Gameday: Cavaliers @ Raptors, May 1st
Game 6 of this hard-fought first-round series takes place tonight, and things have moved back to Toronto. For the first time in this series, Toronto is facing elimination, raising the stakes to even greater heights than they were at before. Not only are they facing elimination, they are dealing with even more injuries than they were already plagued with. Scottie Barnes was hampered with a quad injury in the last game, and Brandon Inram left the game early with a heel injury that has his status as questionable for tonight’s game. Toronto is going to have to dig deep tonight if they want to extend this series, and push it to a game 7.
Series 3-2 Cavaliers
Raptors Outlook
Offensive Rating: 113.7 (5th) | Defensive Rating: 113.4 (11th) | Net Rating: +0.3 (7th)
Toronto’s defense against Cleveland in this series has been impeccable, and Cleveland has not yet figured out how to navigate the ball pressure heavy, and blitzing style defense that Toronto has employed. After the first game, Toronto began to put more pressure on Cleveland’s ball handlers, and send helpers to contain their drives, often allowing the ball to be dumped to someone in the front court like Evan Mobley. Although they didn’t win last game, this defensive scheme has been working, and Cleveland’s offense has definitely taken a hit. Donovan Mitchell has had a fairly lackluster series, and it is due to him not being able to navigate this defense and get to the rim like he usually does. Offensively is where Toronto faltered last game, and what ultimately caused them to come up short.
If Ingram does suit up tonight, Toronto simply needs more production from him, or at least more utility. Ingram tends to bogart the offense in pursuit of his own scoring at times, but if he were to be more willing to be active off-ball, cutting to move Cleveland defenders, spotting up to keep Cleveland defenders out of the lane, that would be very useful compared to what he has given so far.
Cavaliers Outlook
Offensive Rating: 113.4 (6th) | Defensive Rating: 113.7 (12th) | Net Rating: -0.3 (10th)
Cleveland has gotten good contributions from James Harden, mostly as a playmaker, but he has still found a way to be a thorn in Toronto’s side when it comes to making highly difficult jumpers and floaters. The difference in last game is what Cleveland got from their bench, namely Dennis Schroeder’s late-game brilliance with his 19 points off the bench. Toronto has mostly controlled Cleveland on the defensive end, and their physicality against their front court has been noticeable as well.
Toronto needs to make sure that Mitchell is still contained in the pick n’ roll, by blitzing him and making sure that he does not have ample opportunity to get downhill with the ball. If Cleveland is going to close out this series tonight, let it be at the hands of their tertiary players, not their main guys.
Game Info
Tip-Off: 7:30 p.m. ET
Television: Sportsnet
Venue: Scotiabank Arena
Starting Lineups (Projected)
Cleveland Cavaliers
PG: James Harden
SG: Donovan Mitchell
SF: Max Strus
PF: Evan Mobley
C: Jarrett Allen
Toronto Raptors
PG: Ja’Kobe Walter
SG: RJ Barrett
SF: Brandon Ingram
PF: Scottie Barnes
C: Jakob Poeltl
Injury Report
Toronto Raptors
Immanuel Quickley (Hamstring) – OUT
Brandon Ingram (Heel) – Questionable
Cleveland Cavaliers
None reported.
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