The Toronto Raptors find themselves in familiar territory as they prepare to face the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Tuesday night. For the past two years in a row, the Cavs have been their postseason albatross, easily eliminating them from the playoffs as they folded in the face of LeBron’s dominance.
Yet this year’s Cavs are more vulnerable than ever, and the Raptors, to their credit, have systematically transformed their style of play to better fit the pace-and-space era. And in light of Cleveland’s struggles against Indiana in round one, Toronto enters this series as the prohibitive favorites. On paper, at least.
The Raptors’ biggest challenge is likely going to be a psychological one. They are a categorically different team from last year, when the Cavs bullied them right out of the playoffs in a four-game sweep in round two. But they still have to prove that they won’t cower in the face of the monolith that is LeBron James.
In order to accomplish that, they’ll need to play smart. And All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry has been hitting the books, paying particular attention to the most recent chapter in which the Pacers were somehow able to push them to the breaking point, via Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated.
“The question everybody asks me as a basketball guy is, ‘Do you double [James]?’ ‘Do you [defend] him one-on-one?” Lowry said. “He has seen everything. You just have to play basketball. You have to make him uncomfortable if you can and make him work a little harder. Pick him up. Touch him. Feel him.
“Indiana did a good job of playing and throwing bodies at him, making him work a little more when he was taking the ball up, picking him up. Not just letting him catch the ball at the elbow or mid-post and do whatever he wants.”
If you’re thinking “now, wait a minute, LeBron submitted some of the best postseason performances of his career, not to mention of all time, regardless of what they tried to throw at him” then, well, you’re not alone.
But Lowry and the Raptors don’t have much of choice except to marshal all the forces at their command to try and slow him down this series. Fortunately for them, OG Anunoby is eager for the challenge of going at James, and with the Cavs supporting cast struggling to hit shots, the usual fear of LeBron’s passing ability is diminished because his teammates haven’t been effective at knocking down shots.
