Raptors Once Again Undone by Free Throw Woes in Heartbreaking Loss to Cavaliers

The Toronto Raptors continue to struggle from the charity stripe with nine missed free throws proving costly in a heartbreaking loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers

So far this season, the Toronto Raptors have looked eerily similar to last year’s squad.

Sure, the Xs-and-Os on the court have looked different with Toronto running a completely different scheme on both sides of the ball, but the results have largely been the same. The Raptors were a 41-41 team last year and have been a .500 team virtually this entire season.

But the goal of this season is to find out what the future holds and in particular is this a team trending upward or downward. On a prove-it night against one of the Eastern Conference’s other middling teams, Toronto was undone by an old nemesis, missing nine free throws in a 105-102 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It was the same problem that cost Toronto last year in their one play-in game. This team has been unable to consistently hit its free throws for over a year now. Last year the Raptors connected on 78% of their free-throws. This year, that number sat at 73% coming into Sunday.

Toronto had a chance to erase their free-throw game woes late in the fourth after Dennis Schröder nailed a clutch three-pointer in the corner out of a stellar out-of-timeout play to pull the Raptors to within one. But after a pair of free throws from Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland smothered Toronto’s last-second attempt for a three-pointer to tie.

It was a disastrous end to what was an otherwise solid performance from Toronto who now fall to 8-9, again unable to eclipse the .500 mark since the season opener.

The Raptors once again came out without a hiccup and they’re now beginning to put those first-half woes behind them. The offense looked impressive for the fifth time in the last six games while Toronto’s defense led OG Anunoby, in particular, clamped down on Mitchell who was held to just 10 points in the game.

Toronto’s Scottie Barnes-led bench unit didn’t fare so well, but the Cavaliers’ lead was quickly erased the moment Jakob Poeltl and Schröder checked back in in the second quarter. Poeltl had a put-back after a missed three-pointer from Gary Trent Jr. to put the Raptors back ahead and then found Anunoby in the corner after a pick-and-roll as Toronto pulled ahead by double digits.

Poeltl was stellar for the Raptors against the supersized Cavaliers, recording a double-double with 18 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. His biggest impact came on the offensive glass, grabbing four offensive boards, while shooting 8-for-9 from the field. He and Pascal Siakam traded buckets back and forth in the paint for Toronto late in the fourth quarter.

For Toronto, Trent got back on track in the first half, providing the kind of offensive firepower the Raptors have been looking for from their sixth man. Even without his three-point shot, he took advantage of eager closeouts and got into the paint for mid-range jumpers. In the first half alone, he connected on three two-point field goals, tallying 13 points before the break. He did, however, miss a costly wide-open three-pointer mid-way through the fourth after a great baseline kick-out from Schröder.

But all that first-half work by the Raptors was erased by Max Strus who caught fire in the third quarter, scoring 20 points in the frame alone. The Raptors simply couldn’t get out to him quick enough as the Cavs’ sharpshooter connected on four three-pointers, sticking Cleveland to a two-point lead entering the fourth.

The problem for Toronto was trading twos for threes with Cleveland. Save for the Cavaliers’ bigs, everyone else is a shooter in Cleveland and Toronto couldn’t close out hard enough. Caris LeVert nailed a three-pointer to open the fourth, Georges Niang connected on one of his own, and Darius Garland burned Toronto from deep as the Cavaliers pulled ahead by double digits.

Schröder did his best to close the gap, getting into the paint and working the pick-and-roll with Poeltl. He kept Toronto’s offense going late as the Raptors began to rally, but Garland kept Toronto at bay, leading all scorers with 24 points including nine in the fourth.

Up Next: Brooklyn Nets

The Raptors will play their final in-season tournament game on Tuesday when they head to Brooklyn to take on the Nets for a 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff.