Game 4 summary:
Up 2 games to 1 the Cavs will try to get back on the horse and beat the Raptors in their building to prevent this from becoming a best-of-three series. What do the Cavs need to do to restore order? The dirty work.
We didn’t do the dirty work that’s necessary to win on the road…Pretty much at every position, down the line, they won the force battle. It’s kind of the story of the game. I think their force wore us down. - KA
Whatever they decided to do, they did it with more force and aggression. I think when you are ... I don’t want to say timid, but I think when you’re not as forceful as the home team and then they start making shots and the crowd is behind them, you get the result you get. - Donovan Mitchell
Force was a clear theme — a word used more than 20 times in Cleveland’s postgame locker room. - Fedor
The Cavs need the force to be with them. Unfortunately, they’re not a team built on force - they’re a skill based team.
Fatigue played a massive role in Cleveland’s offensive collapse, particularly for stars Donovan Mitchell and James Harden…the Raptors relentlessly hunted them on the defensive end, forcing them to expend maximum energy fighting through screens and isolation actions. This constant defensive workload wore down the backcourt, visibly affecting their offensive output. Rather than attacking the rim and putting pressure on Toronto’s defense, a fatigued Cleveland backcourt settled for the path of least resistance, hoisting 45 three-point attempts. The exhaustion culminated in a flat fourth quarter where the stars failed to separate or generate easy looks when the game was close. - cleveland.com podcast summary
After falling behind 2-0, the Toronto Raptors implemented significant schematic and lineup adjustments that effectively disrupted Cleveland in Game 3. By inserting Ja’Kobe Walter into the starting lineup for extra size and utilizing diverse defensive matchups — such as placing Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, and RJ Barrett on James Harden and Donovan Mitchell — Toronto successfully slowed down Cleveland’s star guards. Furthermore, the Raptors committed to a physically demanding, fast-paced style intended to wear the Cavaliers down over the course of the game and series. This strategy exposed Cleveland’s perimeter defense, particularly when Dean Wade was off the floor, allowing players like Barrett to capitalize in the second half. Toronto’s ability to force turnovers and excel in transition completely shifted the competitive dynamic. - podcast summary
The Raptors are playing differently than they did at the start of the series. Their points in the paint for the three games were, in order: 36, 52, and 60. The Cavs’ PIP were 52, 52, and 40. Two trains passing in opposite directions.
Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen were thoroughly outplayed in the paint. The Raptors dominated interior scoring, attempting 56 shots in the paint compared to Cleveland’s mere 32.
Compounding the defensive lapses was a severe lack of offensive aggression and problem-solving from the bigs. Mobley shot just 4-of-13 from the field and was indirectly categorized as “timid” in handling the physicality, while Allen only managed 7 field goal attempts despite converting five of them. The bigs failed to make Toronto pay for utilizing smaller lineups. - podcast summary
I don’t know if we can win taking 32 shots in the paint if they are taking 56. We definitely can’t continue guarding the 6’8” Barrett and the 6’6” Barnett with guys who are 6’1” to 6’5”. They both scored 33 points in Game 3 on a combined 23-for-36 from the field, including a mind-blowing 9-for-14 on 3’s.
Toronto shot a blistering 60.9% from three-point range on over 20 attempts—an efficiency metric that has historically guaranteed an undefeated record for any team achieving it in NBA playoff history. Additionally, players like Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett delivered career-high playoff performances. Barnes efficiently exploited isolation matchups, while rookie big man Collin Murray-Boyles bullied his way to 22 points and 11 rebounds on 11-of-15 shooting. - podcast summary
CMB was 11-for-15 and is now an astonishing 24-for-33 this series, or 72.7%. Some of that is the Cavs giving him open looks from 6-8 feet, but a lot is the Cavs’ bigs having to contest layups or short jumpers by Barnes and Barrett, leaving CMB open at the rim for passes. CMB has not been the only Raptor to scorch the Cavs off the bench.
Across five games against Cleveland, with the regular season included, [Jamison Battle] has now gone 13-of-14 from the field. - Fedor
I think the Cavs have become so focused on Barnes, Barrett, and Ingram that they are overhelping which results in easy shots for CMB and Battle. At this point they know what Battle can do (13-for-14!) and they know they can’t leave him alone on the perimeter just like they can’t leave CMB open in the paint.
The Cavaliers’ defense—which just posted its third-worst efficiency performance of the entire season—must find a way to navigate pick-and-rolls and protect the paint without conceding wide-open threes. - podcast summary
Offensively the Cavs need to move the ball and find ways to get into the paint and not settle for contested 3’s after dribbling down the clock while vainly probing for openings. It’s tough because Toronto is long and athletic; they ranked 9th in scoring defense this year.
There were many possessions where the Cavs were unable to get into the paint and had to settle for 3’s late in the clock. They can’t beat Toronto doing that. I’m thinking they need more ball movement and less dribbling by Harden and Mitchell against longer opponents that keep switching.
They top locked…They basically (were) not letting us try to get to the ball. I’ve seen it before. So I’ll make an adjustment and be ready. - Harden
Cleveland shot 44.4% from the field and 31.1% from 3-point range. It committed 22 turnovers. - Fedor
Those numbers need to improve and it starts with Harden and Mitchell, but Mobley and Allen need to be more aggressive offensively. Harden and Mitchell are having to work way too hard. They were 4-for-17 on 3’s. That can’t happen again.
Max Strus is making 55.6% of his 3’s. The Cavs should utilize him more to spread out the defense and to punish them when they double Harden or Mitchell. Jaylon Tyson has made 4 of his last 8 from deep and they need to use him more and hope he continues to get incrementally better as he acclimates to playoff pressure.
The 36-year-old Harden, despite his veteran savvy, evidently struggled to conserve energy against the multiple defenders Toronto threw at him. - podcast summary
The Cavs can’t win with Harden dribbling 16-20 seconds on every possession. Even if it results in a bucket, it’s too fatiguing over the course of an entire game. Like it or not, the Cavs need to get their role players more involved. The ball needs to move with all players touching it until an open shot presents itself.
An astonishing 42 of the Cavs' 45 three-point attempts were classified as open or wide open. They made 14, or 33.3%. They need to hit a much higher percentage of their open 3’s.
I think it’s clear that the Cavs can’t succeed by going small. Keon Ellis has 3 points in 3 games and is not generating turnovers on defense. Schroder is getting pushed around. Merrill is not getting open looks. Every player on the Raptors except Shead is at least 6’6”. They are pushing our smaller defenders into the paint for high percentage shots.
The Cavs say they need to play with more “force.” That means bigger guys. Wade is averaging only 24 minutes and Bryant and Tomlin have not played at all.
The 60-plus percent three-point shooting from Toronto might not repeat. But the suffocating pressure? The relentless physicality? The crowd feeding off every live-ball turnover? Toronto now knows that formula works. And they have every reason to run it back.
When Barnes attacks the paint, the Cavs have to send help. When help rotates, shooters come open. And here’s the cruel twist — the Raptors aren’t even a good 3-point shooting team. Yet they’ve torched Cleveland’s defense from deep in two of the three games in this series.
The Cavs’ response to this has been essentially to leave Toronto’s non-shooters open and dare them to beat you from outside. It’s a reasonable theory. The problem is that the Raptors keep beating them anyway. - cleveland.com podcast summary
The team that won the turnover battle has won every game. The Cavs can’t commit 9 turnovers in the first quarter again. Obviously they were thrown off by the crowd noise and the hyper-aggressive Raptors defense. The Cavs should be better prepared for both in Game 4.
The Raptors have figured out what style of play works best against the Cavs. Force turnovers. Attack the rim. More CMB, less Poeltl. Utilize Jamison Battle. Pack the paint and make the Cavs’ role players beat them. Now the Cavs know what’s coming and will have to adjust. We’ll see what Kenny decides to do.
