TORONTO – The Toronto Raptors are well aware that they need to search out a option to play a consistent 48 minutes and hold on to leads against the NBA’s best teams.
The one query is: how?
“I believe we’ve got to be higher at communicating when we’ve got the momentum to maintain the momentum, not getting so caught up into being up 10 by the fourth quarter, actually just pushing even harder after we get those leads like that,” said all-star Brandon Ingram on Friday after stepping off the court at OVO Athletic Centre, the Raptors’ practice facility. “I believe it falls on all of us.
“We now have to have communication at the moment to have a push, one other push, until the sport is over.”
The Raptors led by as many as 10 points on Tuesday night in a 116-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The subsequent night, Toronto led the San Antonio Spurs by as many as 15 points and had a 12-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Those losses dropped the Raptors to 4-15 against the league’s top 10 teams with three of those wins against the Cleveland Cavaliers before they acquired 11-time all-star James Harden in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 4.
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Ingram said that consistency was the main focus of Toronto’s practice on Friday.
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“We went over the things that we could do slightly bit higher, a few of the lapses that we had through the games, in each games, on the defensive side of the ball, screen and roll,” said Ingram. “We just had a number of miscommunications that would have helped us out, a few of our fourth quarter execution, just trying to choose a pace up within the fourth quarter and never decelerate as much.”
The loss to San Antonio was the fifth time this season that Toronto had lost after holding a double-digit lead, probably the most within the NBA. Head coach Darko Rajakovic said that it wasn’t possible to stop blowing leads, that it’s not a switch that will be flipped.
“We also had a bunch of games that we were down 10, 15 and we got here back and won the sport,” said Rajakovic. “So is the recipe to be 15 points down so we are able to get back in the sport and win? Possibly there’s the answer, right?
“It really comes right down to execution of each play.”
Rajakovic also pointed to 2 injuries on Wednesday that limited the Raptors’ ability to shut out against the Spurs.
Rookie centre Collin Murray-Boyles, who had been tasked with defending San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama, left the sport early after he aggravated a sprained left thumb. All-star Scottie Barnes, who suffered a right quad contusion against OKC, was struggling to walk by the fourth quarter against San Antonio.
Murray-Boyles rested on Friday but Barnes went through the entire practice.
Toronto (34-25) continues to be in a playoff position, sitting in fifth within the Eastern Conference, a game ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers (33-26). Ingram said that although he was disillusioned within the back-to-back losses, “it felt good” to check his team’s mettle against the Western Conference’s two best teams.
“The thing that I like about this group is the resiliency,” said Ingram, noting that Toronto was down by 25 to OKC but battled back. “We had a likelihood to shift the momentum, but we made a pair mistakes that we are able to learn from.
“I’m just pleased to be in those games, having the ability to return to the film and learn and see what we are able to do higher for the following game.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press