How Raptors can salvage pride as playoffs shift to Toronto

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Take it to the Cavaliers, play more shooters, get Barnes to show what he can do.

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Published Apr 21, 2026 • Last updated 20 hours ago • 5 minute read

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Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden keeps the ball fron Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes during Game 2 of their NBA playoff series. AP PhotoArticle content

The Toronto Raptors aren’t going to rally to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers four times, but they can at least end the season on a less negative note.

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It shouldn’t be hard to at least do that. Game 2 on Monday was winnable, had Toronto not bobbled the ball so much and gotten more from its star scorer. Instead, Cleveland took complete control and heads north full of confidence.

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How can the Raptors salvage some pride however long this series goes?

THE INGRAM FACTOR

Brandon Ingram needs to show something at home and respond to his two dismal performances in Cleveland. Management brought Ingram in knowing a big-time shot-maker was needed for when the team returned to the playoffs. Other than 1.5 great quarters to start the series, Ingram has been a complete dud.

It’s not just that he has missed a lot of attempts he usually makes, he also hasn’t been aggressive enough, instead mostly not attacking the rim (which made Darko Rajakovic’s post-game comments ring a bit hollow — more on that later).

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Cleveland has two giant rim protectors in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, but Ingram is being locked down by unheralded Dean Wade before he can even get there. Not good enough for a player of his stature.

This isn’t all on Ingram, though. Toronto, minus injured Immanuel Quickley, has the worst offence of the playoff teams and it isn’t close, so a lot is being asked of him. He’s also as laid-back as it gets, but there’s a competitor in there, we’ve seen it in Toronto and elsewhere.

Ingram lit up the favoured Phoenix Suns while with New Orleans in his first playoff appearance. Where’s that guy? He needs to get into attack mode.

Rajakovic’s comments didn’t make sense because they insinuated that Ingram had been aggressive, but wasn’t being rewarded. That was more Scottie Barnes. Ingram has not often initiated contact.

Ingram has also been mediocre at best defensively. Playoff DeMar DeRozan comparisons are being thrown around, but DeRozan mixed in many good post-season outings with his duds.

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Brandon Ingram’s scored fewer points in two games as a Raptor than tonight, but this was his worst game as a Raptor.

— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) April 21, 2026RIDE THE YOUNGSTERS

Many called for lineup changes to start Game 2, but the Raptors didn’t listen. Jakob Poeltl was ineffective again and didn’t play after nine first-half minutes. There’s room for some Poeltl minutes, but he should come off the bench.

The most encouraging Raptors angle this series has been how good and how comfortable rookie Collin Murray-Boyles has looked. The team has been way better with him on the floor and Murray-Boyles should start.

The only argument otherwise — and we aren’t even sure about this — is if Quickley is ready to return. That’s only because Quickley has played much better this year with Poeltl setting screens for him than with anyone else (and Poeltl also tends to look a lot more effective when he’s on the court with Quickley).

Either way, we’d go with Murray-Boyles and maybe find time for a Poeltl-Quickley pairing late in the first quarter or early in the second and at some point in the third.

Ja’Kobe Walter is also playing beyond his years. The duo were great down the stretch for the Raptors in the regular season and they’re keeping that going.

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Walter should start for Jamal Shead if Quickley can’t play and, if not, should still get 30 minutes of playing time. He brings desperately needed shooting and can defend.

Toronto’s most-used three-man lineups (Ingram, Shead and Scottie Barnes or Ingram, Barnes and RJ Barrett) are getting lit up by the Cavs. Even if Walter doesn’t start, he needs to enter games earlier for either Ingram or Barrett to give the starting lineup more of a chance defensively.

BARNES NEEDS HIS MOMENT

Back at home, Barnes needs to show why the Raptors franchise has done so much to make him its face. They chose him over Pascal Siakam, moved on from OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet and sped up a rebuild believing Barnes could be a superstar. He had his best season yet, but needs a playoff moment.

Barnes has been unstoppable at times in the second half of both games when he has asserted himself. Give him the ball and let him attack.

We’d like to see Barnes surrounded by shooters (like Walter, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Ingram, with Murray-Boyles as a safety valve inside) because it’s a formula that has worked. Even Poeltl should be more useful in this sort of lineup.

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Defensively, Barnes should be commended for finishing with the fifth-most defensive player of the year votes. All season long he was superb on that end, only unanimous winner Victor Wembanyama had more combined blocks and steals, and Barnes might have led all in highlight-reel blocks, particularly in the clutch, but he didn’t register a block or a steal in Game 1. He had two steals and a block in Game 2, but Barnes has more to show.

Turnovers, awful Brandon Ingram performance put Raptors in 0-2 playoff hole vs. Cavs

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TO SWITCH OR NOT TO SWITCH

There has been much debate about Toronto’s defensive gameplan. TSN analysts and former head coaches Sam Mitchell and Leo Rautins said on the broadcast the team was switching way too much. They didn’t note that the team tried to switch less frequently in Game 1 and got torched, but there was still validity in the argument.

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James Harden and Donovan Mitchell are pick-and-roll maestros who seek out and exploit mismatches, expertly finding the right play to make far more often than not.

If the Raptors fought through screens harder or hedged back a bit more, daring Harden to shoot (it won’t work against Mitchell, who is a far more consistent shooter and wants to shoot more than he wants to pass) would they find more success?

Cleveland also targeted Ingram and sometimes Barrett (who had an excellent game overall) and went at them 1-on-1. How do you counter that?

We still would like to see Ingram trying to guard Mobley and daring Cleveland to play through the big man instead of letting Mitchell and Harden dominate.

@WolstatSun

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How Raptors can salvage pride as playoffs shift to Toronto

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