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The last time the Toronto Raptors and the Cleveland Cavaliers met in the NBA playoffs was 2018, and the history between them is about as lopsided as it gets. Cleveland holds a 12-2 all-time playoff record against Toronto, winning all three previous series, including back-to-back sweeps in 2017 and 2018. The Raptors came in having swept the regular-season series 3-0, with a legitimate case that this playoff matchup would be different.
Game 1 didn’t offer much evidence of that. Cleveland won 126-113, taking an early series lead over Toronto. Here’s what decided it.
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Cavs owned the paint
The Cavs were brilliant at all three levels, but it was their dominance near the rim that created the biggest advantage in Saturday’s victory. Cleveland scored 48 points in the paint, generating high-percentage attempts off James Harden’s pick-and-roll operation and Donovan Mitchell’s unrelenting drives. Toronto, meanwhile, managed 30 points in the paint — a workable number in isolation, but a losing number when the team on the other side is getting to the rim that freely. The Raptors’ first dunk as a team didn’t come until Scottie Barnes converted one midway through the fourth quarter, by which point the game was effectively over. Sandro Mamukelashvili led the Raptors in rebounding, signaling a major issue if they want to keep up in this series. Jakob Poeltl was a no-show (4 points, 6 rebounds) for Toronto, while Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen combined for 27 points and 14 rebounds, shooting 9-for-13 from the paint. Brandon Ingram was elite in the mid-range in the first half, but when Cleveland is getting that many clean looks at the rim while you’re settling for contested mid-range attempts, you’re playing into their hands.
The third quarter opened it up. The bench finished it
Cleveland outscored the Raptors 36-22 in the frame and pushed the lead to 21 entering the fourth. Mitchell scored 9 of his 30 points in the period. Then Max Strus got loose. He scored 8 of his 22 points (8-10 FG, 4-6 3PM) in the third quarter, providing a game-changing momentum boost in the third. And that’s where the game started to…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/nba-playoffs-2026-raptors-cavaliers-takeaways–can-toronto-make-this-a-series-204740103.html
Author : Dan Titus
Publish date : 2026-04-18 20:47:00
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