{"id":717158,"date":"2026-04-24T13:37:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/717158\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T13:37:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:37:20","slug":"josh-lewenberg-brandon-ingram-toronto-raptors-should-be-feeling-pressure-ahead-of-must-win-game-3-against-cleveland-cavaliers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/717158\/","title":{"rendered":"Josh Lewenberg: Brandon Ingram, Toronto Raptors should be feeling pressure ahead of must-win Game 3 against Cleveland Cavaliers"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2013 With his unflappable, laid-back demeanour, it\u2019s hard to tell if Brandon Ingram<\/a> is feeling the pressure on the eve of his team\u2019s pivotal Game 3, but he absolutely should be.<\/p>\n

Some of that, and maybe a lot of it, is of his own making.<\/p>\n

The Toronto Raptors<\/a> All-Star forward and leading scorer shot 3-for-15 and was held to just seven points in Monday\u2019s 115-105 loss, as Toronto fell behind 2-0 in its first-round playoff series with the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a>. Making matters worse, it came on the heels of a Game 1 performance in which he only attempted nine shots, including just one in the second half.<\/p>\n

It became a major talking point between games, and not just in the media or among fans. Internally, figuring out how to get Ingram more looks was a focal point in film sessions and game prep. The team spoke about it at length. The player, himself, made it clear that he needed to be more involved in the offence, if not featured.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, me shooting nine shots is not going to win basketball games,\u201d he said following Saturday\u2019s series opener.<\/p>\n

Surely, there would have been pressure on him, regardless. These are the type of moments for which Ingram was acquired. It\u2019s why the Raptors gave him a $120 million contract extension. When things are going well, he\u2019s the hero. When they\u2019re not, he\u2019s always going to be under the microscope. That\u2019s just the nature of the job.<\/p>\n

But when you call your shot and don\u2019t deliver, the hot seat gets even hotter, and it\u2019s scalding going into a must-win game. In the history of the league, no team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series. If the first two games of this series are any indication, the Raptors are not going to be the first. And so, all eyes are on Ingram.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m confident that I won\u2019t miss all my shots,\u201d he said on Wednesday, with the series shifting to Toronto for Thursday\u2019s Game 3 and Sunday\u2019s Game 4. \u201cBut I\u2019m also confident in our team. I don\u2019t want to sit up here and make this about what I\u2019m doing on the basketball floor. I know when I\u2019m going the team is effective, maybe more effective, but it\u2019s a collective thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The irony, for all the talk about his nine shots, is that Ingram wasn\u2019t the biggest reason why the Raptors lost Game 1. He probably wasn\u2019t even in the top five. They lost because they were thoroughly outworked and outplayed by a more experienced and more talented team that completely controlled the pace and took them out of their comfort zone.<\/p>\n

They made significant progress in Game 2. They said they would play with more effort and more pace, and they did. They said they would look more like themselves, particularly on defence, and they did. They said they would come out with a sense of urgency. For the most part, they did. They weren\u2019t perfect \u2013 they committed 22 turnovers, many of them unforced and uncharacteristic \u2013 but they played well enough to win. That\u2019s why Ingram\u2019s rough night was so glaring. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe cares about winning so much,\u201d head coach Darko Rajakovic said. \u201cHe wants to play to his own standard. He wants to help his teammates. He wants to win. Seven days ago, he was the Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Everybody was kissing him and saying, \u2018You\u2019re the best in the world.\u2019 Now, people are trying to create narratives that are not there. He\u2019s trying really hard. He\u2019s trying to help his teammates. He did not make the shots that he usually makes, but I\u2019ll take those shots all over [again]. I have the utmost trust [in him].\u201d<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s more than just his point production and shooting numbers. Ingram was responsible for five of those 22 turnovers. At one point in the first half, he dribbled the ball off of his foot crossing halfcourt. He only grabbed four rebounds and didn\u2019t get to the free-throw line. Afterwards, Rajakovic was campaigning for the veteran star to get more calls, but he didn\u2019t play with nearly enough force or urgency to warrant that.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to imagine Ingram\u2019s first full season in Toronto going much better than it has to this point. He\u2019s stayed healthy, playing 77 games after appearing in 18 the year prior, and logged more minutes than he ever has before during his decade-long pro career. At age 28, he reestablished himself as an All-Star and one of the game\u2019s most lethal mid-range scorers, while leading the Raptors back to the playoffs for the first time in four years. In doing so, he\u2019s already proven a lot of people wrong, and nothing can take that away.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s passed every test, but this is the final exam and. like it or not, it\u2019s worth the bulk of the grade. Despite his excellent regular season \u2013 21.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 48 per cent shooting \u2013 the rough start to his first playoff series with Toronto will leave a sour taste going into the summer, unless he can turn it around.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen it so many times this year,\u201d Rajakovic said. \u201cEvery time he has a bad performance shooting-wise, he bounces back from that very quickly. We believe in BI. Our whole team believes in BI. I\u2019ll go to war and fight with that guy any day of the week.\u201d<\/p>\n

After scoring seven points on 3-of-13 shooting in an early-December loss to the Charlotte Hornets<\/a>, Ingram combined to shoot 22-for-38 in back-to-back 30-point games. He was held to nine points on 3-of-12 shooting against the Houston Rockets<\/a> in March and then followed it up with 36- and 34-point outings. Despite a late season shooting slump, his best showing of the campaign came in one of Toronto\u2019s biggest games, 38 points against the Miami Heat<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Now, he\u2019ll need to prove that he can do it on the big stage and solve a playoff defence. In 10 NBA seasons, Ingram has never won a playoff series. He\u2019s only appeared in 12 playoff games. After a strong postseason debut in 2022 \u2013 he averaged 27.0 points in a six-game series loss against the Phoenix Suns<\/a> \u2013 he\u2019s averaging 13.5 points on 34 per cent shooting over his last six playoff games, all losses. <\/p>\n

Dean Wade<\/a> and the Cavs have been physical with him. They\u2019ve used top locks to deny him the ball, made him work to get to his spots, and challenged his shots. But, with a decade of experience in the NBA, he\u2019s seen it all before and, with his elite size and skill, he should be able to overcome it.<\/p>\n

With an extra day between Games 2 and 3, he\u2019s had plenty of time to reflect. Every player has a different process for digesting disappointing games, and Ingram has taken an introspective approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough when you go back [to watch the film] and you\u2019re not doing your job,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I like to sit in disappointment for a little bit, see where I went wrong, give myself some gratitude and think about the things that went well, then get back into the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fight continues in Toronto this week, and for Ingram and the Raptors, the pressure is on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2013 With his unflappable, laid-back demeanour, it\u2019s hard to tell if Brandon Ingram is feeling the pressure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3772],"tags":[23475,7,50582,306,305,193,58725,3846,6,47315],"class_list":{"0":"post-717158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-cavaliers","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-brandon-ingram-sports-basketball-player-player-statscom-887665","11":"tag-cavaliers","12":"tag-cleveland","13":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers","14":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers-sports-basketball-team-team-statscom-5","15":"tag-clevelandcavaliers","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-toronto-raptors-sports-basketball-team-team-statscom-28"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116459958707141029","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717158","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=717158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}