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(4) Cleveland Cavaliers at (1) Toronto Raptors - 8:00 PM, TNT
If the Raptors can’t knock off THIS Cleveland team, then Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are pretty much out of excuses at this point. Fred Van Vleet is back to bolster the Toronto bench; conversely, the Cleveland bench is full of players, most of whom have been extraordinarily underwhelming.
LeBron James (34.4/10.0/7.7 against Milwaukee) has Thanos-level powers, but when Kevin Love is the only other member of the Cavs to average at least 9 PPG this postseason, the burden on LBJ may be a bit too great.
(6) New Orleans Pelicans at (2) Golden State Warriors - 10:30 PM, TNT
Stephen Curry is listed as probable for Game 2, and with that, the New Orleans Pelicans’ chances to win this series went from doubtful to out.
Alvin Gentry says that he’ll continue to direct his team to play at a breakneck pace with the Warriors - the best equipped team in the league at running up and down the floor. And, if that’s the case, there isn’t much else to say about this one: Even with Curry trying to work his way back into the flow of things, New Orleans is simply no match for Golden State.