Kenny Atkinson shared some high praise for his team’s first-round opponent on Tuesday.
“Toronto, we know, that’s no picnic; they low-key dominated us in the games we played them this year,” Atkinson said. “A lot of respect, it’s great, Toronto’s a great basketball city, great challenge for us, really good team.”
The Raptors swept the Cavaliers 3-0 in their regular-season series. Winning by scores of 112-101, 126-113 and 110-99.
Toronto limited Cleveland’s offence to earn the victories. It held the Cavaliers to 42.2 per cent shooting and just 28.1 per cent from deep in the three games. Both are down from their regular-season averages of 48.2 per cent from the field and 36 per cent from three.
“Transition defence is the first, their speed and then they turn you over,” Atkinson said.
The Raptors forced the Cavaliers into 38 turnovers in their matchups.
Toronto’s leading scorer, Brandon Ingram, was also effective against Cleveland during the regular season. He averaged 22.7 points on 45 per cent shooting against the Cavaliers and exploded for 37 points in the final meeting.
“Brandon Ingram is a high-level player, high-level scorer, but they’ve done it as a group this year,” Atkinson said. “So a lot of respect for what they’ve done, I think they deserve to be where they are. This is gonna be a big challenge for us, that’s what I think.”
The Cavaliers and Raptors begin their first-round series on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT.