Cavaliers pound the Raptors: Four things we learned

Cleveland’s shooters are a problem

The story in Game 1 was Cleveland’s interior domination — 56 points in the paint and 33 free throw attempts — but all of that open space around the rim for cuts and drives was created by the threat of Cleveland’s outside shooters who, in case you hadn’t heard, have been kind of special in the playoffs.

With Jonas Valanciunas likely out until at least Game 3, Bismack Biyombo is really Toronto’s only rim protector. However, when Cleveland goes to lineups that spread the floor he really doesn’t have a chance to hang around the basket. Tristan Thompson is the ideal defensive matchup for Biyombo, someone who keeps him close to the basket. In the 28 minutes Thompson played in Game 1, the Cavs outscored the Raptors by five points, which means they were +26 in the 20 minutes that Thompson was on the bench. When Biyombo is on Channing Frye or Kevin Love he has to defend out to three-point line leaving the basket exposed. One other example of how that manifested in Game 1 — in the first two rounds of the playoffs Biyombo had contested an average of 13.0 opponent two-pointers per 36 minutes. In Game 1, he contested 5.8.

Toronto can solve some of their interior problems with tighter rotations from their perimeter players but the fundamental problems here remain. The Raptors can choose to try and take away the three-point line or take away the interior. In Game 1, they didn’t really succeed on either account. They might be able to swallow one option for an entire game but it’s tough to see how they accomplish both.

Next: 3. Kyle Lowry is still struggling