Cavs Vs. Raptors Game 4: 7 Things We Learned

After Game 4 in the Eastern Conference Finals the series is tied. What We Learned:

The Toronto Raptors tied the series up after a 105-99 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland was down by 16 going into the second half, but they were able to climb back into the game thanks to an impressive performance by the second unit. The Cavs fought back to take the lead, but they couldn’t hold on to it.

Here’s what we learned from the almost incredible comeback.

1. The Cavs will face adversity in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Many, including myself, thought that the Cavs were going to advance to the Finals without facing any type of adversity. That is no longer the case. Cleveland is now facing a best of three series with Toronto.

It is good for a team to go through adversity. However, anytime you go through adversity like the Cavs will go through for the remainder of the series there’s a chance that you won’t survive.

2. The regular season does matter.

Many didn’t see the Cavs securing the top record in the East as being a big deal. This series has shown us just how important getting that top spot is.

The Raptors are an entirely different team at home than they are on the road. They have played much better at home throughout the playoffs than they have on the road. Toronto is 2-6 during the playoffs on the road.

Toronto hasn’t won a game in Cleveland all year and they will need to win at least one to advance. That number one seed is coming in handy right about now.

3. Game 5 becomes as close to a “must win” as it gets.

It is true that the Cavs can lose game 5 on Wednesday and still win the series, but it’s not likely. Considering how much better Toronto plays at home, it is important that Cleveland doesn’t allow them to steal home-court advantage.

The Cavs would have to win two straight games including one in Toronto, if they lost game 5. The Cavs haven’t won a game north of the border all year so it would be a difficult task for them to go into a hostile environment in Toronto and win an elimination game. That is why winning game 5 on Wednesday is so important.

4. The Cavs can comeback from a 16 point deficit at halftime.

There are no such things as moral victories, especially in the playoffs. That being said, it is impressive that the Cavs were able to take the lead after being down by 16 at halftime.

Cleveland found a way to climb back into the game thanks to a 12 point third quarter from Kyrie Irving and an impressive fourth quarter run led by Channing Frye and the bench. The Cavs showed that they have the resiliency to fight back from adversity.

While it’s impressive that the Cavs were able to fight back from a 16 point deficit, it should be pointed out that this is the third straight game they haven’t started out playing their best. Even game 2 at home they played bad for most of the first half. The Cavs need to start games out with a sense of urgency. Toronto controlled the play from the very beginning of the game. Their big cushion allowed them to withstand the Cavs second half push.

5. Dwane Casey should be fined for the second straight game.

The Raptors head coach has been doing everything in his powers to lead his team to victory. After heavily criticizing the officials after a win in game 3, he tried to push his luck a little further by playing defense on a 3 pointer that actually had no effect on the game because the time that was left in the game.

These are classless plays that shouldn’t be tolerated. The NBA needs to step in before antics like this become common place.

6. The Raptors are willing to give the Cavs open three pointers.

The Cavs did not have a great night from behind the arc. They were 13 for 41 (32%) in game 4, and were only 3 of 23 in the first half.

The low percentage was not from the lack of open looks. Toronto readily gave Cleveland open looks from deep in an attempt to lock down the paint. They double teamed LeBron in the post whenever they could. This forced him to kick it out to an open shooter on the perimeter. Unfortunately for the Cavs, they weren’t hitting their shots.

This is the same strategy that the Hawks tried to use. They also tried to lockdown the paint and force the Cavs to be a jump shooting team. Thus far the strategy is working out much better for the Raptors as the Cavaliers have seemingly lost their shooting touch.

7. There’s no need for the Cavs to panic.

While game 5 will be the most important game of the Cavs’ season, there is no need to panic. The Cavs are the better team even though they haven’t played like they were the last couple games. They have more talent and depth then the Raptors.

The Raptors have been daring the Cavaliers to take three pointers during the last two games, but they haven’t been able to do it. Toronto is playing with fire by using this strategy. Cleveland is likely to break out of their three point shooting funk sooner rather than later. If the Cavs had hit their threes like we’ve seen them do in the past the series could’ve been a sweep. The Cavs are a great three point shooting teams and the Raptors were one of the worst at defending the three point line in the season. That combination is a disaster waiting to happen for Toronto.

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Cleveland is also getting much more open looks than Toronto. The Cavs had 45 uncontested shots compared to the Raptors who only had 27. The Raptors took and made many difficult shots in game 4 that you don’t normally think of as going in. They also had heroic performances from both Kyle Lowry and Demar DeRozan who combined for 67 points. It’s hard to expect the Raptors to win two of the three next games given that they had to rely on their two best players having a tremendous game like that combined with not being burned by giving up that many open shots. The odds of both of those happening again let alone twice are pretty unlikely.

The Cavaliers will look to regain the lead in an “almost must win” in game 5 on Wednesday. Let’s hope the team that looked unstoppable in games 1 and 2 shows up.

What did you learn from Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals?