs in Mobley and Allen are also a tough matchup, averaging 16 rebounds per game combined. They offer rim protection and defence that pose problems for opposing offences and Toronto will have to navigate around on drives.
The key to both of Toronto’s wins this season have been great 3-point shooting and dominance on the boards. The Raptors shot 43% and 39% from long range in the first two games respectively, with Barrett and Battle shining in the first matchup and Quickley, Mamu, and Gradey carrying in the second.
Their strategy should be the same here. Paint points can be hard to come by against the Cavaliers, who rank 9th in the league for points allowed in the painted area. Toronto’s offence usually relies heavily on this, scoring almost half of their points there, but have found other ways to get ahead when needed.
Another thing the Raptors can look to do in this matchup is limit turnovers. Coughing up the ball 16 times in their first meeting and 13 times in their second is well above their average for the season, and they should look to lower that to limit extra possessions for the Cavs.
Jakob Poeltl will return to the lineup after load management who can help match Cleveland’s size, and Mamu has been a welcome sight as a backup big. RJ’s absence will be felt as he went down with a knee injury last night, but with six players in double figures in their last outing, Toronto’s ball movement will allow them to share the wealth and find whoever is open to score.
Where to Watch
Tune in at 7:00pm ET to catch the action!
Probable Starters
Toronto: Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl, Immanuel Quickley, Brandon Ingram, Collin Murray-Boyles
Cleveland: Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, De’Andre Hunter, Jarrett Allen, Sam Merrill
Injury Report
Due to their late game last night, neither team has reported injuries as of yet. Most of the recent absences from games have been rest or day to day injuries, but we can be sure of at least two:
Toronto: RJ Barrett (Out: Knee)
Cleveland: Max Strus (Out: Foot)
