{"id":324923,"date":"2026-04-26T18:37:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T13:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=324923"},"modified":"2026-04-26T18:37:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T13:07:16","slug":"raptors-ready-for-playoff-basketball-in-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/26\/raptors-ready-for-playoff-basketball-in-toronto\/","title":{"rendered":"Raptors ready for playoff basketball in Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>TORONTO \u2013 RJ Barrett has been waiting his whole life, all 25 years, to play post-season basketball in Toronto.<\/p>\n<p>The wait is finally over.<\/p>\n<p>Barrett, from Mississauga, Ont., will probably be within the starting lineup on Thursday night when the Raptors host the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of their playoff series. It\u2019s the primary time Toronto has been within the playoffs in 4 years, and Barrett has only been with the team since December 2023.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like just a little kid today, man,\u201d said Barrett after morning shootaround at OVO Athletic Centre. \u201cI get to go play, not only in front of all of the fans, but in front of my family and friends. I take pride in it. I\u2019ve at all times been saying, like, just being here, I would like to be on a winning team.<\/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=\"11811263\" data-displayinline-ratio=\"16:9\" data-displayinline=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/video\/embed\/playlist\/11811263,11806034,11736470,11520120,11519608,11499192,11272226,11267415,11265148,11264380\/?poster=https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fmedia.globalnews.ca%2Fvideostatic%2Fnews%2Fc81zdt175v-wa86ob7xwu%2FRAPTORSGAME2LEXYSTILL.jpg%3Fw%3D1200%26quality%3D70%26strip%3Dall#autoplay&#038;stickyiframe=miniplayer\" data-displayinline-playlist=\"11811263,11806034,11736470,11520120,11519608,11499192,11272226,11267415,11265148,11264380\" data-displayinline-sticky=\"true\" data-permutive-data='{\"content\":{\"name\":\"Raptors fans at Jurassic Park react to Game 2 loss against Cavaliers\",\"type\":\"video\",\"sections\":[\"videos\",\"toronto\",\"sports\",\"trending\"],\"keywords\":[\"cleveland-cavaliers\",\"global-news\",\"jurassic-park\",\"nba-playoffs\",\"scotiabank-arena\",\"short-clip\",\"toronto-raptors\"],\"iab\":{\"categories\":[\"Sports\/Team Sports\/Basketball\",\"News\",\"Sports\",\"News\/Sports News\",\"Sports\/Team 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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\">1:38<\/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\">Raptors fans at Jurassic Park react to Game 2 loss against Cavaliers<\/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<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>\u201cI can\u2019t walk around saying, like, \u2018I\u2019m on the Raptors, and we&#8217;ve a terrible record.\u2019 That\u2019s embarrassing, but I\u2019m excited to simply play in front of the group, the fans, family and friends.\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 daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories.\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup__content\">\n<h2 class=\"c-inlineSignup__title\">Get each day National news<\/h2>\n<p>Get each day Canada news delivered to your inbox so you will never miss the day&#8217;s top stories.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Cavaliers lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 after winning the primary two games in Cleveland. Toronto\u2019s Scotiabank Arena will even host Game 4 on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>If a Game 5 is obligatory, the series will shift back to Cleveland\u2019s Rocket Arena on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be crazy in there tonight. The atmosphere is gonna be nuts. I\u2019m excited,\u201d said Barrett of playing in Toronto. \u201cI had trouble sleeping, I used to be so excited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut this may be a terrific opportunity for us to play hard in front of our fans, and get a great win. Down two games. Get one tonight, and it\u2019s a series.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Second-year guard Jamal Shead said that the Raptors need the support of Canadian basketball fans each inside and outdoors of Scotiabank Arena.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe the message is obvious is that we&#8217;d like them,\u201d he said beside Toronto\u2019s practice court. \u201cI believe Cleveland had a great showing, but our fans are way higher.<\/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>\u201cIt\u2019s time for them to indicate it, and it\u2019s time for us to indicate that we\u2019ve got some fight in us.\u201d<\/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>The 2 teammates had differing views on home-court advantage, the concept that playing in your individual arena offers some form of competitive edge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe being in Scotia is gonna make a difference,\u201d said Shead. \u201cI believe that twiddling with our fans behind us is gonna make a very big difference for us on this game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barrett, after an extended pause, said he disagreed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMe personally. I don\u2019t care. I like being on the road, being a villain,\u201d said Barrett. \u201cFor our team, it would give us some juice, some life. Each time you might have that crowd there cheering for you, it definitely feels good.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt feels good, and particularly on this playoff environment, it\u2019s a tricky environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 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>TORONTO \u2013 RJ Barrett has been waiting his whole life, all 25 years, to play post-season basketball in Toronto. The wait is finally over. Barrett, from Mississauga, Ont., will probably be within the starting lineup on Thursday night when the Raptors host the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of their playoff series. It\u2019s the primary [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":324924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[1011,2441,3491,958,7917],"class_list":["post-324923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-basketball","tag-playoff","tag-raptors","tag-ready","tag-toronto"],"aioseo_notices":[{"message":"The permalink for this post just changed! 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