3 adjustments for Raptors to make before Game 2
The Toronto Raptors were treated to a rude awakening in their first trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Rather than giving the Raptors a moment to breathe, the Cleveland Cavaliers delivered a stern reminder of how far the Raptors have left to go before true contention. The Cavaliers inflicted a 31-point spanking in Game 1 to remain undefeated in the playoffs.
Clearly overmatched, the focus for the Raptors now turns to self-preservation. Winning the series is a fantasy, but avoiding further embarrassment should be possible if they make a few adjustments.
Send help at LeBron
The Raptors tried to guard LeBron James in single coverage, which is a nice idea in principle, but it utterly failed in practice.
James shot 11-of-13 from the field while taking 12 of his attempts from inside the restricted area. That included several posterizing dunks that effectively demoralized the Raptors. James proved far too strong for DeMarre Carroll to contain in the post, nor could the Raptors effectively guard him in pick-and-roll coverage.
The idea for the Raptors was to make James a scorer while taking away his teammates. But Toronto's tattered defense was so poor at the point of attack that it ended up conceding the easiest shots in the game: James heading unimpeded to the basket.
Going forward, the Raptors have to get back to their principles of guarding the paint first and foremost. And if that means James finds open shooters then so be it - nothing is more dangerous than James at the hoop.
2 is greater than 3
Raptors rim protector Bismack Biyombo summed it up best. It was a pick-your-poison scenario for the defense.
"Well, the idea was to live with the two and take away the three and we opened up the back," Biyombo said.
Raptors coach Dwane Casey's thinking was to stay at home against Cleveland's shooters. Having shattered a handful of records for 3-point shooting during their unbeaten run, the Raptors were cognizant to limit Cleveland to just seven home run balls.
But the Raptors picked the wrong poison. They left the rim wide open instead. Cleveland took more than half their shots within five feet of the hoop, hit 73.7 percent of those looks, and attempted 33 free throws as a result of Toronto's sloppy fouls after being beat on drives.
Toronto's guards also bit way too hard on pump fakes, and allowed far too much penetration off drives and pick-and-rolls for their interior defense to recover. More conservative closeouts would give the Raptors' bigs more time to rotate to the basket to contain drives.
Again, as Biyombo outlined, Cleveland's offense will hurt you one way or another. But given the choice between getting slaughtered in the paint, or leaving some shooters open, the Raptors picked the wrong poison.
Kill the pace
Even if it's not competitive, the Raptors could at least minimize the damage by keeping the pace to a crawl. Cleveland's offense is deadliest in the open court, and the Raptors kept feeding into that with poor shot selection and sloppy turnovers on Tuesday.
Cleveland scored the first 25 fast-break points on Tuesday before the Raptors finally countered. By that point, the game had already been decided.
Long jumpers and a poor showing on the defensive glass did the Raptors in. Cleveland recovered 89.7 percent of Toronto's misses which allowed James and Kyrie Irving to attack the paint relentlessly in the open court. Meanwhile, Cleveland also picked up 10 offensive rebounds for 13 second-chance points.
If the Raptors have any chance of keeping Game 2 close, they'll need to allow fewer transition baskets, while winning the battle for possessions.