Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers (-10.5, 199)

Series tied 2-2

The Cleveland Cavaliers are suddenly locked in a fierce battle within the Eastern Conference finals after once being in position to roll over the Toronto Raptors. Two victories by Toronto changed the complexion of the now-tied series, and this can be a best-of-three competition when the series returns to Cleveland for Wednesday's Game 5.

The Raptors lost the primary two games in Cleveland by an ordinary of 25 points but they ignored the opinions of individuals saying they'd be swept to post two impressive victories. "We've been twiddling with our backs against the wall," Toronto shooting guard DeMar DeRozan said at a press conference after scoring 32 points in Monday's 105-99 victory. "We never cared what anybody else thought. It was a challenge for us each day. We've been counted out and we love that challenge." Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue didn't play ineffective power forward Kevin Love within the fourth quarter for the second one consecutive contest but pinpointed his team's mistakes because the biggest think about the sport 4 loss. "We came up short," Lue said in his postgame press conference. "We had a couple of defensive breakdowns that you simply can't have down the stretch of a game, especially within the playoffs, and so they executed on every occasion we made a mistake."

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

LINE HISTORY: The Cavaliers opened as 10-point home favorites against the Raptors for Game 5. The road was bumped up a half point early Tuesday morning to -10.5, that is where it sits on the time of publication of this preview. The entire opened at 198 and was bumped as much as 199 similtaneously the spread was moved. Take a look at the entire line history here.

MATCHUP CHART:

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (66-34, 52-48 ATS, 49-50-1 O/U): Getting a combined 67 points on 28-of-43 shooting from point guard Kyle Lowry (35) and DeRozan was huge for Toronto because the two All-Stars have both experienced some struggles within the postseason. "SOMETHING about us, we will be able to take the bad with the nice any day," DeRozan said. "It's life, man. You cannot get too down when things don't seem to be going your way, but you realize the work that you simply installed all summer, all within the season, for moments like this. You have to be ready." The Raptors expect center Jonas Valanciunas (ankle) to be ready for the primary time within the series to team up with defensive dynamo Bismack Biyombo, who has averaged 20 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots during the last two games.

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (67-27, 44-47-3 ATS, 47-47 O/U): Love, who tweaked his knee within the second half, averaged just 6.5 points on 5-of-23 shooting within the two games in Toronto and has no cause of his poor play. "I had a large number of great shots, I just didn't knock them down," Love told reporters. "It's so simple as that. I had numerous confidence in shooting the ball, a large number of really wide open 3's, especially to begin that first quarter. QUITE A FEW them went out and in so I just wish to continue to stick aggressive." Point guard Kyrie Irving bounced back with 26 points and suffering through a 3-of-19 shooting performance in Game 3 when he scored a series-low 13 points.

TRENDS:

* Raptors are 0-4 ATS of their last 4 road games.* Cavaliers are 5-0 ATS of their last 5 home games.* Under is 6-1 in Raptors last 7 after scoring 100 points or more of their previous game.* Over is 8-2 in Cavaliers last 10 Wednesday games.* Home team is 7-0 ATS within the last 7 meetings.

COVERS CONSENSUS: Somewhat shockingly, on the time of publication of this preview, the Raptors are picking up 59 percent of the Covers Consensus action. It kind of feels as if #WeTheNorth is getting noticed somewhat further south. As usual within the NBA Playoffs, Over is grabbing nearly all of the whole wagers at 61 percent. View full consensus data here.

HOME COURT DANCE TEAM:

Read More... [Source: Covers.com: NBA News and Stories]