Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors: Series Prediction, Betting Odds For 2017 NBA Playoffs

Having reached the NBA Finals in six straight years, LeBron James has defeated each of his last 19 Eastern Conference playoff opponents. He’ll look to make that number 20 when the Cleveland Cavaliers face the Toronto Raptors in the second round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs.

Cleveland is the heavy betting favorite, entering the series with -550 odds, via Bovada.lv. Toronto is a +375 underdog, and while they have a chance to be competitive, no prediction other than a series victory for the Cavaliers really makes much sense.

James reaching the finals has become the biggest guarantee in basketball for the last six years. Eventually, the four-time MVP will come up short and be ousted in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but there’s little evidence to suggest that will happen this series or even this year.

Despite all the MVP debate surrounding Russell Westbrook and James Harden, James is clearly still the NBA’s best player. He put up his best regular-season numbers since rejoining the Cavaliers, and he was absolutely dominant in the first round. James had a historic series in Cleveland’s four-game sweep of the Indiana Pacers, averaging 32.8 points on 54.3 percent shooting while adding 9.8 rebounds and 9.0 assists per contest.

Toronto won’t have any answers for James, just like they didn’t a year ago. The Raptors managed to win two games against the Cavs in the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals, but they were blown out in all four of their defeats. James put up 26.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game against Toronto, shooting an incredible 62.2 percent from the field.

In some ways, the Raptors are more equipped to defeat the Cavaliers than any other team in the East. They joined the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs as the only teams to rank in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency in the regular season. Cleveland led the conference with three All-Star selections, and Toronto was the only other East team with multiple All-Stars.

When Kyle Lowry and DeMar Derozan are at their best, only the Warriors have a better backcourt with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Both players had career years in 2016-2017, and they have more support than they did last season with the addition of Serge Ibaka.

The Raptors actually finished the regular season with the same record as the Cavs, defeating Cleveland in a meaningless game to end the year in which James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving all rested. Toronto lost their first three games against Cleveland, though every contest was decided by four points or less.

Cleveland’s defense was the team’s biggest concern in the regular season, and it wasn’t a whole lot better in the first round. Against an average offensive team, the Cavaliers surrendered nearly 109 points per game, allowing the Pacers to surpass the century mark in every contest.

Toronto’s offense, however, won’t be good enough to match Cleveland’s. As good as Lowry has been for the Raptors in the regular season, he tends to struggle in the playoffs. The point guard only scored 14.3 points per game in the first round against the Milwaukee Bucks, failing to improve on a disappointing 2016 playoff run. Before Lowry scored 35 points when the Raptors were eliminated in Game 6 of last year’s series with the Cavs, he was held to 13 points or less in three losses against Cleveland. Lowry shot less than 40 percent from the field for the entirety of the 2016 playoffs.

Irving outplayed Lowry in last year’s series, and the Raptors don’t stand a chance if that’s going to be the case in 2017.

The Raptors need their backcourt to be terrific in order to beat the Cavaliers, and even then, it probably won’t be enough. James will do what he usually does and average close to a triple-double, and he’s surrounded by too many shooters for Toronto to account for.

Cleveland scores too many points, and the Raptors should be commended if they can steal more than one game.

Series Prediction: Cleveland in five