The Raptors took the measure of the Cavaliers up north and now the Eastern Conference finals shift back to Cleveland all square at two games apiece. After winning 10 straight postseason games, the pressure is all back on the Cavs for Game 5. This is what we’ve been waiting for, but how did we get here? Paul Flannery and Tom Ziller discuss.
We finally get to see LeBron James and the Cavaliers sweat
After two breezy rounds, Cleveland’s feeling the heat from the Raptors. How will they respond?
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FLANNERY: It's finally happened. Someone in the East has challenged LeBron James and the Cavaliers. I'm really interested to see how they react back at home in Game 5, but before we get to them, how about a few words of praise for our friends to the north?
I wasn’t surprised that they got a game at home, but I wasn’t expecting them to win Game 4 and I’m frankly astonished they pulled it off during that fourth quarter when their lead evaporated and the Cavaliers couldn’t miss. The Raps showed me something in that game.
Like you, I think their accomplishments should be praised and not mocked. I also think the notion that everyone finishes last if they don’t finish first is reductive nonsense. This is the best season in your history! That’s good! But now they’re playing for more than just pride. You think they can do this?
ZILLER: That Game 4 close-out was something. That's a game you'd expect the team with the single best player to win, a game you'd give to the squad who'd been there before. The Raptors meet neither of those conditions, but they still got it done. It's really impressive.
I still find myself skeptical they can win this series. LeBron has been marvelous. Can Toronto count on Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan both going nuts at the same time again? After how the Raptors' guards played in the first two rounds, and how Kevin Love played until this past week, Game 4's box score looks unsustainable. Guys with injuries don't typically heal up as the playoffs roll on!
But Toronto just needs to win one in Cleveland and hold court at home to make the fricking NBA Finals. What a time to be alive.
FLANNERY: I'm skeptical too, for all the reasons you mentioned, but I get the sense that they are starting to believe and belief can be a powerful thing. For example, take the Cult of Biz, of which I am now a full-blown convert. When he came into the league, Bismack Biyombo couldn't catch. Now he's getting alley-oops, knocking down baseline jumpers and blocking LeBron at the rim.
We all knew that when Kyle Lowry plays like an All-NBA guard, Toronto can beat anyone. We knew that DeRozan has unlimited confidence, even when no one else has confidence in him. We knew that their home crowd was nuts and they would play well there. But the Biz! Seriously, Tom. Where the hell did that come from?
Let me ask this another way: Have we underestimated the Raptors?
ZILLER: Saying you’re a convert in the Cult of Biz is basically saying “I’m a human who doesn’t live in Cleveland.” Take a real stand, Flannery!
We have underestimated Toronto going into this series precisely because they looked so bad in the earlier rounds. I'm sorry, but no one should be chided for thinking a team that needed seven to beat that Pacers team is Finals-bound. Otherwise, many of us had faith in the Raptors to get this far and in Lowry to brutalize Kyrie Irving. A series win would be a stunner by any measure given the players involved (especially one named LeBron). So yeah, if they win we underestimated the Raptors and there's no crime in that. What say you?
FLANNERY: I think the cumulative effect of playing two seven-game series made people question whether or not they were actually good. In turn, they lumped them in with the likes of Atlanta, Miami, Boston and Charlotte and therein lies the underestimation. The Raps proved demonstrably during the regular season that they were better than those teams and they have shown in this series that they are a quality team that's deserving of this stage. They remind me a lot of the Pacers from two years ago, who couldn't get out of their own way, but still took LeBron's Heat to six games.
On some level I'm happy for Dwane Casey and his players that they have made this a series. As you wrote last week, their season should be celebrated and even if they lose they have legitimized their run.
But um, how about those Cavs? I still think they win this series, maybe even in six, but the last few games have exposed some problems on the defensive end. How are you feeling about them right now?
ZILLER: The one strong retort to any claim that a Finals repeat would be different because of Kyrie Irving is that Kyrie is a massive defensive downgrade from Matthew Dellavedova, and so you can pencil Steph Curry (or, now, Russell Westbrook) in for huge numbers. (Huge numbers Curry didn't get in the 2015 Finals, mind.) It turns out that Lowry made that point vociferously in Game 4! Kyrie's offense is scary, but his defense is a real problem.
The same can be said for Kevin Love -- still missing too many rotations by my eyes -- and, surprisingly, Tristan Thompson, who is getting severely outclassed by our boy Biz. It's going to be pretty weird if Ty Lue has to unleash the Mozgov, innit?
FLANNERY: Let’s not get crazy here. The way to neutralize Biyombo is to have shooting and spacing all over the court. We saw it in the fourth quarter when the Cavs ran this play over and over and over again.
The Cavs are running this exact same play over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again pic.twitter.com/ZOcMRop1tu
— SB Nation NBA (@SBNationNBA) May 24, 2016
Cleveland's defense did get exposed, but I think that's the way it has to play with Kyrie, Love and Channing Frye soaking up so many crucial minutes. It also wouldn't hurt if Thompson, who made his bank with rebounding and energy, also rebounded and matched Biyombo's energy.
But again, it’s 2-2. The Cavs have home court. They’re fine. The last thing they should do is overreact.
I am curious to see how LeBron reacts in Game 5. Do we need brilliance or steady leadership and all-around play? I vote the latter.
ZILLER: I feel like LeBron has been excellent in this series; he’s scoring really efficiently despite abandoning the jumper, and he’s filling up the stat sheet per usual. I wonder if it’s even possible for him to go berserk without the jumper? Can a LeBron that takes only like five shots outside of the paint score 50? He shouldn’t need to, as you indicate. But I don’t know it’s possible if he’s not softening the defense by drilling threes. Perhaps if Biyombo gets into foul trouble we could see LeBron turn into even more of an express bus to the rim.
Game 5 is going to be mighty interesting on all counts. Toronto has proven itself. I have no doubt Lowry and the others desperately want to make the Finals, but this would be enough. Not the case for Cleveland, who has to be feeling a little desperate.
FLANNERY: Right, I don’t think this calls for drastic LeBron measures but I do want to see the Cavs play with desperation and urgency. It’d be nice if Love became reengaged on the offensive end and Irving gave something defensively against Lowry, No one’s asking either to carry the effort, but better all-around games are kind of important in the postseason. They should have enough to do this without asking James to go into the phone booth and become SuperBron. That’s the whole point of having those guys around.
The key question is what happens if things go south again? This is the game we’ve been waiting for and I’m dying to see how they react tonight.
ZILLER: Everyone wanted to see the Cavaliers sweat. Here we go.
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Bismack Biyombo should be your new favorite player
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