LeBron James on Raptors: 'They're the No. 1 Team in the East for a Reason'

Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James heaped praise on the top-seeded Toronto Raptors before the start of their second-round playoff series on Tuesday. 

According to ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin, LeBron said Toronto earned its status as the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference:

"I don't know about previous years and things of that nature. I worry about this present Raptors team that we're facing, and they're the No. 1 team in the East for a reason. They are well balanced. The head of the snake is DeMar [DeRozan] and Kyle [Lowry], but they've added some pieces this year that has helped this team be more complete. And obviously their bench is extremely well balanced. They come in and play with the same aggression and the same focus and the same confidence as the first unit."

This marks the third consecutive year that the Cavs and Raptors are meeting in the playoffs. Cleveland advanced past Toronto in both 2016 and 2017.

Playoff success has been difficult for Toronto to come by throughout its existence as an NBA franchise, but James expressed his belief that the 2017-18 Raptors represent a departure from the norm: "They're a more well-balanced team this year and they showed it in their record, they showed it in their ability to win games and they showed why they're the No. 1 team in the East. So, I don't know, I'm not comparing. Let's just talk about this year."

While the Cavs had an up-and-down regular season that only resulted in securing the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, they played well against the Raptors.

Cleveland won the season series 2-1, but the loss came prior to the sweeping changes it made at the trade deadline, and both wins came after the roster transformation.

At 59-23, the Raptors beat out the Boston Celtics for the No. 1 seed by four games and posted the best record in franchise history.

Both DeRozan and Lowry had All-Star seasons, while Jonas Valanciunas, Serge Ibaka, C.J. Miles, Fred VanVleet, Delon Wright, Jakob Poeltl and OG Anunoby were all major contributors as well.

Toronto may be the deepest team in the NBA, while perhaps no team relies more heavily on one player than the Cavs.

That was on full display in the first round of the playoffs when Cleveland needed every bit of the 34.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and 7.7 assists James averaged en route to eliminating the Indiana Pacers in seven games.

Cleveland is in search of its fourth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, and knocking off the top-seeded Raptors would move it one step closer to that goal in what is currently a wide-open Eastern Conference.