By Oliver Carter
There is a general belief in the NBA community that a series doesn’t truly start until a team gets an away win, and with the Toronto Raptors winning Game 4, that has yet to happen.
Games 1 and 2 in Cleveland were comfortable home wins led by the new duo of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, before the Raptors returned the favour with back-to-back Scottie Barnes-led victories.
A late Cleveland collapse
After a back-and-forth game with 13 lead changes, the Cavs went on a late 20-6 run, taking a comfortable eight-point lead with four minutes remaining.
However, the Raptors rallied behind the home support to push back and pull ahead. They went on a 14-3 scoring run, flipping the game on its head, giving them a four-point lead with just 4.6 seconds left.
While Scottie Barnes led the side in scoring, the efforts of rookie Collin Murray-Boyles pushed the Raptors over the line. Murray-Boyles became just the third Raptors rookie to record a playoff double-double.
When told about his team-mate’s record, Barnes said: “He’s unbelievable, man. His physicality, his force, his effort that he brings to every single game is unbelievable.
“We need him. He’s amazing for us. Words can’t even explain what he’s doing for this team right now.”
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Low scoring, low efficiency
Game 4 marked the second-lowest scoring game of the playoffs so far as it seemed both sides upped their defensive intensity.
Cleveland had five players shoot under 40% from the field, including superstar Donovan Mitchell who managed just 6/24 from the field and 4/12 from three-point range.
Alongside their shooting troubles, Mitchell had four turnovers and Harden had seven of the Cavs’ 17 turnovers. Their main two offensive engines contributed 11.
Jarett Allen also had a poor game offensively, only managing to get one of his five shots to drop, however he made up for his offensive woes on the other side of the ball as he pulled down 15 rebounds as well as a steal and two blocks.
The Raptors had similar offensive struggles with five players under the 40% benchmark as well, namely Brandon Ingram, who has struggled all series, as well as RJ Barrett.
Ingram did manage to put together 23-points, however, this came on 6/23 shooting which is somehow not his least efficient game of the series so far as he only scored seven points on 3/15 from the field in Toronto’s Game 2 loss.
Scottie Barnes’ leading the way
Two time All-Star and former rookie of the year Scottie Barnes hasn’t made the playoffs since his first year in the league, however, he is not backing away from this year’s challenge.
Barnes averaged 18.1 points and 5.9 assists over 80 games this season, but he has stepped those numbers up hugely in the playoffs, currently averaging 25.8 points and 7.3 assists through the first four games of this series.
It seems the way the Raptors are utilising the young forward has changed – there’s been a clear decline in the number of rebounds he has grabbed from the regular season to the post season.
As well as his rise in assists numbers, Barnes is evidently being utilised as a ‘point-forward’.
Barnes has also seen a sizeable leap in his three-point efficiency from 30.4% in the regular season to 46.7% now.
The across-the-board increase in efficiency and usage-rate comprises a small sample size, but the players who can elevate and push their team far in the playoffs thanks to big leaps are the same players who lead teams to championships.
While the Raptors may not have all the pieces for a championship run this season, the all-round talent of Scottie Barnes paired with the promising Raptors front office could make them a team to look out for in future seasons.
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Liberty Nicholson-Hulse