INDEPENDENCE: Center Jonas Valanciunas will not play in Game 1 and is doubtful for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Cavaliers, Raptors coach Dwane Casey said Monday.
Casey sounded pessimistic about Valanciunas’ availability at any point in the series but isn’t ready to rule him out beyond the first two games.
“I don’t foresee it but I’m not committing to it,” Casey said of Valanciunas’ availability. “Just going to see how his body reacts and comes through rehab. I don’t see it in Game 1 and it’s going to be very difficult for Game 2. But to cancel him out for the entire series, I don’t know.”
Valanciunas sprained his right ankle in Game 3 of the conference semifinals and missed the remainder of the Raptors’ series against the Heat. He has not yet returned to basketball activities.
“We’re not going to jeopardize further hurting his ankle,” Casey said. “He’s a little ways away from getting out there and contributing in a playoff game.”
Valanciunas is the 7-foot anchor to a Raptors defense that focuses on limiting opponents’ interior looks first. He was averaging 15 points and 12.1 rebounds in the postseason and has been replaced by Bismack Biyombo, who scored 17 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in the Raptors’ Game 7 win against the Heat. Biyombo is playing arguably the best basketball of his career following four relatively disappointing seasons with the Charlotte Hornets.
“He found a home, having a chance to play some consistent minutes and Coach Casey has done a good job with him,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said of Biyombo. “Giving him confidence, telling him his role, he’s knowing his role and he’s playing to the best of his ability.”
High praise
Casey during the regular season called LeBron James the best player in the league, and he reiterated it multiple times on Monday. While Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry became the first unanimous choice as Most Valuable Player, Casey indicated he would’ve voted for James.
“In my heart I feel like LeBron James is the best player in the NBA right now,” Casey said. “They didn’t ask me for my vote so I didn’t give it to them. What he brings to the team, some of it you can’t even quantify.”
Casey’s high praise could be seen as damage control after Kyle Lowry’s postgame comments Sunday when he told ABC James was “probably one of the best players in the league, besides Steph.”
Casey, however, dismissed the idea Lowry was slighting James and said his star guard was referring to Curry winning the MVP award.
“Whoever is making a big deal about that has nothing else to write about,” Casey said. “There’s nothing but respect in our locker room and our organization for LeBron James. Anybody that thinks anything different or is trying to make anything out of that has nothing else to write about or tweet about or whatever they’re doing. The respect that we have for him and the respect I know I have for him and our staff has for him is unprecedented.”
Star point guards
All four remaining teams are guided by All-Star point guards. Both Lowry and Kyrie Irving have made two All-Star teams, Curry has made three and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook is a five-time All-Star.
James believes that isn’t a coincidence.
“It’s no surprise at all. It’s probably the best four point guards we have in our league, obviously outside of Chris Paul,” James said. “Lowry, Steph, Russ and Ky — I’ll take those four guys.”
Fighting chance?
The Raptors enter Game 1 as double-digit underdogs and no one is giving them much of a chance to win this series, prompting Casey to be asked Monday if he thought they could beat the Cavs.
“Every time you walk on the floor you’ve got to give yourself a chance,” Casey said. “Nobody is going to favor us going into this series. Everybody has not expected us to do as much all year long and this series is not going to be any different. The only people who are going to believe … are the people in our locker room and the guys on the floor.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.