The Cleveland Cavaliers took a blow in their first game on the road against the Toronto Raptors.
Let’s go over today’s losers, because there are no winners. Except the Tyson family, who deserve an honorary shout-out.
Let’s start by setting the table. Or, like the Cavs, by spilling things all over the place and causing a mess.
Cleveland opened this game with nine turnovers in the first quarter. That’s enough to break your back in the NBA Playoffs. The Cavs somehow managed to weather the storm and stay within two possessions at the end of the quarter — but it set the stage for how poorly things would go.
Every potential run from the Cavaliers was met by these self-inflicted errors. That’s not to take anything away from the Raptors, whose length and athleticism contributed directly to those turnovers, but throwing the ball into the third row (like James Harden did in the second half) is something most NBA players can avoid.
“I didn’t think our spacing was great,” said Kenny Atkinson after the game. “Crowding the paint on our drives… they decided they really want to pack it, and I felt like we were trying to thread the needle too much trying to pass it in there.”
Dennis Schroder played five minutes in the first half. He turned it over three times in that stint and didn’t play the rest of the game.
Harden finished with a game-high 8 turnovers. That was his first playoff game with as many turnovers since 2019, when he was with the Houston Rockets. Some of his more careless giveaways were tough to watch. Though again, Toronto deserves credit for swarming him and making life a living hell.
The Raptors forced Cleveland into 20 turnovers overall. They took those for 23 points off turnovers. That was more than enough to erase any marginal advantage the Cavs had gained on the offensive glass (16-11). The truth is, if you give up that many possessions, you lose the game more often than not.
Much will be made of the Cavaliers’ three-point defense in this game. Trust me, anyone who has read FTS this season has heard plenty of complaints about how this team has defended the perimeter.
But while Toronto shot 14-23 (60%) from downtown in Game 3, the Cavs matched them in lockstep with 14 makes of their own. What truly buried the Cavs was Toronto’s dominance in the paint, outscoring Cleveland 60-40 in the restricted area.
Scottie Barnes bruised them for 33 points on 8-12 shooting from two-point range. RJ Barrett and Collin Murray Boyles joined in on the fun, combining for 55 points while shooting 17-26 inside the arc.
Meanwhile, the Cavs relied almost entirely on their outside shot. Cleveland took 45 three-point attempts and only 36 shots inside the arc. Harden, Mitchell, and Mobley took a combined 42 shot attempts, half coming from the three-point line, where they shot 4-21.
“He [Boyles] is a warrior, to be honest with you,” said Raptors’ coach Darko Rajakovic after the game. “I thought he had a high-level performance tonight and I contribute that to the power of his will.”
Toronto’s hot shooting obviously opened the floor for them to dominate the paint. Cleveland’s bigs, especially, started to drift further out to the three-point line at the cost of giving easier drives to the basket for the Raptors. I’d say they should have stuck to the game plan and walled off the interior — but the Raptors simply couldn’t miss, so I can’t fully blame the Cavs for overreacting and trying to stay within range of three-point shooters.
Nonetheless, Cleveland should be winning the battle of the paint. You can’t always control whether your opponent will catch fire from downtown. But you can control the paint. Mobley and Allen weren’t impactful enough tonight, even with their four blocks. Harden and Mitchell were also tested, routinely being put into Toronto’s actions and failing to meet the moment.
The Raptors won’t replicate their 60% three-point shooting again. At least, I wouldn’t expect them to. But I have no reason to believe they can’t replicate what they did in the paint.
The Cavs have to work harder in this regard or risk going back home with a tied series.
After (somehow) keeping this game close for 40 minutes, everything I mentioned finally came back to bite the Cavs in the fourth quarter.
Jamison Battle jumped off the bench and nailed four-of-four three-point attempts. Barrett doused more gasoline on the fire while Barnes and CMB repeatedly forced the Cavaliers to launch their own three-point shots to no avail. Controlling the paint, nailing three-pointers, and forcing turnovers was the path to victory for Toronto.