Down 1-0 in the series, Thursday’s pivotal Game 2 in Toronto between the Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers is as close to must-win as it gets for the home team. After all, a closer look at the numbers reveals that history couldn’t be more against the Raptors should they lose.
For a bit more context, historical relevance, and, well, to impress your friends while you watch the game (warning: early 6 PM ET tip-off on Sportsnet ONE), here are some of the most interesting (and, potentially for Raptors fans, worrying) stats brought to you by the Sportsnet stats department (@SNstats) ahead of Thursday’s Game 2:
Series stats
• Teams that have won the first game of a seven-game series go on to advance 76.6 per cent of the time — however, those that won the first game on the road, as Cleveland did on Tuesday, have gone on to advance just 52.6 per cent of the time.
• The Cavaliers are 9-2 against the Raptors in the post-season, and the tale of the tape doesn’t tell a pretty story for Toronto:
Raptors stats
• The Raptors did not lose consecutive games at home during the regular season. That’s right, it happened a total of zero times. The last time Toronto lost two straight at home? The 2017 playoffs versus Cleveland.
• Toronto has won four straight Game 2’s at home and are 6-1 in franchise history. They have never won a series when trailing 2-0 after the first two games, which has happened six times.
• With an average of 48.9 points in the paint per game, the Raptors rank second among teams remaining in the post-season.
• After allowing 11.6 fast-break points per game in the regular season (14th in the NBA), the Raptors are currently allowing a league-high 17.1 in the playoffs.
• The Raptors are third in the playoffs with an offensive rating of 109.9. Of all the teams that made it to the second round, the Cavaliers rank last in that category.
• The Raptors are 9-1 at home in the playoffs when hitting 10 or more three-pointers. They made nine threes in Game 1.
• In Game 2 of the first round, DeMar DeRozan scored a playoff career-high 37 points.
• DeRozan has never made a three-pointer against the Cavaliers in the post-season, with a career 0-11 mark following an 0-4 performance on Tuesday.
• Kyle Lowry is averaging the third-most assists per game (8.9) of all active players in the post-season.
• Jonas Valanciunas posted the first 20-point, 20-rebound game in Raptors playoff history on Tuesday. However, the team has lost three straight post-season games when Valanciunas scores 20 or more points.
LeBron watch
• Tonight will be LeBron James‘ 226th career playoff game, which ties him with San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker for fifth all-time. Derek Fisher tops the list with 259 post-season appearances, eight more than second-place Tim Duncan.
• Currently at 103 playoff double-doubles, should James register another double-double tonight, he’ll pass Elgin Baylor and have the 8th-most double-doubles in NBA playoff history.
• At 31.6 points per game, James averages more points in the game after playing overtime in the playoffs than anyone else in NBA history — narrowly edging Michael Jordan by 0.1 PPG.
• Dating back to 2016, James and the Cavaliers have now won seven straight playoff games versus the Toronto Raptors. Here are his stats during that span:
Cavaliers stats
• Cleveland is 18-1 in playoff series after winning the first game.
• The Cavaliers are 24-19 all-time in Game 2’s. Since LeBron’s return to Cleveland, that record is 13-2.
• Cleveland has now made at least 10 three-pointers in seven consecutive playoff games. Their 14 made three-pointers in Game 1 was their highest total in the 2018 playoffs.
• Kevin Love has scored 7 points or fewer in each of his last three road games.
• Over his last four playoff games versus the Raptors, J.R. Smith is shooting a white-hot 56.0 percent (14-for-25) from beyond the arc.
[relatedlinks]
