Cavaliers, Raptors renew playoff rivalry beginning May 1

For the third straight postseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors are meeting in the NBA playoffs.

They’ll square off in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals beginning May 1 at Air Canada Centre. Tipoff is 8 p.m.

The Cavs bettered the Raptors in the 2017 Eastern Conference semifinals and 2016 Eastern Conference finals, both times having home-court advantage.

Toronto has the home-court advantage this time after earning the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a regular-season record of 59-23.

The Raptors prevailed over the Washington Wizards, 4-2, in their first-round playoff series.

LeBron James and the Cavs, seeded fourth in the Eastern Conference off a 50-32 finish in the regular season, finally got the better of the upstart Indiana Pacers, 4-3, in their first-round series.

In the 2017-18 regular season, the host Raptors routed the Cavs, 133-99, on Jan. 11. Seven players scored in double figures for Toronto, led by backup guard Fred VanVleet with 22 points. James topped the Cavs with 26 points.

This game featured a terrible performance by Cavs starting point guard Isaiah Thomas, who had come to the Cavs from Boston in the controversial offseason deal that saw Irving sent to the Celtics after demanding a trade.

Thomas had missed the first half of the season while recovering from hip surgery. He shot 2-of-19 from the field and appeared to be lost in the Cavs’ system. Three weeks later, Thomas was sent packing to the Los Angeles Lakers in one of the trade-deadline deals engineered by Cavs general manager Koby Altman.

The Cavaliers won the other regular-seasons games, 132-129 on March 21 and 112-106 on April 3, both at The Q.

Here are looks back at the playoff series between the teams:

2017 Eastern Conference semifinals; Cavs win series, 4-0

In Game 1 at The Q, the Cavs raced to a 30-18 lead after the first quarter and never looked back en route to a 116-105 victory. James scored a game-high 35 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Irving finished with 24 points and 10 assists. Point guard Lowry topped the Raptors with 20 points.

James was masterful again in Game 2 at The Q, potting in 39 points as the Cavs cruised to a I25-103 victory. Irving had 22 points and 11 rebounds. Channing Frye came off the bench to score 18 points as the Cavs were 18-of-33 from 3-point range. The Cavs defense smothered All-Star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan, limiting him to five points on 2-of-11 shooting.

DeRozan bounced back to score 37 points in Game 3 at Air Canada Centre, but the Cavs still overwhelmed the Raptors, 115-94. James led all scorers with 35 points. Kevin Love added 16 points and 14 rebounds.

The Cavs completed the sweep in Toronto with a 109-92 victory behind the one-two punch of James’ 35 points and Irving’s 27 points.

James averaged 36.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists in the series. Irving averaged 22.3 points and 8.5 assists

With their second straight series sweep, the Cavs upped their playoff record to 8-0 and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston. They prevailed in that series, 4-1, then were beaten by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, 4-1.

2016 Eastern Conference finals, Cavs win series, 4-2

This first playoff meeting between the franchises had enough twists and turns for a daytime TV drama.

The Cavs breezed to a 115-84 victory in Game 1 at The Q. James and Irving led a balanced attack with 27 and 24 points, respectively. The defense was stout, limiting Lowry to eight points on 4-of-14 shooting.

Game 2 at The Q, a 108-89 Cavs victory, was a showcase for the Cavs’ defense and the firepower of the “Big Three” of Irving (26 points), James (23 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) and Love (19 points).

Any thoughts of a sweep by the Cavs were dashed when the Raptors rebounded to a 99-84 victory in Game 3 at Air Canada Centre. DeRozan led all scorers with 23 points and Lowry added 20 as the Raptors shut down Irving, limiting him to 13 points on 3-of-19 shooting.

Again playing well in front of an appreciative home crowd, the Raptors won Game 4, 105-99, to even the series at two games apiece. The Cavs were shredded by Lowry and DeRozan to the tune of 35 and 32 points, respectively.

Back at The Q for Game 5, Love netted a game-high 25 points as the Cavs obliterated the Raptors, 116-78. James and Irving added 23 points apiece as the Cavs took a 3-2 lead in the series .

The Cavs returned to Canada and were even more impressive in Game 6, ending the series with a 113-97 smackdown of the Raptors. James led all scorers with 33 points, followed by Irving with 30 points and Love with 25 points.

James averaged 26.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.7 assists in the series, Irving averaged 24.2 points and 4.5 assists.

The Cavs advanced to the NBA Finals, where they overcame a 3-1 deficit in the best-of-seven series to beat the Warriors, 4-3, and claim the first title for a Cleveland professional sports team since the 1964 Browns.

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