Raptors keep pedal to metal in win over Cavaliers

Contents of the article

The Toronto Raptors continue to move forward, led by Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes.

Contents of the article

Ingram dominated the offense in Monday night's 110-99 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, while Barnes showed off his usual all-around game.

Contents of the article

Contents of the article

Ingram scored 37 points.This is his best performance since giving up 41 goals against the Raptors in February 2024. Barnes added 18 with 11 rebounds as Toronto won the season series against last year's Class East 3-0.

Cleveland was without former stars Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland, and fellow starter De'Andre Hunter, sharpshooter Sam Merrill and a couple of other regulars who had yet to miss a game but still had plenty of talent on hand. But Donovan Mitchell's failure was difficult to overcome.

Toronto starts the season 13-5 this is the best record after 18 games other than the 14–4 achieved in the 2014–15, 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons.

Contents of the article

Contents of the article

Some takeaways from a night of fans jumping at Scotiabank Arena:

HE'S A BAD PERSON

Ingram didn't look like the man who landed on his opponent's leg a few nights earlier. He also didn't look like anyone was bothered by reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley or even his old Los Angeles and New Orleans teammate Lonzo Ball, who both tried in vain to keep him under control.

Ingram shot 15 of 30 from the floor, including 5 of 11 from 3-point range, and also grabbed seven rebounds. Cleveland is 12-4 against opponents other than Toronto this year, but Ingram and Barnes were too much for them.

Ingram later said he was unimpressed with his performance the night before (14 points on just 6-for-18 shooting in a closer-than-expected win over Brooklyn) and also knew other players had to replace RJ Barrett out of the lineup.

Contents of the article

“I didn’t do much last night, so it’s time to do something,” Ingram said.

“I felt good tonight. I just threw myself in there and was in the flow of the game. I didn't feel like I was getting tired. I just kept shooting. I continued to do what the defense gave me.”

SOMETHING IS MISSING

WITH Barrett misses his first game of the seasonToronto had to adapt to the shooting guard role. Ja'Coby Walter started after two strong games on Toronto's bench. He was quiet offensively but effective on the other end, helping contain Mitchell.

Toronto will also need more from Grady Dick with Barrett out for at least a few games, but Dick, who played well, was as invisible as he has been all season, giving up five shot attempts without a point.

Contents of the article

Ochai Agbaji made an impressive dunk, but otherwise didn't stand out.

The Raptors turned to Jamison Battle, arguably the best shooter on the team and a player who was arguably better on the court than most other players at the position, early in the fourth quarter. Cleveland, intimidated by Battle's shooting ability, closed out on him too aggressively, resulting in three free throws almost immediately after he entered.

Toronto's offense prevented Barrett from running the floor and finishing. Barrett scored 1.63 points per possession this year, fourth-best in the NBA, and made free throws on 25% of his shots, the same percentage as fellow Canadian and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Contents of the article

AIDS CAUGHT IN THE WEB OF RAPTORS

Cavaliers superstar Donovan Mitchell is an extremely dangerous scorer and creator, but he only had half of that equation on Monday.

Toronto focused its defense on the star and league leader in three-point attempts, and while his eight assists were good, Mitchell started the game just 3 of 14 from the field, including 1 of 7 on three-point attempts.

But Mitchell rallied and hit two straight triples after the Cavaliers trailed by 10 in the fourth to keep the game alive. But that was all over for visitors.

“This type of player, this level of player, it’s really difficult to contain him,” Rajakovic said. “I think as a team we did a really good job. It was Ja'Kobe. It was Jamal. It was Ochai. There were several players there. I think we did a really good job on Mobley. Scotty did a really good job against him. And then in the fourth quarter, with the game on the line, Scotty just turns into a monster, getting all the stops, deflections, rebounds and points. He has done an outstanding job for us,” Rajakovic said of his superstar.

Contents of the article

TURNOVER

It felt like every time the Raptors got ready to take control of the game, they had one hand tied behind their back. Turnovers were a constant problem.

For most of the contest, Cleveland outscored Toronto by double digits, coming off turnovers. One way Toronto tried to solve the problem was to simply give the ball to Ingram and get out of the way. Ingram often made it work, most often with beautiful turnaround jump shots.

Over the last three games, Quickley has committed just two turnovers, but he had that many in just three quarters on Monday.

Ingram had four turnovers in the first three quarters.

However, as the third quarter progressed, the offense stabilized and Toronto settled down, committing just one turnover in the final six minutes of the quarter to take an 88-76 lead.

While Ingram and Barnes committed four turnovers each, point guards Quickley and Sheed were once again very attentive to the ball. They made a total of 14 assists but lost just three. In the second half, they had five such turnovers without a single turnover.

On X: @WolstatSun

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play video

Contents of the article