Cavs playoff opponent: What do the numbers say about the Raptors?

The Cleveland Cavaliers will take on the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs starting on Sunday. The Cavs lost all three of their regular-season games to the Raptors, but each came before December. Let’s take a look at what the numbers say about this Raptors team.

Overall team efficiency

The Raptors have simply been a solid team on both sides of the ball, although they’re better defensively. What they do on that end heavily influences their offensive attack. So let’s dive into the defensive numbers first.

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Key defensive metrics

Toronto is excellent at two things defensively. They force turnovers, and they keep teams from getting out in transition.

The Raptors induce turnovers on 16% of defensive possessions. This translates to 8.8 steals per 100 possessions.

Scottie Barnes (1.4 steals per game) and Immanuel Quickly (1.3 steals per game) have excelled in this area. Both are physical at the point of attack and have active hands in passing lanes.

The Raptors are also committed to getting back in transition and are good at stopping the ball on the break. This has led to them giving up transition opportunities to their opponent on just 13.3% of their defensive possessions, which is the second-fewest in the league.

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NBA offenses are built and conditioned to score in transition. There are few teams better at keeping opposing offenses from doing so than the Raptors.

Scoring in the half-court is considerably more difficult than doing so in transition. Toronto has a 96.7 defensive rating in the half-court that ranks 11th in the league. That isn’t outstanding, but their ability to force teams into consistently going up against their set defense is a win on its own.

Key offensive metrics

Toronto’s defense kickstarts its offense. Their focus on one end is mirrored on the other.

It’s difficult to be a team that runs in transition, while also not getting burned on that end yourself. The Raptors have done that as they’re third in offensive transition frequency and second in points added in transition per 100 possessions.

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/cavs-playoff-opponent-numbers-raptors-213000102.html

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Publish date : 2026-04-15 21:30:00

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