{"id":326097,"date":"2026-04-29T03:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T22:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=326097"},"modified":"2026-04-29T03:41:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T22:11:11","slug":"raptors-look-to-hold-momentum-into-cleveland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/raptors-look-to-hold-momentum-into-cleveland\/","title":{"rendered":"Raptors look to hold momentum into Cleveland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>TORONTO \u2013 Jamal Shead enjoyed a moment of appreciation from his former head coach on the University of Houston, Kelvin Sampson.<\/p>\n<p>The second-year guard made one in every of the largest plays in Toronto\u2019s 93-89 win in Game 4 on Sunday when he forced an eight-second violation against Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell. The Raptors trailed by some extent with 40.8 seconds left.<\/p>\n<p>Scottie Barnes stalked Mitchell within the backcourt with the clock running before Shead ran over and made a play on the ball, diving for it before it went out of bounds because the referees called the violation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSam texted me, it was cool,\u201d Shead said of his old coach. \u201cHe just said (he was) pleased with me, and we just each said culture. That\u2019s something that was ingrained in me for 4 years there (on the University of Houston), so just getting that text from him and him letting me know that he\u2019s pleased with me was awesome.\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>\u201cDiving on the ground is just not negotiable on the University of Houston,\u201d he added. \u201cWe get taken out for that, we lose playing time for that. In order that\u2019s pretty normal.\u201d<\/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\",\"Sports\/College Sports\",\"News\",\"Sports\",\"News\/Sports News\",\"Sports\/Team Sports\"],\"tags\":[\"Ball\",\"Basketball\",\"Bird of prey\",\"Brandon Ingram\",\"Cleveland\",\"Cleveland Cavaliers\",\"Darko Rajakoviu0107\",\"Defensive end\",\"Donovan Mitchell\",\"Glossary of basketball terms\",\"Head coach\",\"Houston\",\"Jamal Shead\",\"James Harden\",\"Kelvin Sampson\",\"Mississauga\",\"NBA playoffs\",\"Out of bounds\",\"Playoffs\",\"Points per game\",\"RJ Barrett\",\"Scottie Barnes\",\"The Canadian Press\",\"Toronto\",\"Toronto Raptors\",\"Turnover (basketball)\",\"University of Houston\"]}}}'>\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: 'Raptors fans at Jurassic Park react to Game 2 loss against Cavaliers'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/news\/c81zdt175v-wa86ob7xwu\/RAPTORSGAME2LEXYSTILL.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\">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<p>Shead and the Raptors evened the first-round playoff series at 2-2 with the win after dropping the primary two games in Cleveland. Toronto now heads on the road for Game 5 on Wednesday.<\/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>Cleveland was heavily favoured entering the series and showed why within the opening two games, averaging 120.5 points and winning by a median margin of 11.5.<\/p>\n<p>But Toronto turned things around, starting on the defensive end. The Raptors held the Cavaliers to 96.5 points per game, including a 126-104 win in Game 3. Mitchell went from averaging 31 points in the primary two games to 17.5 in Games 3 and 4, with co-star James Harden dropping from 25 to 18.5.<\/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>\u201cIt starts on defence for us,\u201d Shead said. \u201cI feel if we are able to work out the way to take our defence with us on the road, I feel we\u2019ll figure every thing else out from there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shead hasn\u2019t been the just one who has turned a corner. Barnes has been the most effective player within the series, averaging a series-best 25.8 points together with 7.3 assists while taking over the project of guarding Mitchell and Harden.<\/p>\n<p>R.J. Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., has averaged 24.3 points while also stepping up in an enormous way defensively.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGot to, we now have no selection,\u201d Barnes said when asked about bringing the identical intensity on the road. \u201d \u2026 We\u2019ve been doing that the past two or three games. Just got to maintain doing it. Play with heart, intensity, focus, follow the sport plan, help one another out.\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>Barnes is the one Raptor who was a part of the team\u2019s last playoff appearance 4 years ago, when he was a rookie.<\/p>\n<p>The 2-time all-star said he didn\u2019t learn anything latest about his team by evening the series.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do know we play hard, we play aggressive, attempt to be physical. Just got to play our kind of basketball, our brand of basketball,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, head coach Darko Rajakovic offered his own view on what the playoffs and adversity can do to players.<\/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>\u201cI feel every time you say what player is fabricated from, what team is fabricated from, I feel they\u2019re at all times continually checking out that there&#8217;s more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhatever was the most effective and the utmost day before that, when you reach that, you\u2019re searching for brand new highs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rajakovic said the series is showing key starters like Barrett, Barnes and Brandon Ingram are still evolving as players.<\/p>\n<p>This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 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 Jamal Shead enjoyed a moment of appreciation from his former head coach on the University of Houston, Kelvin Sampson. The second-year guard made one in every of the largest plays in Toronto\u2019s 93-89 win in Game 4 on Sunday when he forced an eight-second violation against Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell. The Raptors [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":326098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[3205,1741,8857,3491],"class_list":["post-326097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-carry","tag-cleveland","tag-momentum","tag-raptors"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326097","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=326097"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":326100,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326097\/revisions\/326100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}