{"id":711410,"date":"2026-04-16T00:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T00:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/711410\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T00:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T00:10:10","slug":"why-raptors-cant-afford-to-be-without-immanuel-quickley-in-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/711410\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Raptors can’t afford to be without Immanuel Quickley in playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Raptors still don\u2019t know if starting point guard Immanuel Quickley<\/a> will be available when the playoffs start Saturday in Cleveland.<\/p>\n

Things are at least trending in the right direction, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing well. He participated in individual workouts,\u201d Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said in the first update Sunday night, after Quickley had left the season finale against Brooklyn early.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did not take part in the team practice. He\u2019s going to be day to day at this point,\u201d Rajakovic added.<\/p>\n

The team had said that following a Sunday MRI that revealed a hamstring strain. Earlier, Quickley had been battling through plantar fasciitis, a foot ailment that had him in and out of the lineup lately.<\/p>\n

Toronto needs Quickley to play to have a chance against the Cavaliers. While his backup Jamal Shead fared better than most against superstar guard Donovan Mitchell, Quickley has been called Toronto\u2019s best on-ball defender this season by Rajakovic and is definitely the team\u2019s premier pull-up jump shooter and one of its top overall shooting threats. He can also run the team, is good on the fast break, where Toronto excels and is a strong screener who moves well off the ball.<\/p>\n

The hope is that five days off will be enough to get Quickley in the lineup.<\/p>\n

FULL OF CONFIDENCE<\/p>\n

Pundits and most media members aren\u2019t giving the Raptors much of a chance against the Cavaliers<\/a>, even though Cleveland finished only one spot and six wins ahead in the standings. The Raptors aren\u2019t paying that any mind, at least publicly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never cared. We never cared at all, honestly. We just know who we are,\u201d said RJ Barrett, who is playing in his third career fourth-versus-fifth-seed series, having split his first two. \u201cWe come in, we fight together every day, and whatever anybody else has to say, we really don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scottie Barnes was even more blunt: \u201cThat s\u2014 don\u2019t matter,\u201d Barnes said of being labelled underdogs heading in.<\/p>\n

The Raptors could be motivated by perceived slights and it also might help them that all of the pressure seems to be on Cleveland. While Mitchell is one of a small handful of players with three 50-point playoff games under his belt and is a perennial MVP candidate, he\u2019s only 5-7 in playoff series, including 0-4 in the second round with only one of those series being close. The Cavs were the top seed in the Eastern Conference a year ago but fell in Round 2 to No. 4 Indiana. They were outclassed two years ago by Boston and\u00a0 they lost to Barrett, Quickley and the Knicks as favourites the year before that. Adding Harden, an all-time playoff underachiever (15-15 series record) was a bold move geared at finally getting them over the hump.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll see how that goes.<\/p>\n

LET\u2019S GET PHYSICAL<\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see how physical the referees allow both teams to play. Rajakovic said Toronto has prided itself on how hard and physical it play, a formula that saw the team finish fifth overall defensively. Only five teams commit more fouls per game (26 commit more than Cleveland) and if they are allowed to continue playing that brand of basketball it will bode well for them.<\/p>\n

Is that possible against Mitchell and Harden, two of the best ever at earning trips to the free throw line? The duo combined to draw nearly 10 fouls per game, were amongst the leaders in free throw attempts and even Jarrett Allen draws fouls at a high rate too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in the playoffs. It\u2019s a man\u2019s game. It\u2019s gonna be a physical game on both ends of the floor,\u201d Rajakovic said when asked by the Toronto Sun if they could stick to their defensive principles against the Mitchell\/Harden combination.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike anything else, we\u2019ll have to adjust to the certain things that are happening on the court. Is that referees? Is that tendencies of those players? It\u2019s not just Game 1. It\u2019s one game at a time. It\u2019s us getting better at all of those details,\u201d the coach said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m confident in our habits. I\u2019m confident in the style of play we\u2019re doing,\u201d he added. \u201cI never think in terms of let\u2019s do this in the regular season and let\u2019s change for the playoffs. Since Day 1 of the regular season, we\u2019re trying to install habits that I believe can help us in the playoffs. Everything we\u2019re doing is with a vision of winning a championship. The habits we\u2019re creating, the culture we\u2019re creating, everything is building towards that. I don\u2019t think we have to be any different than the regular season. We just have to be consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harden won a game at Toronto this season while still with the Los Angeles Clippers this year despite shooting 37%. The year before he shot 35% and still scored 25. In 2024 it was 29% shooting but still 24 points and a win. Even when he\u2019s off, Harden puts points on the board. He\u2019s ninth all-time in points per game against Toronto and 13th in assists per game.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Mitchell shot his lowest field goal percentage against any opponent this season against Toronto. That doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019ll stay quiet.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a tough matchup. He\u2019s an outstanding player,\u201d Rajakovic said of Mitchell. \u201cHe\u2019s a playmaker. He\u2019s a scorer. He can shoot off the dribble. He can get to the free-throw line a lot. He has a complete game. The main thing for Donovan Mitchell is understanding his tendencies and trying to limit his tendencies as much as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

We haven\u2019t even talked about Cleveland boasting a good interior scorer in Allen or an improved offensive talent in Evan Mobley, who was the NBA\u2019s defensive player of the year last season.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s probably a reason Cleveland is heavily favoured, even if the Raptors aren\u2019t buying it.<\/p>\n

On X: @WolstatSun<\/a><\/p>\n

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