{"id":714530,"date":"2026-04-20T10:55:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T10:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/714530\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T10:55:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T10:55:06","slug":"cavs-vs-raptors-predictions-who-wins-game-2-of-nba-playoff-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/714530\/","title":{"rendered":"Cavs vs Raptors predictions. Who wins Game 2 of NBA playoff series?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note: Here is how Game 1 of the Cavaliers-Toronto Raptors series unfolded through our live updates<\/a><\/p>\n

CLEVELAND \u2014\u00a0The Cavaliers<\/a> routed the Toronto Raptors<\/a> 126-113<\/a> in Game 1 of their first-round NBA playoff series and take a 1-0 series lead<\/a> into Game 2 at 7 p.m. Monday, April 20, at Rocket Arena.<\/p>\n

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Will the fourth-seeded Cavs<\/a> seize control of the best-of-seven series before it crosses the U.S.-Canada border, or will the fifth-seeded Raptors<\/a> rebound to tie the Eastern Conference matchup 1-1?<\/p>\n

Cavs playoffs: Cavaliers vs. Raptors Game 1 recap, instant reactions<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are Game 2 predictions from Beacon Journal writers Nate Ulrich and Ryan Lewis:<\/p>\n

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Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors NBA playoffs Game 1 photos<\/p>\n

Apr 18, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) warms up before game one of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs against the Toronto Raptors at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors NBA playoffs Game 1 photos<\/p>\n

Apr 18, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) warms up before game one of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs against the Toronto Raptors at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors NBA playoffs Game 1 photos<\/p>\n

Apr 18, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram (3) warms up before game one of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors NBA playoffs Game 1 photos<\/p>\n

Apr 18, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; A detail of the court signed by
\nCleveland Cavaliers employees before game one of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs against the Toronto Raptors at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors NBA playoffs Game 1 photos<\/p>\n

Apr 18, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; A general view of t-shirts given to fans
\nbefore game one between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Cavs vs. Raptors predictions for Game 2 of NBA playoff series<\/p>\n

Ulrich: The playoffs call for a series of adjustments, so it will be interesting to see how the Raptors attempt to counter the Cavs after Cleveland thoroughly dominated Game 1. The Cavs shot 55% (44 of 80) from the field and 50% on 3-pointers (16 of 32). Their potent offense helped keep the Raptors’ famous transition attack at bay. Toronto finished the regular season as the NBA’s leader in fast-break points (18.9 average) but outscored Cleveland just 3-2 in the same statistical category in Game 1. All of this raises a key question: Can the Raptors stop the Cavs to get themselves going? After seeing Game 1, the guess here is not frequently enough. Cavs 123, Raptors 118<\/p>\n

Cavaliers<\/a> news: Cavs forward Evan Mobley has plenty to prove in 2026 NBA playoffs<\/a><\/p>\n

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Apr 18, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett (9) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jaylon Tyson (20) during the second half of game one in the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Lewis: The Cavs did a fantastic job slowing down the Raptors’ league-best transition offense in Game 1, while Dean Wade<\/a> did well to limit Brandon Ingram<\/a>‘s impact. The Raptors can be expected to make some significant adjustments before Game 2, though. Donovan Mitchell<\/a> and James Harden<\/a> aced their first playoff test while in the same backcourt. Everything went to plan, and the Raptors will have to show that they can knock Cleveland off its intended path moving forward. There’s also something to be said about how the Cavs have played their best basketball when Jarrett Allen<\/a> and Evan Mobley have both been healthy; they just didn’t have much overlap in the regular season. Cavs 116, Raptors 111<\/p>\n

Our predictions for the series can be found here<\/a>. As for Game 1<\/a>, Lewis was right, and Ulrich was dead wrong.<\/p>\n

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The Akron Beacon\u00a0Journal\u00a0sports department can be contacted via email at bjsports@thebeaconjournal.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Cavaliers vs Toronto Raptors predictions for Game 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor’s note: Here is how Game 1 of the Cavaliers-Toronto Raptors series unfolded through our live updates CLEVELAND…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,4441,136,305,5759,864,576,560,1178,6,11,476],"class_list":{"0":"post-714530","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-playoffs","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brandon-ingram","10":"tag-cavs","11":"tag-cleveland","12":"tag-dean-wade","13":"tag-donovan-mitchell","14":"tag-evan-mobley","15":"tag-james-harden","16":"tag-jarrett-allen","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-nba-playoffs","19":"tag-toronto-raptors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116436674705953250","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=714530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}