Prizing:

1st Place: $25 Amazon gift card

2nd-5th Place: $10 Starbucks gift card

Overview:

On Monday, May 1st, the Toronto Raptors will be on the road to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in game one of their Eastern Conference playoff series.

The Crowd:  

“The Crowd” is projecting a final score of Cavaliers 108.6 – Raptors 101.4 with an over/under of 210.0.

Statistics (2016-17 season):

Point differential: Raptors +4.3 (5^th) > Cavaliers +3.1 (7^th)

Points per game: Cavaliers 110.3 (4^th) > Raptors 106.9 (10^th)

Points allowed per game: Raptors 102.6 (8^th) > Cavaliers 107.2 (20^th)

Field Goal Percentage Offense: Cavaliers 47.0% (5^th) > Raptors 46.4% (11^th)

Three Point Percentage: Cavaliers 38.4% (2^nd) > Raptors 36.3% (13^th)

Field Goal Percentage Defense: Raptors 44.9 (6^th) > Cavaliers 45.8% (16^th)

Turnovers committed per game: Raptors 11.8 (4^th) > Cavaliers 13.2 (tied for 15^th)

Turnovers forced per game: Raptors 14.0 (tied for 9^th) > Cavaliers 12.0 (28^th)

Rebounds per game: Cavaliers 43.8 (12^th) > Raptors 43.3 (18^th)

Assists per game: Cavaliers 22.7 (13^th) > Raptors 18.5 (30^th)

Summary:

The Cavaliers have enjoyed a week off after sweeping the Indiana Pacers while the Raptors dispatched of the Milwaukee Bucks in six games.  Cleveland is (7-3) in their last ten regular season head to head games with Toronto.  The Cavaliers knocked out the Raptors in six games in the 2016 NBA Playoffs.  Lebron James was a beast in round one against Indiana averaging 32.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 9.0 assists, and 3.0 steals per game.  Kyrie Irving (25.3 PPG) is certainly providing a secondary scoring punch but he could improve upon the 3.0 assists he is averaging for the playoffs.

For the playoffs, the Cavaliers are averaging 112.8 points per game while allowing 108.8 PPG.  The Raptors are averaging 93.8 points per game while allowing 93.2.  Demar Derozen (23.5 PPG) was able to dominate against the Bucks while Kyle Lowry (14.3 PPG) was well below his season average (22.4 PPG).  Having Jonas Valanciunas healthy this playoff series will be a major weapon for Toronto because Cleveland’s interior defense is suspect at best.  Given that the Cavaliers have had a week to rest and game-plan, I think they win by double digits at home.

Contest Rules:

To be eligible to win a prize in any contest at The Crowd’s Line, you must be at least 18 years old and a resident of the United States or Canada. You must also submit your score prediction on our official prediction tool (blog widget), and include a valid email address. Contest winners are determined according to The Crowd’s Line scoring methodology. If more than one entrant has the same winning score, final contest rankings and prize winners are selected by random draw. Only one entry per person is allowed for each contest; multiple entries from a single player will be deemed invalid. There are no prize substitutions or exchanges available from The Crowd’s Line. All contest prizes will be sent by email within 5-7 business days after the conclusion of each contest.