TORONTO – When the Toronto Raptors had their morning shootaround at OVO Athletic Centre they spoke about how hungry they were to make it a series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
That desire paid off with easily their best game of the 2026 playoffs.
Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and Collin Murray-Boyles all reached recent playoff highs as Toronto routed Cleveland 126-104 on Thursday in Game 3 of their first-round NBA series. The Cavaliers still hold a 2-1 lead within the best-of-seven series.
“We were going to do whatever it takes,” said Barnes, who had a double-double. “We knew we would have liked everybody for this win. You’ve seen some big performances from everybody.
“It just goes to indicate how resilient we’re, how badly we wanted it, going on the market and attempting to do whatever it took.”
Barnes scored a profession playoff high 33 points, including 13 within the third quarter, adding 11 assists and five rebounds in a masterful performance on each ends of the court.
“We’ve got so much more. We’ve got to maintain making adjustments, return and watch the film, see what we will improve at. We’ve got a lot we will improve at. We’ve got a protracted solution to go.”
Barrett, from Mississauga, Ont., also hit a profession playoff high with 33 points, adding five rebounds and five assists. He went 6 for 8 from three-point range.
Related Videos
“I believe an evening like tonight was good to offer us some confidence and just show that we’re here, we’re on this series,” said Barrett. “Once we played how we did today, everybody together, everybody playing hard, locked in on the sport plan, we will make some noise.”
Murray-Boyles had 22 points, probably the most ever by a Raptors rookie in a playoff game. He pulled down eight boards in his first post-season appearance at Scotiabank Arena, with a steal and a block.
Get every day National news
Get every day Canada news delivered to your inbox so you may never miss the day’s top stories.
Toronto forced 22 turnovers for 23 points. Five of those turnovers happened within the 28 minutes that Murray-Boyles was on the court as he finished the sport with a plus-21 defensive rating.
“I’ve been attempting to get more aggressive,” said Murray-Boyles. “We’ve been working on it, just attacking their bigs once they’re sagging off. Just attempt to take up that space as much as possible, to limit their rim protection.”
Barrett and Barnes’s high-scoring performances were needed as Toronto’s other starters struggled.
All-star forward Brandon Ingram managed 12 points as his scoring touch eluded him for an additional game. Centre Jakob Poeltl had eight points and 6 rebounds and Ja’Kobe Walter, inserted into the lineup two hours before tipoff for the ailing Immanuel Quickley, had no points but two rebounds.
Quickley was held out for the third consecutive game as he recovers from a strained right hamstring.
Murray-Boyles said that even though it was a dominant Raptors win, it wasn’t a whole game.
“We’ve just been trying to search out a game plan on the way to make it easier for us and make it harder for them. We did a bit of little bit of that tonight,” he said. “Loads of things we have now to repair, numerous hiccups, but it is a really good game.
“Lot of film to observe. See what we did right, what we’d like to work on.”
James Harden led the Cavaliers with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Reserve swingman Max Strus had 15 points on 4 three-pointers and Evan Mobley had 15 points, seven assists and 6 rebounds.
“We didn’t expect to win 16 games in a row,” said Harden. “The fellows are frustrated. I get it, we’re imagined to be.
“Discover a solution to weather the storm, figure it out and be higher for Game 4.”
The series continues on Sunday afternoon at Scotiabank Arena, with Game 5 scheduled for Wednesday at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena.
Barnes hit a 16-foot jump shot as time expired within the third for an 83-81 lead. It was his thirty first point of the sport, having already surpassed his playoff high earlier within the quarter.
It was Murray-Boyles’s period, nonetheless. He had six points, three rebounds, a block and a steal in a bit of over six minutes of play time.
Barrett drilled a 23-foot three-pointer with 5:41 left in the sport to cap a tidy 7-3 run that put the Raptors ahead by 11, their biggest lead of the sport to that time. Barrett skipped to centre court, flexing, as Cleveland called a timeout to regroup.
The Cavaliers’ timeout didn’t slow the Raptors’ momentum, as they reeled off an 8-2 run when play resumed for a 17-point lead.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press