It will be a possible playoff preview Friday night in Cleveland when the Toronto Raptors (35-33) visit the Cleveland Cavaliers (39-30). If the playoffs started today the Cavaliers would host the Raptors in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
The Raptors ended a five game losing streak Wednesday night against the terrible Miami Heat 96-54. Chris Bosh returned to the line up and scored 8 points and grabbed 8 boards in 22 minutes. Jose Calderon also had a strong game, recording his first double-double since February 29th with 10 points and 10 assists.
The Cavaliers are coming off an impressive win over the Eastern Conference leading Detroit Pistons 89-73. LeBron scored 30 points and the Cavaliers, as a team, played great defense holding the Pistons to under 40% from the field.
Starting 5:
Jose Calderon/Delonte West
Anthony Parker/Sasha Pavlovic
Jamario Moon/LeBron James
Chris Bosh/Ben Wallace
Andrea Bargnani/Zydrunus Ilgauskas
Key Match-ups:
The last time these two clubs met was before the NBA trade deadline. Since then the Cavaliers have said goodbye to Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Ira Newble, Donyell Marshall and welcomed Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith and Delonte West. The roster may have changed a little, but one thing remains the same…LeBron James. LBJ tears up the Raptors! In his career he averages 27.9 ppg, 7.2 rpg and 7.2 apg. Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon will do their best to slow the NBA’s scoring leader down.
Game Notes:
The Raptors held the Heat to 54 points on Wednesday, which is third-lowest total in the shot clock era. The Heat also set franchise lows in points in a game and in a half (26), and shot a franchise-worst field goal % (25.6); the Raptors are 15-20 on the road this season and have lost their last 5 in a row away from the ACC.
Check Cavaliers Court.
Technorati Tags: Anthony Parker, Ben Wallace, Chris Bosh, Cleveland Cavaliers, Delonte West, Donyell Marshall, Drew Gooden, Ira Newble, Joe Smith, Jose Calderon, Larry Hughes, Lebron James, Miami Heat, Wally Sczerbiak
March 21st, 2008 at 8:45 am
It is Friday night……oh boy, the Raps always play great on Friday nights………oh wait, no they don’t.
At least there is March Madness on if this game goes bad.
Happy Easter weekend to all.
cuzzy’s last blog post..Raptors game day - Raps/Cavs
March 21st, 2008 at 10:18 am
I know everyone is saying this is a playoff preview, but I don’t think just having Bosh back is going to drastically improve the entire team’s play. I think they’re still in their West trip rut and will probably get wrecked tonight. Go Raps!
March 21st, 2008 at 12:48 pm
cuzzy,
———————————–
re: At least there is March Madness on if this game goes bad.
———————————–
If?
Did you say, “If”?
Guess that’s what’s meant by ‘wishful thinking’.
The Pistons are going to win … easily.
khandor’s last blog post..Ranking the Raptors in the Eastern Conference
March 21st, 2008 at 2:29 pm
i agree, this weekend is going to be rough. detroit is a write off, no questions. if they can catch cleveland flat flooted, they might steal.
wishful thinking is right, but it’s all we have khandor!
March 21st, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Alright Raps it’s almost that time…you’ll might be in for a long night…James and the Cavs are fearless at the Q and I don’t think their ready to relinquish their home-game winning streak.
Dee’s last blog post..Cavaliers vs. Raptors Tonight!
March 21st, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Hey Darien, I dont know how you can say that having Bosh back isnt going to drastically improve the entire team’s play. this team has been created around Bosh. Bosh averages 22.3 ppg and 8.8 rpg a game, take him away and you take away the inside game and decent defense. Put him back in and guys like Delfino, Parker, Kapono, and Bargnani get better looking shots. IT may take awhile before the team looks better, but BOsh is an allstar and allstars make their teammates better
March 21st, 2008 at 7:44 pm
You’re right that Bosh brings something huge to the team, but his presence sure as hell doesn’t fix the gaping, diseased holes which the Raptors like to show off on really important games. Does the presence of Bosh fix the defensive brain-farts the rest of the team likes to commit? Does Bosh stop Moon from taking contested shots? Does Bosh stop T.J from playing wildly? He does a lot of good things, but Bosh isn’t the only ingredient missing from the Raptors being a good team.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Bosh may not “fix” the brain farts, but he is a better defensive player than most so they are better with him then without him. Bosh doesnt stop Moon from taking contested shots or TJ from playing wildly, but when the raps run their offense through Bosh, guys like Moon and FOrd are relied upon to score as much. With Bosh and his 15 shots a game makes the raptors a lot better of a team. the Eastern Conference may flail in comparison to the West, but 5th isnt bad, infact its good. just ask the Hawks, Bulls, Pacers, Bobcats, Bucks, Knicks and Heat. THe raps are young and have a bright future with a core of young players only getting better.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:31 pm
See, we actually agree, but have different interpretations to the situation. I think Chris Bosh makes the team WIN, not through improving other players, but by just playing really well. There are other players on the team who will hold up their end, and get theirs more easily when Bosh is on the court. And then there are others who are in their own little bubble and can’t be helped because they don’t have team ball as their focus in the first place.
In other news, I think I’ve been drinking the MLSE koolaid, and LeBron James is warming up for his fourth quarter.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:51 pm
honestly I wouldnt mind seeing the raptors drop to the 6th seed and play the Magic instead of the Cavs. LeBron can be unstoppable and rarely has a bad game. Dhow has his weaknessness with free throw shooting and no outside jumper. True Dhow can torch any team on any night, but if you hack n shaq him and put a big body like Rasho, Hump and Primoz on him and force him to hit free throws, then there is a chance of upsetting them. the problem is Turk and Lewis. these guys can light it up.