TORONTO — The Cavaliers took a commanding 2-0 lead with a Game 2 victory over Toronto before the Raptors won Game 3 on April 23 at home, breathing new life into the series.
Game 4 is set for 1 p.m. Sunday, April 26, at Scotiabank Arena. The home team has won all three games in this first-round best-of-seven NBA playoff series.
James Harden vowed the Cavs would respond to the loss. Donovan Mitchell and others noted — repeatedly — that a lack of “force” was the culprit in Game 3.
Here are Game 4 predictions from Beacon Journal writers Ryan Lewis and Nate Ulrich:
Cavs vs Raptors Game 4 predictions
Lewis: The Cavaliers took a punch and were outmuscled in Game 3 on the road. James Harden never looked comfortable. And the Raptors received strong performances from their starters, along with some excellent contributions off the bench.
Both teams have signs of optimism, in ways, heading into Game 4.
For the Cavs, it’s that despite finishing with 22 turnovers, Game 3 was still in doubt well into the fourth quarter, which probably shouldn’t have been the case, though the Raptors did pull away with a flurry of 3-pointers. For the Raptors, it’s that the series is at 2-1 and Brandon Ingram has yet to get going. Dean Wade deserves a great deal of credit for that, but players of Ingram’s caliber often eventually “find their levels,” as former Guardians manager Terry Francona used to say. And even if he doesn’t, Scottie Barnes and Co. showed they can work around that with enough physicality.
Game 4 might be the one that truly goes down to the wire. Raptors 112, Cavaliers 110
Raptors vs Cavs Game 4 predictions
Ulrich: The crystal ball originally showed this would be a seven-game series, but we figured it might be defective and asked for a refund after the Cavs completely controlled Game 1 and Game 2 in Cleveland. After seeing how the Raptors were revived during Game 3 in Toronto, it’s fair to wonder if the crystal ball actually worked well all along.
On the other hand, a bunch of factors worked in favor of the Raptors in Game 3, and it’s hard to be convinced they’re sustainable.
The Raptors dominated the Cavs down the stretch of Game 3, but some of Toronto’s performances had outliers written all over them. No one should expect Raptors rookie forward Collin Murray-Boyles to score 22 points or grab five of his eight rebounds in the fourth quarter again. Toronto forward Jamison Battle caught fire with all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter of Game 3, and the former Ohio State player may never match 5-of-5 shooting from the field (4 of 4 on 3-pointers) in a single quarter for the rest of his NBA career.
What also should trigger the fluke detector is Cavs guards James Harden (18 points) and Donovan Mitchell (15 points) simultaneously struggling mightily on offense. The Cavs are talking a good game about needing to be the aggressor to bounce back in Game 4. This is a guess they will be mature enough to back it up. Cavs 114, Raptors 108
Ryan Lewis and Nate Ulrich cover the Cavaliers for the Akron Beacon Journal.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Cavaliers vs Toronto Raptors predictions for Game 4