![\"Jalen](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0411brunson-scaled-e1775873664128.jpg\")
<\/p>\nRaptors crushed by Knicks again in potential playoff preview<\/p>\n
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Your Midday Sun<\/p>\n
Your noon-hour look at what’s happening in Toronto and beyond.<\/p>\n
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AN OLD FOE IS NEXT<\/p>\n
The Raptors have faced only 11 different teams in the playoffs, but will now run into the Cleveland Cavaliers for a fourth time.<\/p>\n
Toronto\u2019s win, along with an Atlanta loss in Miami and an Orlando collapse against a Boston team resting all of its best players, meant that instead of the most likely scenario \u2014 Toronto facing the New York Knicks for a third time \u2014\u00a0 it\u2019s another series with Cleveland.<\/p>\n
This time, there will be no LeBron James, Kyle Lowry or DeMar DeRozan, but for the third time in four meetings, the series will kick off in Ohio.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just found out with Boston beating Orlando, we\u2019re gonna be the fifth seed,\u201d said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. \u201cObviously we never set a goal of get this seed or that seed. We were just focussing on our work, focussing on the things that were in our control.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw a lot of growth from this roster. The best part of it is that we\u2019re gonna have an opportunity to play in the playoffs. As much as all of those games meant to put us in the playoffs, it\u2019s going to be an amazing experience for our team to go in the playoffs. We\u2019re just gonna take it one game as a time. Our mentality is not gonna change. We\u2019re gonna try to win one game, this next game, and see where we end up.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Toronto fell to James and Cleveland in three straight years, 2016, 2017 and 2018, before James left for the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n
The Cavs have made many changes since, including blockbuster trades for Donovan Mitchell and, this year, James Harden, as well as drafting big man Evan Mobley one pick before Toronto selected Barnes in 2021.<\/p>\n
The Raptors beat Cleveland all three times they played this season, though that was before Harden got there. While a formidable foe, this is a much better matchup on paper for the Raptors, who have been torched by Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, and have lost 13 straight to New York.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mitchell shot a season low against any opponent \u2014 34.2% \u2014 from the field in two meetings with the Raptors this season, while Harden went just 10-for-27 in his game with the Clippers against Toronto (but still dominated late to win the game).<\/p>\n
Still Barnes, Rajakovic and other Raptors cautioned Cleveland will be a handful.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAmazing team, amazing coach, they\u2019re (in fourth place) for a reason,\u201d Rajakovic said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody thinks they\u2019re one of the contenders and I agree with that. They\u2019re loaded. They made good decisions at trade deadline with James (Harden) going to that team. I think they have a lot of weapons and I think it\u2019s going to be an amazing opportunity for us. I think we\u2019re going to really improve through that series, and we\u2019re going to try to do our best to win every single game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Raptors would have finished sixth and faced New York had Atlanta beaten Miami, but the Hawks opted to rest many key players.<\/p>\n
FINISHING WITH STYLE<\/p>\n
Barnes closed out the regular season in style, picking up his ninth career triple-double. That leaves him seven behind Kyle Lowry\u2019s franchise record. It\u2019s the third for Barnes this year, tying Lowry for second-most triple-doubles in a season by a Raptor, one off the high Barnes set in 2023-24.<\/p>\n
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Barnes looked like the best player on the floor, and nobody on Brooklyn had any answers for him.<\/p>\n
That was also the case for trying to deal with Jakob Poeltl.<\/p>\n
Playing against an overmatched, under-experienced and undersized group of Nets, Toronto\u2019s centre pretty much did what he wanted on offence. The big man was a load down low, a good sign considering he\u2019d been off and on recently.<\/p>\n
Afterward he said he was thrilled to get back to the playoffs after a long absence.<\/p>\n
SHEAD THE IRON MAN<\/p>\n
When the Raptors drafted Jamal Shead out of Houston in the second round in 2024, the franchise knew it was getting a solid character player who would always give his all. Shead was the reigning NCAA defensive player of the year, the Big 12 player of the year and defensive player of the year, and the second-winningest player in Cougars history. He was also one of the most durable competitors in college basketball, setting a school record with 38 games played as a sophomore before not missing a single contest in either of the next two years.<\/p>\n
Shead played 10 more games (75) than any other Raptor last season, and this time around he suited up for all 82, two more than Barnes and Sandro Mamukelashvili. Nobody had played 82 games for Toronto since Poeltl in his rookie campaign in 2017-18. Shead becomes just the 17th of 308 all-time Raptors to achieve the feat (Morris Peterson did it four times, Alvin Williams and DeMar DeRozan twice each).<\/p>\n
Barnes and Mamukelashvili set new career highs for games played, while Ingram only played more in his rookie season. Quickley played at least 70 for only the third time in six seasons.<\/p>\n
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![\"Raptors'](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Scottie-Barnes-Raptors-April-12.jpg\")
Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, left, grabs the rebound in front of Brooklyn Nets’ Chaney Johnson on Sunday. Frank Gunn\/The Canadian PressArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.9.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tsun.svg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n![\"Cleveland](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/James-Harden-Cavaliers-April-12.jpg\")
Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden, right, drives to the basket against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green in a game on April 2. He will now face the Raptors in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Jeff Chiu\/AP file<\/p>\n![\"Scottie](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/BArnesOnline.jpg\")
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