Cleveland (2-1) at Toronto (1-2)
When: Monday, May 23rd 2016
Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Time: 8:35 ET | TV: ESPN
The Toronto Raptors have a chance to make this a series when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday. Toronto was completely outplayed over the first two games, but found a spark at home in Game 3 and came away with a 99-84 victory. Bismack Biyombo went nuts on the boards Saturday nigh setting a franchise playoff record with 26 rebounds. Biyombo has stepped in for the injured starting center Jonas Valanciunas (ankle) and averaged just 4.5 rebounds over the first two games before Saturday. He also came away with eight offensive rebounds as the the Raptors finished with a 54-40 rebounding edge. DeMar DeRozan scored 32 points in Game 3 and now holds the franchise postseason record of seven career 30-point games. Kyle Lowry had 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting on Saturday after averaging nine points on 8-of-28 shooting in the first two games.
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The Cavs had a dreadful night shooting in Game 3 converting only 35.4% of their shots. LeBron James scored 24 points in Game 3 but point guard Kyrie Irving (13 points on 3-of-19 shooting) and power forward Kevin Love (three points, 1-of-9) both had terrible shooting nights. Love, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter, is averaging just 12 points and 4.3 rebounds in the series. Irving averaged 26.5 points in the first two games before being limited to just 1-of-7 showing from 3-point range. J.R. Smith was one of the few shooters who made some shots, hitting six three-pointers and finishing with 22 points. The Cavaliers must now rebound from their first postseason defeat in ten games.
We took the Raptors in Game 3 based a lot on the fact that Cleveland was an extremely heavy public play. They are the consensus to cover the 5.5 again. The Raptors are playing well at home and Biyombo is playing out of his mind underneath. I’ll take the points again.
Pick: Raptors +5.5
