Cavs prove loudest critics right in 93-89 Game 4 loss to Raptors

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been consistently criticized for being soft and unable to rise to the pressure of a playoff environment. They’ve publicly pushed back against that notion, but actions speak louder than words.

The Cavs played scared offensively. Their highest-paid players didn’t just have a bad shooting performance — that could be explained. No, they shied away from the moment entirely. This allowed a Toronto Raptors team that would’ve struggled to hit water from a boat in the middle of Lake Erie to come away with a 93-89 victory to tie the series at 2-2.

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To say it wasn’t pretty was an understatement. Neither team was able to generate any kind of offense through the first three quarters.

The Raptors took a narrow 60-58 lead into the fourth quarter despite shooting 26.7% from the field (26.7%) and 3-27 (11.1%) from three. Cleveland was slightly better in both categories, but their 16 turnovers and allowing 16 offensive rebounds allowed Toronto to close that gap.

The Cavs’ backcourt wasn’t able to generate anything through the first 36 minutes. Donovan Mitchell had just eight points on 3-15 shooting, with only two of those attempts coming in the restricted area and no free-throw attempts. James Harden wasn’t doing much to bail his backcourt mate out. He had 16 points on 5-10 shooting, but his six turnovers were a big reason why Cleveland’s offense was stuck in a rut.

Momentarily, it seemed like that was all going to change.

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Mitchell briefly broke out of the funk he was in for the previous seven quarters in the fourth. He kick-started Cleveland’s offense with a driving layup to trim the lead to three. The Cavs then scored on their ensuing six possessions, which was highlighted by a step-back three from Mitchell.

The Cavs had an eight-point advantage before the Raptors responded.

A flagrant foul by Sam Merrill helped Toronto to regain momentum. A 6-0 run made it a two-point game, punctuated by a rare Brandon Ingram three to make it a two-point margin.

Merrill countered with a triple on the following possession to make it a five-point advantage with 2:30 left in the…

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Publish date : 2026-04-26 20:03:00

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