Is the Cleveland Cavaliers-Toronto Raptors Series Already Over?

CLEVELAND — After just one game, the Eastern Conference Finals may already be decided.

The Cleveland Cavaliers destroyed the Toronto Raptors, 115-84, in the opener of their best-of-seven series Tuesday. The manner in which they performed the execution pointed toward a potential third straight Cavaliers sweep.

After dismantling the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks in the minimum eight games required to open the playoffs, the Cavs are already the only NBA team yet to lose this postseason—a streak that now looks like it could continue all the way into the NBA Finals.

We the Disadvantaged

While Cleveland enjoyed over a week off leading up to this series, Toronto had just a single day to rest following its Game 7 win over the Miami Heat.

As Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan put it, “They’ve been off their feet, and we’ve been battling for weeks.”

He’s not wrong. Coming into Game 1, Toronto had played 14 games, totaling 687 minutes. Cleveland entered with just eight games and 384 minutes. DeRozan and Kyle Lowry lead all postseason players in court time, combining for 1,075 minutes overall. The Cavs’ trio of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love needed just 874 between the three of them to advance to this point.

DeMarre Carroll says #Cavs looked like a team that has been off for nine days and said they looked like a team that just came off a series.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 18, 2016

The tread on the Cavaliers’ tires is still mighty deep, while the Raptors are beginning to run bare.

Cleveland very much looked like the fresher team—a trend that should continue throughout the series. When asked about the difference in rest, James was quick to point out the Cavs weren’t exactly on vacation.

“We didn’t rest,” James insisted. “We just didn’t have a game. Coach Lue gave us one day off; other than that, we were in the gym working. Keeping our rhythm, keeping our legs ready. We didn’t rest, we just didn’t have a game in front of cameras.”

Perhaps the only thing that can …

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