Three things to watch in Cleveland and Toronto’s Game 5
Most pegged a slim possibility for the Cleveland Cavaliers to drop a game to the Toronto Raptors in their Eastern Conference finals pairing. The Cavs entered Game 3 undefeated on the postseason, but sometimes focus has a way of waning, and the Raptors are a darn-good, 56-win team. It was possible for the two to mix in Toronto at some point.
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To take two from Cleveland, however, was a shocker. Toronto needed the maximum amount of games just to make it to this round, while the Cavs had looked like world-beaters throughout. Toss in the fact that the Raptors held off the sort of furious Cavalier comeback that had proven disastrous to Raptors of postseasons past in Game 4’s win, and you’ve finally got a bit of intrigue in the East.
Of course, things are back in Cleveland now. Here are your Three:
LeBron James’ tongue
Not will he mind it, but will it drag?
For the last few seasons watching LeBron James’ minutes and workload has become a cottage industry, and for good reason. James was drafted into the NBA at age 18, he was leading the league in minutes at around the same age that Michael Jordan was playing 30 games a year at North Carolina and Kobe Bryant was coming off the Laker bench, and he’s now played deep into the postseason for a decade.
LeBron sat for just over two minutes in the Game 4 loss, and despite Cleveland’s 10-0 start to the postseason he is still averaging 38 minutes a game in the playoffs. James played the entire second half on Monday and was integral in Cleveland’s comeback and near-win, but the “win” turned into a “near-win” when James made the right and possibly wearied basketball plays down the stretch rather than forcing shots. And those correct basketball decisions sometimes lead to losses.
James worked that fourth quarter comeback mostly with a bench unit, as Kyrie Irving didn’t re-appear until midway through the period, J.R. Smith only played two and a half minutes toward the end of the game, Tristan Thompson made but a possession-long cameo, and Kevin Love sat the entire fourth.
It was a surprise move for coach Tyronn Lue, who had to notice that James’ pairing with mostly the same bench crew resulted in Toronto pulling away in the first part of the second quarter, and that James’ best scoring stretch of the game (after returning with the starters) also paired with two more Toronto runs that led to the Raptors’ 16 point halftime lead.
There is something to be said about learning on the fly, with the reserves that were typically unfamiliar with playing alongside James helping lose the bit in the first half prior to making things competitive in the fourth quarter. Even with Toronto’s expected defensive adjustments for Game 5, the Cavs should feel confident with James once again working alongside Channing Frye, Matthew Dellavedova and Richard Jefferson (!) for crucial stretches.
The question is, in an every-other-day scenario and even at home, are LeBron James’ legs up for it?
Toronto’s sustainability
The storylines are so rote that you almost want to roll your eyes should they show up in real life.
Toronto worked in clichéd realms during its two games in Toronto, doing “what they’re supposed to do” in taking both home contests. The team’s home crowd, cheering on a May 23rd for the first time in Raptor history, was bonkers. Drake was annoying. It was captivating to watch, especially considering how many times those crowds both in and outside the stadium have been served with late-game gut-punches.
The Raptor stars, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, fell back on what they’ve seemed to do best in the win – nailing outrageous three-pointers, or long twos to both pull away from opponents and keep a comeback at bay. The issue here is that this is what they also do worst, and it’s frightening to imagine just how poorly things could go in Cleveland in Game 5 should the tough looks fall at the rates you’d expect them to.
Lowry and DeRozan’s mercurial postseason has been well-documented. Take away Lowry’s 52 percent shooting in four crucial wins over the Heat (Games 3 and 7) and the Cavaliers (the last two conquests), and he’s shooting 33 percent in 14 other rather-important playoff contests. DeRozan’s torried 26-47 shooting turn in the two home wins in this series has only raised his postseason percentage to 39 percent. Things could fall flat.
Especially if Lowry fades on his long jumpers, as he has too often this spring, and if DeRozan fails to get to the free throw line – something he’s done three times in the postseason and in Game 1’s loss to the Cavaliers.
With Kyrie Irving on the court and Kevin Love and Channing Frye often having to act as rim protectors, there will be good looks available. J.R. Smith has done a swell job defending in this series, but only in relative, “wow, that was J.R. Smith”-terms. The chances will be there.
Those nutso shots have to fall, though.
Kevin Love’s looks
Three different wide-open, corner three-pointers just missed for Kevin Love in Game 4. This is as weak as sportswriter stretching gets, but if he nails each of those his box score reads as such – 19 points on 7-14 shooting, seven rebounds, three assists and just one turnover in 30 minutes of play.
Instead, the same demons flew around. The idea that he’s been relegated to a spot-up shooter and little else in the Cleveland offense, replaced by a veteran in Channing Frye that historically is far more accurate from outside than Love; who we’ll remind you is a player who banged his way toward 26 points a game two seasons ago. There’s little banging to be had in the postseason this year, as Kevin is shooting just 30.7 on two-pointers while consistently failing to finish near the rim.
That’s all fine and dandy when Love, who entered the trip to Toronto making 44.9 percent of his three-pointers, is nailing from long range. When he’s not, he turns into a liability and, eventually, a talking point – it’s possible that some newspaper/website/TV show/radio program/teletype may have told you that Love hasn’t played in two consecutive fourth quarters.
Quite a bit of that has to do with Love’s defense, even if his defensive rebounding is typically crucial to Cleveland’s chances. Former small forward Richard Jefferson and Frye (who, not a joke, historically rebounds worse than your average small forward) have better defensive rebound rates than Love in this series, though. Then you toss in the way the Raptors just consistently throw plays at both Love and Kyrie Irving, and you have a problem.
The Cavaliers, since August of 2014, were never going to be a great or even pretty good defensive team. That’s just not within the realm of the possible with these lineups, and these players. Expect them to move up to the ranks of the average, sure, but this team was always going to have to beat you with offense.
And when the game’s deciding offense sometimes comes down to a 6-10 guy hitting a 24-footer just a few inches away from the opposing team’s bench? With more of this …
… potentially taking place?
That’s just how these things go. Or don’t go.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
