It's game 4 and the Cleveland Cavaliers are threatening a sweep in Toronto Sunday afternoon. The Raptors and Cavs start at 3:30 PM EST on ABC. The Cavaliers could become the first team in the playoffs to reach the Conference Finals with a win on Sunday, which would give them far more rest than their potential opponents' the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics.
Game 3 recap
Behind DeMar DeRozan's 37 points, the Raptors challenged the Cavs for the first three-quarters of the game. Once DeMar left, and the bench came to play, the Cavs went on a 20 to 3 run.
By the time DeRozan came back in there was no hope. Toronto lost any flow to the game and took bad shots. Kyle Lowry was out in game 3, and it really showed. It took DeMar hitting everything for the Raptors to even be close, and yet it still wasn't close enough.
Keys for Toronto
The Raptors are in a terrible spot right now. Down 2 to 0, they come home and still have that glimmer of hope. Then losing game 3 after getting crushed in the fourth quarter, the Raptors looked like they died afterward. The first huge key for Toronto is getting that pride to come into play. They need a sense of pride telling themselves that "We're not going to get swept today." Secondly, they desperately need Kyle Lowry to play to have any shot at this.
In their interviews on their day off, he said he was doubtful and that if nothing changes he wouldn't get to play. The Raptors are missing so much without him on the floor. He dictates the flow, sets guys up, and can attack when he needs to and score.
If Toronto does take game 4, it will be because of defense. Instead of letting LeBron come to them, they have to attack LeBron.
James is too good if you play off a bit worrying about him getting to the rim. At some point, you need to just go at him and make him respond. Usually, he responds well but if you can get him in a funk then you have a shot.
Keys for Cleveland
The Cavaliers have been in this spot before and know how to close out a series. They aren't a group of young guys who will mess around and drop a couple games.
They show up ready to win night in and night out, and game 4 shouldn't be any different. A big key for them is to keep doubling DeMar DeRozan. In game 3, they would double DeRozan and make a role player make a play. For a while, it didn't matter. DeRozan was hitting everything he shot. But eventually it paid off, and it allowed for this massive run in the fourth quarter to come into play. The Cavs need to keep that up and they should be able to win this game and head into the Eastern Conference Finals.
At this point for Toronto, it's about pride and how long you can fight back. The Cavaliers have shown how much better they are as a group, but the Raptors will come ready to fight and go down swinging.
