East Conf. Semis: Toronto Raptors vs Cleveland Cavaliers - Preview, SWOT Analysis, and Prediction

Weaknesses

Raptors

DeMar DeRozan

The Raptors' Achilles heel for the latter part of their season was their inability to execute an efficient offense during clutch situations in tight games. Their game devolved mostly into throwing the ball to Lowry or DeRozan in such times, and they paid the price for such predictability with a couple of extra Ls on their record.

Their other weakness is the lack of a top-15 player on their roster. For all their virtues, of which there are many, DeRozan and Lowry are necessarily 2 of the less flashy players to feature on All-Star rosters. While DeRozan can certainly play like an All-World player on a given day, such days are hard to come by. While facing the Beast of the East, you do need a player to give you a consistent scoring punch in the manner that LeBron provides to the Cavs

Cavaliers

The Cavaliers have seemed unable to play both ends of the floor at the same time for the length of this season. While they were a rank bad defensive team during the regular season, their offense was stellar and that helped them to a 4th-place finish in the Eastern Conference standings. Their defense came together in the playoffs, but their offense has, in turn, fallen off a cliff.

The Cavs averaged 94.9 points per game through their first-round series against the Pacers. Such a rate isn't going to cut it against the Raptors, who put up 109.2 ppg through 6 games against the Washington Wizards.

The Cavs also lack a true rim protector, and this will hurt them while playing against the likes of Valanciunas, Ibaka, Poetl, and Siakam - who're all capable offensive players.