Cavaliers at Raptors
In the midst of a season-high six-game winning streak, the Cleveland Cavaliers have an eye on the postseason as they travel to Toronto to take on the Raptors on Friday. Cleveland had dropped six straight and eight of its last nine before its current run, which has the Cavaliers three games behind eighth-place Charlotte in the East. Point guard Jarrett Jack summed up the current state of the team plainly, telling the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, "Right now, we're playing damn good basketball."
At just 4-4 in February, Toronto can't exactly make a similar claim. After resuming play after the All-Star break with a road win over Washington, the Raptors fell at home to Chicago on Tuesday and coach Dwane Casey wants his players to use it as a learning lesson as they look toward a playoff berth. "That was a playoff game," Casey told the Toronto Star. "That's something our players have to get used to - that intensity (and) physicality."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Cleveland), TSN2 (Toronto)
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (22-23): Cleveland bolstered its lineup with the acquisition of center Spencer Hawes from the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, sending a pair of second-round draft picks, backup forward Earl Clark and reserve center Henry Sims to Philadelphia in return. Hawes has averaged 13 points and 8.5 rebounds this season for the 76ers and gives the Cavaliers an immediate fill-in for Anderson Varejao, who has missed the last four games dealing with a back injury. Jack, whose name had surfaced along with that of forward Luol Deng in trade rumors leading up to the deadline, should be relieved to be staying with Cleveland, having told reporters a day earlier, "I didn't come here in July to leave in February."
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (29-25): Toronto also made a move at the trade deadline, albeit one that was a little bit more under the radar. The Raptors acquired guard Nando de Colo from San Antonio in exchange for forward Austin Daye. De Colo has averaged 4.3 points and 1.7 rebounds in 26 games for the Spurs this season, while Daye has played sparingly for Toronto, registering a total of eight points and seven rebounds in eight appearances for the Raptors. Of Tuesday's loss to the Bulls, in which Toronto gave up 31 first-quarter points before buckling down and ultimately falling by two, Casey noted, "I do like the way we fought back but that's not a way to live in the NBA.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Raptors topped Cleveland in Toronto 100-96 on March 10 but had lost the previous two games as the home team in the series.
2. The Cavaliers are averaging over 103 points per game in February and have topped the century mark in four of the six games of its current winning streak.
3. Raptors C Jonas Valanciunas has scored less than 10 points in three of the last four games and notched just two against Chicago Tuesday.