{"id":322106,"date":"2026-04-21T09:44:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T04:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=322106"},"modified":"2026-04-21T09:44:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T04:14:38","slug":"raptors-on-the-lookout-for-answers-after-game-1-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/21\/raptors-on-the-lookout-for-answers-after-game-1-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Raptors on the lookout for answers after Game 1 loss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>CLEVELAND \u2013 There was a brief list of things that went well for the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.<\/p>\n<p>Scottie Barnes had 21 points and 7 assists as Toronto fell to the Cavaliers 126-113 on Saturday, leading a young group of Raptors players who had limited or no NBA playoff experience. Despite that, Barnes felt they weren&#8217;t intimidated by a raucous sold-out crowd of 19,432 fans at Cleveland\u2019s Rocket Arena.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe we handled the environment and the group and what we were expecting,\u201d said Barnes, who had only reached the post-season once before. \u201cI believe we handled that pretty much. The sport didn\u2019t go the way in which we wanted it to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The list of things that went mistaken was rather a lot longer, nonetheless.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat they had loads of guys scoring at a high rate. They got some transitions,\u201d said Barnes. \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to do higher guarding the ball, attempt to activate and never allow so many easy buckets, where guys were getting easy shots, going to the rim, getting some layups and dunks.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-ad c-ad--bigbox l-article__ad c-ad--tallSticky\">\n<p>Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cImprove at that, tidy some things up. Just cut their scoring down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., led Toronto with 24 points. All-star Brandon Ingram had 17 points on nine field-goal attempts, a step down in his team-leading production within the regular season.<\/p>\n<div class=\"l-article__part\" data-shortcode=\"related_videos\">\n<div class=\"l-inlineStories l-inlineStories--video\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"l-inlineStories__title\">Related Videos<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<section id=\"miniplayer-carousel\" class=\"l-videoCarousel l-videoCarousel--embed c-carousel\" data-video-carousel-play-inline=\"true\" data-video-carousel-init=\"false\" aria-label=\"Video carousel contains 10 videos.\">\n<div class=\"l-videoCarousel__inner\">\n<div class=\"l-videoCarousel__featured\">\n<div class=\"c-video c-videoPlay \" data-iframe-receiver=\"\" data-autoplay=\"\" data-displayinline-featured=\"true\" data-displayinline-type=\"video\" data-displayinline-player-id=\"miniplayer\" data-displayinline-video-id=\"11806034\" data-displayinline-ratio=\"16:9\" data-displayinline=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/video\/embed\/playlist\/11806034,11736470,11520120,11519608,11499192,11272226,11267415,11265148,11264380,11194605\/?poster=https%3A%2F%2Fi1.wp.com%2Fmedia.globalnews.ca%2Fvideostatic%2Fnews%2Fb2wkul1jpo-ylkk0xdczi%2FGNMNHLANDNBAPLAYOFFSSTILL.jpg%3Fw%3D1200%26quality%3D70%26strip%3Dall#autoplay&#038;stickyiframe=miniplayer\" data-displayinline-playlist=\"11806034,11736470,11520120,11519608,11499192,11272226,11267415,11265148,11264380,11194605\" data-displayinline-sticky=\"true\" data-permutive-data='{\"content\":{\"name\":\"NHL, NBA playoffs kick-off this weekend\",\"type\":\"video\",\"sections\":[\"videos\",\"toronto\",\"sports\"],\"keywords\":[\"global-news-morning\",\"montreal-canadiens\",\"playoffs\",\"short-clip\",\"toronto-raptors\",\"global-news-morning-toronto\"],\"iab\":{\"categories\":[\"Sports\/Team Sports\/Basketball\",\"Sports\/College Sports\",\"Sports\",\"Sports\/Team Sports\"],\"tags\":[\"Basketball\",\"Cleveland Cavaliers\",\"Darko Rajakoviu0107\",\"Foot\",\"Hamstring\",\"Immanuel Quickley\",\"Kasparas Jakuu010dionis\",\"Miami\",\"Miami Heat\",\"National Basketball Association\",\"Plantar fasciitis\",\"Point guard\",\"Rebound (basketball)\",\"Scottie Barnes\",\"The Canadian Press\",\"Toronto\",\"Toronto Raptors\"]}}}'>\n<div class=\"c-video__inner \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__placeholder\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'NHL, NBA playoffs kick-off this weekend'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/news\/b2wkul1jpo-ylkk0xdczi\/GNMNHLANDNBAPLAYOFFSSTILL.jpg?w=1040&#038;quality=70&#038;strip=all\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"auto, \" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1040px) 1040px,(min-width: 720px) 720px,450px\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__overlay\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"c-video__duration\">4:55<\/time><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__title\">NHL, NBA playoffs kick-off this weekend<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"l-videoCarousel__glide glide \">\n<div class=\"glide__arrows c-carousel__buttons l-videoCarousel__buttons\" data-glide-el=\"controls\">\n\t<button class=\"glide__arrow glide__arrow--left c-carousel__button c-carousel__prev l-videoCarousel__button l-videoCarousel__prev c-longform-gallery__prev\" data-glide-dir=\"<\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<span class=\"sr-only\">Previous Video<\/span><br \/>\n\t<\/button><br \/>\n\t<button class=\"glide__arrow glide__arrow--right c-carousel__button c-carousel__next l-videoCarousel__button l-videoCarousel__next c-longform-gallery__next\" data-glide-dir=\">&#8220;><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<span class=\"sr-only\">Next Video<\/span><br \/>\n\t<\/button><br \/>\n\t\t<button class=\"c-carousel__goto\" data-glide-dir=\"=0\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><\/button>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t<!-- video stream item --><\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cAt the top of the day, me shooting nine shots just isn&#8217;t going to win basketball games,\u201d said Ingram, who&#8217;s appearing in his third playoff series. \u201cI\u2019ve just got to work out ways where I can still be effective while they\u2019re doing whatever defensively.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup\" data-newsletter-inline=\"\">\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup__image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"170\" height=\"225\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/themes\/shaw-globalnews\/images\/skyline\/national.jpg\" alt=\"Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won't miss a trending story.\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup__content\">\n<h2 class=\"c-inlineSignup__title\">Get breaking National news<\/h2>\n<p>Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox because it happens so you will not miss a trending story.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Ingram also noted that the Raptors faded at the top of every quarter, allowing the Cavaliers to go on runs that helped them carry the momentum over from period to period.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe we just need to be more intentional. We\u2019ve got to know that it is a game that we&#8217;ve to play the total 48 minutes,\u201d said Ingram in his post-game conference. \u201cWe have now a small margin for error, and we\u2019ve just got to are available in more focused and learn from this game.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-ad c-ad--bigbox l-article__ad c-ad--tallSticky\">\n<p>Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIn the event that they outscored us within the last three minutes, then that\u2019s the time that we got to tighten up essentially the most.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One other issue was pacing.<\/p>\n<p>Toronto\u2019s 18.9 fast-break points per game were essentially the most across all the NBA within the regular season. Against the Cavs that they had three points on one fast break.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were getting back. I feel like they were getting back,\u201d said Barnes. \u201cJust attempting to wait for us, aside from them top-blocking (Ingram), everyone else was just attempting to stay compact, stopping us from running.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic had one other explanation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur biggest problem was our 17 turnovers,\u201d said Rajakovic, who&#8217;s the primary European to educate a team all season into the playoffs. \u201cWe didn&#8217;t do  job of taking good care of the ball.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had loads of situations that we were just careless with the ball. We\u2019ve got to do a significantly better job of controlling that part.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-tabs\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t<button role=\"tab\" class=\"c-tabs__tab c-tabs__tab--active\" type=\"button\">More on Sports<\/button><br \/>\n\t\t\t<button role=\"tab\" class=\"c-tabs__tab\" type=\"button\">More videos<\/button>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Rajakovic noted that Toronto missed Immanuel Quickley, its usual place to begin guard, who was out with a light right hamstring strain.<\/p>\n<p>Quickley averaged 16.4 points, 5.9 assists and 4 rebounds over 70 games for Toronto this past season.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-ad c-ad--bigbox l-article__ad c-ad--tallSticky\">\n<p>Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Jamal Shead made his playoffs debut in Quickley\u2019s place, joining a starting five that included Barnes, Ingram, Barrett and Jakob Poeltl. Shead, who&#8217;s in his second season, began 12 regular-season games and averaged 6.6 points and 5.4 assists.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJamal did what he could on the market, just attempting to guard the ball, stay in front of it, be physical as much as he can,\u201d said Barnes, who was tasked with Barrett and Shead to try to defend Cleveland guards Donovan Mitchell and James Harden.<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell had 32 points and Harden had a double-double with 22 points and 10 assists.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously, you\u2019ve got to look at out for fouls with those guys,\u201d said Barnes. \u201cBut, (Shead) did what he could. He was attempting to be physical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shead, Ja\u2019Kobe Walter, and rookie centre Collin Murray-Boyles all played over 20 minutes apiece of their first NBA playoff games. Ingram said that inexperience needed to be taken into consideration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmotions running high,\u201d said Ingram. \u201cA few of them may not quite know what\u2019s happening, just attempting to be effective offensively and defensively.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe the sport will decelerate somewhat bit more for them next game, and I believe we\u2019ll be higher.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is in Cleveland on Monday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-ad c-ad--bigbox l-article__ad c-ad--tallSticky\">\n<p>Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2026.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\n\t\t&#038;copy 2026 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CLEVELAND \u2013 There was a brief list of things that went well for the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Scottie Barnes had 21 points and 7 assists as Toronto fell to the Cavaliers 126-113 on Saturday, leading a young group of Raptors players who had limited [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":322107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[773,585,670,3491],"class_list":["post-322106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-answers","tag-game","tag-loss","tag-raptors"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322106"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322109,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322106\/revisions\/322109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}