INDEPENDENCE: The Cavaliers will host the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference finals beginning Tuesday at Quicken Loans Arena after the Raptors beat the Miami Heat 116-89 in Game 7 on Sunday.
This will be the Raptors’ first appearance in the conference finals. They won two of the three regular season meetings against the Cavs, although the home team won every time. The Raptors will likely still be without center Jonas Valanciunas, who sprained his ankle in Game 3 against the Heat and missed the last four games.
Raptors coach Dwane Casey said Saturday Valanciunas was “nowhere close to being ready to play.”
The Cavs and Raptors finished the regular season as the top two teams in the East. Kyle Lowry scored a career-high 43 points against the Cavs in a late February victory at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors won 56 games during the regular season, one less than the Cavs, but have been pushed to seven games in each of their first two series.