Raptors feel rested and ready for rematch with Cavaliers

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Last year, the Toronto Raptors had played through two hard-fought seven-game series before facing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA playoffs. This year, by comparison, the Raps feel a little fresher heading to Cleveland.

Winning their first-round series with the Milwaukee Bucks in six games earned the Raptors three days of preparation before opening the Eastern Conference semi-final against the Cavs on Monday at Quicken Loans Arena. That feels worlds different than what the Raptors experienced a year ago. Toronto had gone the distance with the Indiana Pacers, then also with the Miami Heat, and had to hop on a plane the next day for Cleveland with a single day to prepare for the best team in the East.

"You're looking at a new team in a different-coloured jersey in one day's time. It's not an excuse – it's what everybody goes through at some point. Boston and Washington just went through it from one series to the next in one day's time," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. "I'd rather have this than what we had last year – jumping on a plane with one day's practice and going through their personnel, their sets, their plays and what we want to do with them."

Since arriving home from Milwaukee after Thursday's victory, the team has been dissecting film of last year's playoff series and their meetings in the past two regular seasons – including this year, when Toronto dropped the season series (1-3), with all three losses being by four points or fewer. Facing the reigning NBA champs, starring LeBron James, never gets much easier, but rest and preparation helps.

"It feels a lot better [this year], I will say that. Guys' legs aren't shot. They are not tired," Toronto's Patrick Patterson said. "We actually had a few days of rest, more time to prepare our bodies and our minds and just have better schemes going in. I know guys are more comfortable this time around just because of those facts."

Cleveland and Toronto had identical 51-31 records in the regular season. Since 2014-15, the Cavaliers have gone 11-6 (including playoffs) against the Raptors – including a 6-2 home record and a 5-4 mark at the Air Canada Centre.

Toronto continues to battle the opening-game blahs in the postseason, in which the team is 1-11 in the first game of a playoff series. The Raptors' lone Game 1 victory was May 6, 2001, at Philadelphia in their second-round series against the Sixers.

This is where the Raptors will be judged, particularly after acquiring Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker at the trade deadline precisely for added muscle, physicality, rim protection and defence in the playoffs.

"I liked the fight we had to go through Milwaukee," Tucker said. "That was a different kind of series where we had to get out of our comfort zone to beat them. We had to go out and really fight and get our hands dirty, which in the past hasn't been one of the things you would say about the Raptors."

"In the same way Giannis [Antetokounmpo] was really good attacking on the break and we had to get in and fight for defensive rebounds, it's going to be the same kind of fight with Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love down there when LeBron is attacking."

Before Sunday's games, Toronto ranked first in points allowed (93.2) and sixth in opponent field-goal percentage (.415) during the 2017 playoffs. The Raptors held the Bucks to fewer than 100 points four times in their first-round series, including each of the last three games. This series will be different.

"You have to be able to score to keep up with them. It's going to be a higher-scoring series than it was against Milwaukee," Casey said. "We don't want to get in a knock-out, drag-out affair in the half-court with this team. We've got to be able to score."