The Toronto Raptors opened up their 2016-17 season Tuesday night as they look to build upon their greatest season ever. First, they started against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday, October 26th. Then, they welcome Lebron James and the defending champions Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, October 28th. A good start to the season is always optimal, but what the Raptors coaching staff will be looking for most is team cohesion and improvement from pre-season. Dwyane Casey will want to see how players adapt to their new roles, particularly the rookies Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl.
Matchups:
Detroit Pistons (H), Cleveland Cavaliers (H)
Detroit Pistons (0-0)
The Detroit Pistons will visit the Air Canada Centre Tuesday and will prove a very tough matchup for Dwyane Casey and his club. Extremely well coached by Stan Van Gundy, the Pistons were one of the top defensive teams in pre-season and will be looking to build an identity based on defense and toughness. This will be vital for them moving forward as they lost their star point guard Reggie Jackson to a knee injury before the pre-season even began.
Toronto ranked 14th in scoring last season. They are primarily a team that scores in the paint with guys like DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Jonas Valanciunas getting the majority of their points inside the arc. Despite being 5th last year in 3-point percentage, they were 19th in attempts from the land beyond. Detroit boasts athletic perimeter players in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Tobias Harris and Stanley Johnson. When you add the formidable Andre Drummond in the paint, the Raptors could be hard-pressed to score. They will need big nights from their best shooters in Terrence Ross and Patrick Patterson.
Key Matchup:
Demar Derozan vs. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Prediction:
Raptors win 92-87
Final:
Raptors win 109-91
Cleveland Cavaliers (1-0)
Coming off of the annihilation of the New York Knicks, Cleveland will come to Toronto full of confidence. Cleveland will want to show their dominance over perhaps their biggest rival in the Eastern Conference. This is a massive test very early in the season for the Raptors. LeBron James is coming off of a triple double and looks just as explosive as ever, racking up six dunks in their season opener. They also seemed to have a new focus on getting Kevin Love good scoring opportunities to lighten the load on a 31-year-old James and injury prone Kyrie Irving. Both teams should be fairly fresh so a run-and-gun shootout could be in the making.
If that happens depth will be vital for Toronto. Having a “Big Three” usually means there is cap pressure and oftentimes the bench is not of the highest quality. This will hopefully be the case for Toronto. The Raptors have a ton of depth this season, even without injured Jared Sullinger. Capable of going small or big, players like Norman Powell and Ross will have to have big games on both ends of the floor.
Key Matchup:
Jonas Valanciunas vs. Tristan Thompson
Prediction:
Cleveland win 110-102
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