The Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors have a storied playoff history. While the Cavaliers have dominated the Raptors in the postseason over the last decade, both teams have new identities now.
They are set to go head-to-head in the first round once again, so let’s take a look at how the Raptors can get revenge and how the Cavs can continue their matchup dominance.
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How The Raptors Can Win
John E. Sokolowski — IMAGN IMAGES
The Raptors will need to be at their absolute best in terms of scoring if they want to topple the Cavaliers. They’ve boasted an elite defense all season, but their middle-of-the-pack offense held them to a 46-36 record.
They have a number of solid shot creators in Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, but that group hasn’t had a ton of success against the league’s top teams this season.
With the lack of elite outside shooting, the Raptors will be fighting an uphill battle when it comes to scoring in this series. Ingram and Barnes must be at their best in clutch time against this dynamic Cleveland team. Toronto has the defensive length to cause trouble for Cleveland’s backcourt, but it won’t matter if they can’t score on the other end.
How The Cavaliers Can Win
David Dermer — IMAGN IMAGES
This Cavaliers team looks a lot different than it did at the beginning of the season. With Darius Garland gone and James Harden arriving, the biggest question with the Cavaliers in this series is also their offensive performance.
The Raptors are one of the league’s top defenses with one of the league’s premier defenders in Scottie Barnes. Cleveland’s ability to put up points against that defense is the biggest factors for the Cavaliers. Harden has a track record of struggling in the postseason, but he has a chance to flip that narrative.
In a system with Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, he has plenty of star power beside him to work with. The Cavaliers boast a significantly stronger offense than the Raptors on paper. Their double-sided approach to scoring will be tested by a tough Raptors defense that has enough length to cause problems.
The playoff history between these two teams is a story of one-sided dominance and the Cavaliers are favored to keep that dominance going in this series, but the Raptors will have a chip on their shoulder as they look t0 break the streak.
James Parker contributed to this story.
