The Dark Horse Battle of the East
Last season's Eastern Conference dark horse was the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks, so who is the Eastern Dark Horse this season? I believe many fans will choose cleveland cavaliers and Toronto Raptors. The two former championship teams, after the departure of the star, fell to the ranks of the fish belly, but this season, the two teams have risen, the Cavaliers are in the first place in the East, the Raptors are in the seventh place in the East, and the two teams are only one win apart.
The Cavaliers have the best interior height in the league, but this game, Allen was sidelined due to injury, and even so, they had Love and Markkanen and Mobley. As for the Raptors, it is the depth of the forward line that is the envy of the whole league, and Anunoby is back, plus the combination of Siakam and Barnes, which can provide great help to the team.
Sika carried the team
Luck came to the starting lineup this game, but the team's opening feel was very bad, Garland shot 1 of 5, only 3 points, 1 rebound and 4 assists, Markkanen 5 points and 1 rebound, the team only got 17 points in a single quarter, Siakam had 12 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist on 4-of-6 shooting, leading the Raptors to a successful 8-point lead. After returning from the second quarter, the Cavaliers gradually regained their touch, Markkanen had 9 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist on 3-of-3 shooting, Stevens also had 7 points and 1 steal, and the team exploded for 31 points in a single quarter.
But even so, the point difference is still widening. Boucher on the Raptors bench had 11 points, 1 rebound and 2 steals, and Anunoby hit 2 three-pointers and also scored 8 points, leading the Cavaliers by 10 points at halftime. In the second half, Love had 7 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist on 3-of-3 shooting, Garland had 9 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, the Cavaliers scored 27 points in a single quarter, and the Raptors only scored 25 points, including Siakam 11 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. So, at the end of the third quarter, the gap was narrowed by the Cavaliers to 8 points.
In the final quarter of the game, the Raptors did not give the Cavaliers any chance, always maintaining a double-digit lead. VanVleet had 7 points, 1 assist and 1 block on 3-of-4 shooting, Boucher also had 6 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal, and Siakam was 10 points and 1 assist with five fouls, killing the game with a three-pointer in the final moment. In the end, the Toronto Raptors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-104, and the two teams were tied.
Not worthy of being an All-Star?
Although the two teams drew and the Raptors won the game again, they could only rank seventh in the East because the Cavaliers had laughed to the end of the previous three encounters. However, the Raptors at this time, and the previous Raptors, are not a team at all, so the battle of the dark horses in the East, in the final analysis, is still the Cavaliers lost. Siakam continued to evolve, shooting 6-of-7 from three-point range in this game, with 35 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, and it is worth mentioning that this season, Siakam did not enter the All-Star.
In this game, two players were selected as All-Stars, the Raptors' VanVleet, who had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists on 4-of-9 shooting, and Garlanders' 18-of-7 shooting was 18 points, 3 rebounds and 10 assists, not that these two people were not enough to qualify for the All-Star, but that they could score, and Siakam's strength was also completely ok. Markkanen had 20 points and five rebounds, Love 12 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, and Mobley had 11 points and 8 rebounds. On the Raptors side, Barnes had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Anunoby had 14 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, and Boucher had 17 points and 8 rebounds.