NBA Playoffs 2018: 5 keys to Toronto Raptors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers matchup

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TORONTO, ON- APRIL 25 – The Toronto bench celebrates as the Toronto Raptors win game five of their first round of the NBA playoffs against the Washington Wizards 108-98 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. April 25, 2018. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images) /

3. Toronto bench mobs

An absolutely killer bench has been the lifeblood of this Toronto team for much of the season. As analysts such as Zach Lowe noted prior to the playoffs, the selfless play of the Raptors bench really permeated the whole roster as the year wore on; it was one of the driving forces behind Toronto’s offensive renaissance. The unit VanVleet, Wright, Siakam, Poeltel and Miles blitzed opposing units all season. Of course, a full on bench mob won’t see much time in this kind of playoff series.

Lowry and DeRozan will share the floor with a mix of bench guys and those lineups have worked well for Toronto as well. Toronto’s DeRozan plus bench units were especially potent during the regular season. Although the sample sizes are extremely small, those DeRozan led units did not perform all that well against Washington. That’s a bit concerning given the fact that the Wizards have become famous for their catastrophically poor bench play over the past few seasons.

The big question here is which Toronto bench guys will be playable against the Cavs. The Wizards weren’t able to really exploit the weaknesses of these players, which allowed the Raptors a lot of lineup versatility. The Cavs have more tools to target these players. Running pick and rolls that aim to involve a smaller guard like VanVleet could really damage his effectiveness. Cleveland will also attack Miles on the defensive end, making him work hard and expend energy. If he becomes unplayable, Toronto’s spacing will suffer greatly.

In addition, LeBron has gone into overdrive so far this postseason and played an enormous amount of minutes. This means the superior talent that Toronto has on the bench will be somewhat neutralized by default. If the Cavs can even tread water when LeBron sits, no small task against this Raptors team, then Cleveland will have vaporized one of Toronto’s greatest advantages. If Toronto dominates that minutes when LeBron sits, it’ll be one step closer to finally taking down the Cleveland.

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