Raptors Get Exposed in Tough Test Against Cavaliers on Back-to-Back

The Toronto Raptors have beaten up on some lackluster teams lately but Sunday showed they remain a step or two away from contending with the Cleveland Cavaliers

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Raptors hadn’t exactly been beating up on the NBA’s most dominant teams over the past few weeks.

Yes, Jakob Poeltl has made this team better. A lot. But how good? Well, it’s been hard to tell. Of their last seven wins, five have come against teams actively trying to lose games this season, the Memphis victory was marred by the fact that the Grizzlies were missing three starters including Ja Morant, and the only semi-impressive victory came against a scuffling New Orleans Pelicans team without Zion Williamson.

Winning the winnable games is important but that’s not exactly the most impressive list of victories.

Sunday gave the Raptors an opportunity to change that. Sort of. It’s a little unfair to judge a team on the second night of a back-to-back, but the Cleveland Cavaliers are at least a playoff team with a fully healthy rotation. Frankly, they’re the kind of team Toronto would love to see in the post-season if the Raptors have any hope of a second-round playoff berth.

So, how’d it go?

Not good. A 118-93 loss to be exact.

Save for a very brief run to start the second half, it was never particularly close too. The Cavaliers were quicker, bigger, more level-headed, and exerted their talent advantage on a Raptors team that looked a tier or two below the league’s true title contenders.

Toronto had no answers for Cleveland’s backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. O.G. Anunoby struggled on the Mitchell assignment as the Cavaliers superstar nailed tough pull-up threes one after another. At one point in the first half, Mitchell even split Toronto’s double-team out of the pick-and-roll, driving through the two defenders and throwing down a one-handed slam.

Unlike earlier in the week against Jonas Valanciunas and the Pelicans, the Raptors struggled with Cleveland’s size. Poeltl got Mitchell for a block in the first half playing drop coverage against the pick-and-roll and broke up a lob at the rim early in the third quarter as Toronto pulled within four, but Cleveland didn’t have much trouble getting to the rim otherwise. Jarrett Allen dominated the restricted area with 23 points on 10-for-13 from the field.

Pascal Siakam was once again the only Raptors player to find any sort of rhythm Sunday. He nailed a pair of threes early in the first quarter, added two more in the third quarter, and tried his best to keep Toronto close with 25 points.

But nobody reliably stepped up to help Siakam. Anunoby hasn’t looked right since coming back from his left wrist injury, Gary Trent Jr. had a rough shooting night, and Scottie Barnes was a little too up-and-down.

Mitchell, meanwhile, never let up, dropping 35 points including eight buckets from three-point, sticking Cleveland to a 20-point second-half lead from which the Cavaliers never looked back.

The loss won’t change much for the Raptors standings wise as they’ll remain in the ninth seed thanks to a Washington Wizards loss Sunday afternoon. They’ve fallen a game and a half back of the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth seed and five games back of the New York Knicks for the sixth seed.

More importantly, it gave the Raptors their first semi-realistic look at what the playoffs may be like. No, they won't have to play on the second night of a back-to-back in the post-season but they will face teams as good as Cleveland and Sunday showed they might not be ready for that quite yet.

Up Next: Chicago Bulls

The Raptors will have Monday off to return home before a date with the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.