Game Day Preview: Raptors Host Red-Hot Cavaliers

Following Wednesday night’s heartbreaker against the Chicago Bulls, the Toronto Raptors will look to move to an even record on their current homestand as they do battle with the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight at the ACC.

Don’t look now, but Cleveland (22-33) has been one of the hottest teams in the entire league as of late. The Eastern Conference’s 11th-seeded team enters tonight’s game riding a six game win streak that began prior to the All-Star break. As bad as their record seems, they still have a shot at snagging one of the lower playoff spots in the East. With that being said, the Raptors (29-25) must be prepared to do whatever it takes to bounce back from the absolute slugfest that occurred two nights ago. The team is in an important stretch of the season right now, so no opponent should be overlooked; especially this scorching Cavs team.

Cage’s Keys to the Game:

Set the Tone:

Even though they’ve won six straight, Cleveland will not be at full strength tonight. It’s important that the Toronto Raptors jump on them early on the game. While the effort that the Raps put on display in the final frame of the loss nearly 48 hours ago was exceptional, the slow start to the game is what ended up biting them later on. Can’t let that happen again tonight.

More Balanced Effort:

Against a physical Chicago team, the Raptors shot a poor 42% from the field. Outside of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, no Raptor was able to establish any offensive consistency in the 94-92 loss to the Bulls. Success in tonight’s game can be found if more of a team effort is sustained on this side of the ball. Overall, Cleveland will tend to bang and push the Raptor players less than Chicago did, so the guys suiting up for the home team will have their share of easier opportunities tonight. Nonetheless, the ball needs to keep moving— one-on-one play won’t guarantee a victory.

“Rebound”:

In order to “rebound” from their most recent loss, the Raptors will literally have to showcase a better rebounding performance than they did on Wednesday. 33 boards probably won’t cut it tonight. Not against this opportunistic Cleveland squad. For Toronto, emphasis needs to be placed on limiting the second chance points that the Cavaliers are able to come away with. Although the visiting team is a tad bit banged up (with Anderson Varejao, Dion Waiters, and CJ Miles all sidelined), they acquired Spencer Hawes during yesterday’s trade deadline. Hawes’ debut could prevent the rebounding battle from being from being a walk in the park for Toronto. The Raptor bigs will need to do their part. It should also be noted that Amir Johnson will be returning to the starting lineup tonight; hopefully he can have a bigger impact in this matchup than he’s had in other games lately.

Limit “Uncle Drew”:

We all know that Kyrie Irving can get buckets. This year’s All-Star Game MVP is pushing to get his team back into the playoff hunt, so it’s safe to say that he’ll come out gunning tonight if need be. This is where the pressure will be placed on Kyle Lowry (who still happens to be in town) to slow down the standout point guard. This matchup should be pretty fun to watch, seeing as it was only a few weeks ago that some argued Uncle Drew wasn’t deserving of an All-Star nod over Lowry; who happens to have figured it all out this season. If Uncle Drew is slowed down tonight, the Raptors should snag win #30.

X-Factor – Jonas Valanciunas

While the obvious choice for the “guy to keep an eye on” would be Kyle Lowry in his matchup with Kyrie, I’ve elected to go with JV. Why? JV only put up a dismal line of two points, two rebounds, and a block up against the Bulls on Wednesday. We need more. It’s that simple. Look for the sophomore to contribute a bit more tonight. The opportunity is there.