(1)Cleveland vs. (2)Toronto Game 1: Tuesday, May 17 — Toronto at Cleveland 7:30pm ESPN Game 2: Thursday, May 19 — Toronto at Cleveland 7:30pm ESPN Game 3: Saturday, May 21 — Cleveland at Toronto 7:30pm ESPN Game 4: Monday, May 23 — Cleveland at Toronto 7:30pm ESPN Game 5* Wednesday, May 25 — Toronto at Cleveland ESPN Game 6* Friday, May 27 — Cleveland at Toronto ESPN Game 7* Sunday, May 29 — Toronto at Cleveland ESPN
I'll give the Raptors one game since the Cavs can't possibly shoot that well from 3 for another 4 straight games(can they?). But this one ain't going past 5.
yeah, but their 2-8 seeds are all about the same level, which is arguably only a bit better than 6-7-8 of the the West
CLE sweeps another one. Back in 2001 when the Lakers swept their way to the Finals, it was, and still is today, regarded as one of the most dominant playoff runs ever due to how stacked the West was. They swept their top 2 division rivals (50-win POR and 55-win SAC) and a 58-win Spurs team. Because of how terrible the East has been and still is (despite all 8 qualifying teams were over .500), this CLE run will not be held in that same lore like that '01 Lakers team. Think about it, they beat a rising Pistons team and the vastly overrated Hawks that regressed sharply from a 60-win season last year (that ended in an ECF sweep to CLE).
Full strength Raps might be able to get one or two wins but they just played 14 grueling playoff games and nearly everyone is banged up. Still a successful season.
This will go to six games only because the Cavs won't be shooting at an insane clip from 3 point range. I also assume the Trash Bros for the Raptors aren't going to play as bad as they did in the first two rounds. The Cavs did indeed win 4-0 in their last two series but honestly a lot of those games could have gone either way.
Raps went 7 games against the Pacers and the heat without Whiteside and Bosh. Not going to bode well for them; Cavs in 5