There was no smiling or joking. “That’s when I flipped the switch”.
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James said the time off was huge for him and his teammates. “Our approach is still the same if (Toronto) guys are in, guys are out”. He does so many things for his team offensively and defensively. “It’s been the same mindset all postseason”.
Carroll was with the Hawks last season when the Cavs also swept the Hawks out of the playoffs.
LeBron James in Game 4 against the Atlanta Hawks in the white and burgundy Nike LeBron 13 Elite. When either one is the screener, the Cavs average 0.96 points per chance which, on a team level, would be second only to Golden State. “It’s a totally different group here”. He’s a great young man who’s really developed himself into a big-time player. Whoever the role player, though, the job of checking James is falling mostly on the capable shoulders of DeMarre Carroll, who was brought in for exactly moments like this.
Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors and Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers in a regular season matchup. Mary High product wasn’t about to get into that debate.
Defense, defense, defense. That is what Head Coach Dwane Casey and the Raptors preach.
“This is why he was signed to a big contract in the offseason”, said ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose on the media conference call about Carroll, who is averaging just 9.6 points in the playoffs. The respect that we have for him and the respect I know I have for him … is unprecedented. But I still think they’ll win the series. The primary issue with DeRozan’s thumb has been chronic swelling, which made it hard to shoot, contributing to his ugly performances in Games 2 and 3 vs. the Heat where combined to score 28 points on 10-34 shooting.
James, who last week said he felt Curry deserves to be this years MVP but questioned the meaning of the award, said hes not offended, offering none taken, when presented with Lowrys comment. “More than anything, it’s a product of us being healthy”. As far as Cleveland is concerned, if they’re playing with the pace and space and three point shooting they’ve been playing within the first two rounds, this will be a four or five game series at longest.
I’d like to see the Cavs get a serious test this postseason, especially from someone in the East. Toronto may be capable, and they certainly won’t roll over and make it easy for Cleveland, but I don’t believe it myself. We’re going to go in with the confidence that we’re going to win.
The Raptors are playing against LeBron and the three-point shooting Cavs carrying the history of having never been here before, and highways along the way so full of road blocks and potholes.
“We know he’s the best player on our team, the best player in the league”, Lue added.
In the previous campaign, Love went down in the first round with a shoulder injury. It’s not just going to be about him. James has been his usual dominant self, averaging 23.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists.
With four more wins, the 13th-year pro will be playing in his sixth straight NBA Finals and seventh overall.
“He’s the kind of guy that’s a spark for their team”, Love said.
That would be all the Raptors need to earn the upset and with the bench they have, they just might get it done.
The Eastern Conference Finals have yet to begin, but the end result appears to be a foregone conclusion. You got to go out and play.
“It’s probably the toughest position on the floor to play in”, Casey continued.
“If we have Jonas and Bismack in there, it’s very tough to switch 1 through 5”, Casey said.
“We want to continue to get better”, he said. We’re not peaking. I hope not. They are already big enough under-dogs. There’s your series right there.
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Game 1 can often be a feeling-out process where teams establish what the series will be like and how it will differ from the series that was just closed out.
