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The Cavs stay home for the second night of a back-to-back against the Toronto Raptors, who had Saturday off. The Raptors are 8-8. They have generally been beating the bad teams and losing to the good ones. They have beaten Minnesota, Indy, Dallas, and Milwaukee, so they can beat strong teams when they are on their game.
The Raptors so far have been the definition of mediocrity, ranking 18th in scoring and 14th in scoring defense. They are 23rd in scoring efficiency. They prefer to go inside, ranking 8th in points in the paint. They’re 21st in 3-point rate but 24th in 3-point accuracy. They love to run, ranking 5th in fastbreak points per game.
The Raptors excel at rebounding, ranking 5th in defensive rebound percentage and 9th in offensive percentage. The Cavs need to get on the defensive glass to prevent a lot of second and third shots.
Pascal Siakam leads the Raps with 20.1 ppg. He kicks in 6.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists. The matchup between him and Mobley at power forward will be fun to watch. Siakam is 6’8” and very athletic. Last year he made the All-Star game as an injury replacement.
The Raptors have six players scoring in double figures; after Siakam it’s Scottie Barnes (19.3), Dennis Schroder (16.9), OG Anunobyy (15.8), and Gary Trent Jr and Jacob Poetl (10.9). Anunoby, Barnes, Trent, Boucher, and Malachi Flynn are all hitting between 38-41% from deep. As a team they’re just under 35%.
Toronto ranks 24th in turnovers per possession so the Cavs may be able to take advantage of that. The Raps are 3rd in assists per possession so they share the ball and give it up to the open man, which explains the balanced scoring. They just don’t have a big scoring threat individually.
Darius Garland missed the second half of last night’s game with a strained neck so he will probably be rested tonight. Ty Jerome and Dean Wade are listed as game time decisions. Jerome has been out a month with a high ankle sprain. The Raptors don’t have any significant injuries.
This is a decent team that has a few impressive wins under its’ belt, but they are 8-8 overall and 3-4 on the road so the Cavs should be able to win this one even on the second night of a back-to-back if they don’t give up a lot of second chance points. Donovan Mitchell was 4-for-18 in his return to the lineup last night so hopefully he'll shake off the rust and hit a few more shots. But he played 35 minutes last night so I expect he'll play less tonight.
The Raptors so far have been the definition of mediocrity, ranking 18th in scoring and 14th in scoring defense. They are 23rd in scoring efficiency. They prefer to go inside, ranking 8th in points in the paint. They’re 21st in 3-point rate but 24th in 3-point accuracy. They love to run, ranking 5th in fastbreak points per game.
The Raptors excel at rebounding, ranking 5th in defensive rebound percentage and 9th in offensive percentage. The Cavs need to get on the defensive glass to prevent a lot of second and third shots.
Pascal Siakam leads the Raps with 20.1 ppg. He kicks in 6.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists. The matchup between him and Mobley at power forward will be fun to watch. Siakam is 6’8” and very athletic. Last year he made the All-Star game as an injury replacement.
The Raptors have six players scoring in double figures; after Siakam it’s Scottie Barnes (19.3), Dennis Schroder (16.9), OG Anunobyy (15.8), and Gary Trent Jr and Jacob Poetl (10.9). Anunoby, Barnes, Trent, Boucher, and Malachi Flynn are all hitting between 38-41% from deep. As a team they’re just under 35%.
Toronto ranks 24th in turnovers per possession so the Cavs may be able to take advantage of that. The Raps are 3rd in assists per possession so they share the ball and give it up to the open man, which explains the balanced scoring. They just don’t have a big scoring threat individually.
Darius Garland missed the second half of last night’s game with a strained neck so he will probably be rested tonight. Ty Jerome and Dean Wade are listed as game time decisions. Jerome has been out a month with a high ankle sprain. The Raptors don’t have any significant injuries.
This is a decent team that has a few impressive wins under its’ belt, but they are 8-8 overall and 3-4 on the road so the Cavs should be able to win this one even on the second night of a back-to-back if they don’t give up a lot of second chance points. Donovan Mitchell was 4-for-18 in his return to the lineup last night so hopefully he'll shake off the rust and hit a few more shots. But he played 35 minutes last night so I expect he'll play less tonight.