The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
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No rest for the weary as Cavs meet Raptors Playoff rivalry renewed with Toronto
The Cavaliers swept the Celtics in 2015, the Pistons in 2016 and the Pacers in 2017 to open the Eastern Conference playoffs each year. Sweeping meant resting. The Cavs lost the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Bulls at Quicken Loans Arena in 2015, but went on to win the series in six games. Rust was no factor in either of the last two years. The Cavs started the semifinals at home in 2016 by pounding the Atlanta Hawks, 104-93, on their way to a sweep and last year started a sweep of the Toronto Raptors by winning Game 1 at The Q, 116-105.
This year, the Cavs barely have time to catch their breath after outlasting the Pacers in seven games before resuming their playoff journey.
Game 1 of their conference semifinals duel with the Raptors tips off at 8 p.m. May 1.
Not only do the Cavs have to play again after beating Indiana on April 29 in Game 7, 105-101, at The Q, the game is in Toronto because the Raptors finished with the best record in the East (59-23), nine games better than the Cavs. The team charter was scheduled to depart Cleveland Hopkins Airport at 1:30 p.m. April 30, a little more than 20 hours after eliminating the Pacers.
“Game 7, we played well,” Coach Tyronn Lue said in his post-game news conference. “I thought our guys really did a good job just staying mentally tough.
“Now we have to flip the switch to the next series. Tomorrow, we have to get right back to the drawing board and continue to be better defensively. We have to do it.”
The Cavs knocked Toronto out of the playoffs each of the last two years, but the Cavs had home-court advantage both times. The rivals met three times in the 2017-18 regular season — once in Toronto and twice at The Q — and the home team won each time.
Defense was a problem for the Cavaliers in all three games with the Raptors.
The Raptors won, 133-99, in Toronto on Jan. 11. The Cavs won at The Q, 132-129, in a shootout on March 21 and then two weeks later won, 112106, at home.
“I think (the Indiana series) sets us up for the next round,” said guard George Hill, who played 19 minutes in the second half of Game 7 after missing the prior three games with a back injury.
“Don’t take things for granted. Don’t take possessions off and quarters off and things like that. We have to play a complete 48-minute game from here on out.”
The Raptors needed six games to close out Washington, and they needed a fourth-quarter rally on April 27 in Game 6, outscoring the Wizards, 29-14, in the final period to win, 102-92.
The Raptors waited to learn the winner of the Cleveland-Indiana game before they practiced on April 29. They are taking the attitude they aren’t psyched out by the Cavaliers. If history is an indicator of what to expect, though, the Cavs should have an easier time with Toronto than they did with Indiana.
“It’s a new slate,” Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan told reporters after practice.
“A lot of us have been through those series and lost. With that we gained a tremendous amount of experience, of understanding what comes with it, what it takes to beat a team at that level.
“I feel it. We all have the confidence in ourselves. The mistakes we’ve learned from in those series made us better and put us where we are now at the top of our conference.”
Game 2 is 6 p.m. May 3 in Toronto. The series shift to The Q for Game 3 on May 5 and Game 4 on May 7, both at 8:30 p.m.