The Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors are set to face off in exciting second round series of the 2017 NBA playoffs, and here is a matchup by matchup breakdown of the series!
Point Guard - Kyrie Irving vs Kyle Lowry
This will be the most exciting matchup in the series. Two of the elite point guards in the East will face off once again. Both players can fill up the stat sheets with ease, it would not surprise anyone if they both have atleast one 40-point game this series. Both these players have big roles to play for their teams, being the point guards and one of the main playmakers on the team, so the team's success starts with them.
While this should be a competitive matchup, we will give the advantage to Kyrie Irving, after coming off a championship run in which he owned his PG matchups in each series, Uncle Drew will look to continue that domination.
Advantage: Cleveland
Shooting Guard - J.R. Smith vs DeMar DeRozan
Two players that can get their own shot of at any time and excel in shooting the basketball, the SG matchup of Smith and DeRozan should be an exciting one. But DeRozan's scoring seems to be at another level in comparison to J.R. Smith, after coming off of a 2016-17 campaign where he averaged 27.3 points per game shooting 46.7% from the field. While Smith doesn't hold the shooting prowess that DeMar does, he can certainly shoot the ball from behind the three point arc at a very high level.
Which he will use to his advantage in this series. Overall the choice isn't hard, DeRozan is an all star, Smith is just a great role player.
Advantage: Toronto
Small Forward - LeBron James vs DeMarre Carroll
I see this matchup being a very physical and dramatic matchup between two strong and talented players. While LeBron James can do it all on the basketball court, score, defend, pass.
DeMarre will be sure to put up a fight, and show off his elite defense. King James is pretty much unguardable, but Carroll will be sure to make his presence known. At the end of the day though, this is a no brainer, LeBron James should obliterate this matchup in every quarter of every game.
Advantage: Cleveland
Power Forward - Kevin Love vs Serge Ibaka
This will be an interesting one. An offensive powerhouse vs a defensive juggernaut. Kevin Love should be able to score in a variety of ways including post ups, getting to the free throw line and catch and shoot shots from teammates. Serge Ibaka will certainly give Love some difficulties on the offensive end though, as Ibaka is known as one of the elite shot blockers in the league. Serge also has a smooth jump shot and can get buckets on the offensive end. K-Love also admitted recently that the addition of Serge Ibaka will make this series different to the one the Cavs faced last season against Toronto, and he could be an underlooked huge factor in the series.
But without blinking, we will go with the 4-time all star in this matchup.
Advantage: Cleveland
Center - Tristan Thompson vs Jonas Valanciunas
This will probably be the toughest to pick between. It really depends on how each player performs under the limelight. Tristan will look to put his body on the line and crash the offensive rebounds to give his team many second chance points while Valanciunas will use his post moves on offense to score and will attempt to make his presence known on defense. Thompson will score most of his baskets through passes from players such as Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and LeBron James who will draw defenders and find TT open for dunks. It's almost a 50/50 between these two, but just due to what he's proven in the past we will make a safe bet with the Raptors' big man.
Advantage: Toronto
Bench:
While during the regular season the Cleveland Cavaliers' bench was statistically the worst in the league, as expected they have picked it up in the postseason showing their art in the first round series against Indiana. The Cavs have a scary bench with crazy shooters and a great facilitator in Deron Williams. While Toronto have a few decent role players, the Cavaliers should be able to handle them in terms of bench production.
Advantage: Cleveland
Prediction:
This should be an exciting series, and will have some similarities to the series that was played in last years Eastern Conference finals. But some things have changed since then, and our prediction is that Cleveland takes the W with considerable ease.
Cavaliers 4-1 Raptors
