Kyle Lowry once again led his Toronto Raptors to a game 7 win in the 2016 NBA Playoffs yesterday when the Raps defeated the Miami Heat and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals to face a well rested Cleveland Cavaliers team. Lowry and his counterpart DeMar DeRozan combined to score 63 points in the Raptors blowout win, advancing the franchise to their first Conference Finals appearance in their history.
Awaiting them is the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team who will have over a week rest coming into game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavs have played the least amount of games possible to get to this point, performing consecutive sweeps in the first two rounds while the Raptors have played the most possible games. The two teams have paved different paths to the conference finals but it’s clear, these are the best two teams in the East and the primary matchup in the series starts with the point guards in Kyrie Irving and Kyle Lowry.
Following from Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
That puts Irving in the spotlight — an intriguing matchup between two of the best points guards in the East.
“It’s always great to go against another great point guard and All-Star in our league,” Irving said of Lowry. “He does a tremendous job of leading their team. I have to do a great job of keeping my body in front of him, making it difficult and forcing him into tough shots. He’s a great player so I’m looking forward to the matchup.”
Kyle Lowry has feasted on the Cavs this season. The two-time All-Star has averaged 31.0 points on 33-of-50 (66%) from the field, including 7-of-16 (43.8%) from three-point range to go with 8.3 assists in the three meetings. Not to mention, Lowry hit a game-winning shot earlier this season during their February matchup to give the Raptors a 2-1 edge in their regular season matchups. So it is safe to understand why Irving has his eyes on this matchup.
Both Lowry and DeRozan are fighting through injuries this postseason but have somehow managed to survive and advance. Now, their toughest task is ahead of them in a dominant Cleveland Cavaliers squad that has no hesitation when it comes to shooting the rock. Can Toronto keep up with this suddenly high-powered offense or will the Raps luck run out? We can only find out when the series starts on Tuesday, May 17th at 8:30 PM ET on ESPN.
