Game Summary
This core, and this team, has pushed back so much on what they aren't but keep doing everything in their power to confirm what they aren't. Lose one game, that's the playoffs. Lose two games when you had an opportunity to adjust and failed to take advantage of it. The Cavs led for most of the game but their inability to close quarters and do the little things, something we've seen throughout the year, came back to haunt them. And for James Harden and Donovan Mitchell to be the leaders of this team, and to co-sponsor back-to-back performances like that, is whatever Webster's dictionary synonym you want to use for disappointing.
By The Numbers
33:18: Time the Cavs led during Game 3
39-7: Raptors combined runs to close out 2Q, 3Q and 4Q
32%: Raptors FG%, the worst FG% of a team to win a game in the playoff era
4: 3PMs by the Raptors
+10: in FGAs by the Raptors
+13: in FTAs by the Raptors
34.4%: OREB% by the Raptors, leading to 19 second chance points
18: Cavalier turnovers with 11 coming in the first half
17: Points off turnovers for the Raptors
9th: Percentile halfcourt offense by the Cavs
17-54: Shooting by the core four
+5: Yet, they were a positive in 11+ minutes in the game
By The Players
James Harden: It's hard to recover from 6 turnover first half but he managed to do so... sort of. The lazy passes were maddening. The Raptors may be disrupting the Cavs offensive flow with their pressure but a lot of the wounds by Harden were self-inflicted and avoidable. The 8 assists were great but the carelessness with the ball was just as great for the Raptors. Harden was able to get in the paint, if he was able to get past the first line, and started out 3-for-3 inside but finished 4-for-6. After starting well from deep, he's gone 5-for-16 from three in Toronto. The minutes without Mitchell in the 2Q (+1) and 3Q (+5) helped balance the Cavs offensively, and even extend the lead, and was as good as the Cavs offense looked for the day. The Cavs got an okay version of Harden these last two games but need more if they're going to go farther.
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Donovan Mitchell: Unless there's an injury we're unaware of, the effort, energy and attention to detail are unacceptable the last two games. 13-for-40 and 6 assists to 7 turnovers. And in both games the same running-through-the-motions type energy was so much different than the engaged, locked-in we've seen throughout the years or other playoff runs. He was 2-for-10 inside the paint, and 2-for-12 inside the arc. The Raptors have done a good job on Mitchell, and have made his driving lanes difficult, but this also was an All-NBA season for him, so to go down like that? The 4Q run with shots like this were good to see but then following up by going 0-for-4 in the clutch in the 4Q is the same as Harden's assists to turnovers. One of the concerns with Mitchell is the scoring drives so much of his value. When he's not scoring, where does he provide value? The defense was worse with him on the floor (+30.2 dRTG swing), he had 6 rebounds but the dREB% was worse (by 4.4%) and the ancillary playmaking to support Harden really was not there. So when the scoring goes south you're left with a player who's value is dragging you down instead of propping you up in other instances.
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Dean Wade: Kenny went with the defensive matchup of Wade on Scottie Barnes instead of Wade on Brandon Ingram, and that didn't seem to slow Barnes down in the slightest. Barnes continued to play well while Ingram continued to be cold. Wade went 1-for-3 from the floor and offensive rating was better with him on than off (surprisingly) but the next step in making the Raptors be more concerned with his presence in cutting and off ball movement the same way CMB has done with the Cavs. The Cavs were willing to leave CMB until he started eating up spacing. Wade is not going to make 3, 4 or 5 3's but can be more impactul as a cutter to provide more of an off-ball threat for the guards. Overall, he lead the Cavs with a +11 and was one of the balancing players for the game.
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Evan Mobley: A disappointing game as the -13 was second worst on the team. The rebounding was better when he was on the floor (+7.5%) but the Raptors were more efficient in the paint + restricted area with him on the floor which is why part of the reason why the Cavs defense fared better with him off the floor. What's plagued Mobley most of late is his finishing and playing through traffic. He was just 4-for-8 inside the paint + RA, and is lucky to be credited with just one turnover. Go back to Game 3 and he was 4-for-9 with 2 turnovers. In Games 1 and 2? He was 15-for-18 inside the paint + restricted area. So much of his value has been around finishing, and it's been a struggle in Toronto. There's been the repeated issue of keeping the ball too low and not being strong enough at the gather point where the Raptors have taken advantage of. The flashes you see always leave you wanting more.
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Jarrett Allen: The bigs didn't get too many opportunities and the ones they did weren't very efficient in their conversion, and Allen was not immune to that going 1-for-5. Like Mobley, he had issues in a congested paint and was victim of the Raptors swarming defense. On the bright side? 15 rebounds, 3 stocks, and a 52.3 net rating swing in his favor defensively when he was on the floor. The Raptors have attacked the paint and Allen has been a big deterrent in not allowing their efficiency to spike despite their volume. Allen hasn't scored anove 12 points in the playoffs so far and part of that is likely knee related (although he did seem springy today) but the other part of that is the guards inability to consistently involve the bigs. Credit the Raptors for ensuring that doesn't happen but it's shot off Allen's involvement outside of some play finishes when the guards are able to get downhill. The Cavs inability to convert on simple plays like these Allen seals are killer.
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Dennis Schroder: Kenny has kept going to him and rewarded him in the first half with 8 points, 4 rebounds and a +8. It's scary to think his first half productivity may have made him the best offensive player for the Cavs in the first half. It came at a time when the Cavs were searching for some semblance of offense. Schroder's rim pressure is what he does best and where he did his best work in Game 3. Considering how productive he was in the first half, it was a head-scratcher to see him only get a few minutes in the second half with their offensive woes not getting any better.
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Keon Ellis: His offense has played him right off the floor, and we're quickly entering Isaac Okoro territory. He's now 1-for-6 in this series. Part of it is also the Cavs needing more size on the perimeter with how the Raptors are playing and it doesn't afford Ellis much time with Merrill, Mitchell, Harden and Schroder getting the minutes they do in the backcourt.
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Sam Merrill: It took him three quarters to heat up but he finally did. Just when it looked like he might have to consider pulling the plug on Merrill minutes moving forward he responded with a 4-for-5 4Q that also came with some solid defense with the height disadvantage he had on the Raptor wings. This has been the conundrum with the Raptors series for Merrill: His shot has fallen by the wayside which has also taken his value with it. The Raptors have been really good when he's attacked off catch-and-shoot's and also attacked him defensively with success. But... you really need his shooting to show up which is why you keep playing him. We'll see how Kenny plays it moving forward but good to see the shot come back.
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Max Strus: Rough game for Max who came in shooting well but put up an 0-for-5 performance. The 7 rebounds were helpful, including 3 offensive, which is part of the reason he still got minutes despite the poor shooting performance. He finished the game with a team worst -15 but part of that may have been due to lineup construction. With Wade on with a big he was a +3. With Wade off and Strus playing the 4 the lineups were a -18. Go back to Game 3 and it was a -12 when Wade was off when Strus was on and -6 in Game 2. Something for Kenny to think about when using Strus.
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Jaylon Tyson: Kenny switched it up and gave Tyson the first minutes off the bench which was a good sight to see has Tyson has taken advantage of increased minutes in every game this series and led the Cavs in minutes off the bench. His off the bounce game is something the Cavs could really use right now and continues to be his differentiating skillset amongst the bench players Kenny can go to. And with how the Raptors have been playing the Cavs guards, it's put pressure on other guys to make plays, and relieve the pressure, and this could be Tyson's golden ticket the rest of the way. While the plus-minus wasn't great, thought he held his own against Ingram and Barnes and the defense was slightly better with him on the floor as opposed to off. It feels like a big game may be coming his way.
Game Notes
- Well, we have ourselves a series. The Cavs had two opportunities to put the Raptors away, and failed twice. For all that has been said about the Cavs, until they prove otherwise, it's probably right (unfortunately).
- The Cavs extended this series longer than it should have been and now put themselves in an even tighter position in a can't lose best-of-3 against a team that has nothing to lose and a belief that the Cavs are very beatable.
- The Raptors have won the last two games winning the possession battle. They've gotten 16 more shot attempts off and turned the ball over less. The Raptors have also won both ways -- shooting the worst anyone has shot and also nearly the best anyone has shot. But the one thing that's been consistent is the Raptors have gotten more possessions and made more out of them than the Cavs have.
- They've also been relentless in getting downhill, something the Cavs have struggled to do. The Raptors have seen their rim volume be above 75th percentile the last three games with two 90+ performances. Yet, their rim accuracy has dwindled each of the last three games. You can thank the Cavs bigs for helping to clean up the perimeter's mess but you can also see cracks in the Cavs defense that have been there all year with the Cavs perimeter players relying so much on the bigs to help them out.
- The turnovers... they have to stop. They now have 40 turnovers over the last two games. The Raptors are at their best when they're able to flip the floor and get out for easy breaks, and the Cavs have obliged. While the Raptors haven't been terribly efficient in this category like they have during the year, just like the rim situation, the more situations you give them the more opportunity they'll have to overcome their efficiency issues.
- Kenny used the term "swarm" a lot in his postgame comments about the Raptors defense. You have to give them credit for playing on a string and playing as hard as they do. At the same time, the Cavs have let them get settled into their defense a little too much.
- For one, where has this side-to-side movement been? Too often the Cavs give the Raptors the easy out to pressure because they're not moving the ball, not moving bodies and it allows the Raptors to gear up. If a pitcher keeps throwing a fastball, then you're going to sit on a fastball so when you wonder why the fastball isn't as effective it's because you don't have the secondary pitches to keep them off balance.
- For two, where is the cutting action to occupy spaces vacated by pressure? The Cavs have been their own worst enemy by not doing enough behind the pressure to make the Raptors concerned with the vulnerability they're showing. Kenny also talked about spacing in his postgame comments. And while shooting spacing is what most people think of when they hear creating openings, there's also spacing created by cuts. Well time, and well placed cuts cause the defense to shift and react just like shooters or dribble penetration does. And the Cavs movement behind and away from the play has been nothing short of disappointing.
- Games 3 and 4 show how much the Cavs offensive backbone is not Mitchell or Harden but the pick-and-roll game. They had it going in Games 1 and 2 and looked like a much different offensive game. Now Games 3 and 4, and it's been a shell of itself. The Raptors have made it hard to get into P&R but the Cavs have also not done enough to vary the looks into how they get into a P&R and the Raptors have both pressure the ball-handler enough to deter the short roll but also mucked up the short roll enough where it's not a great option. Plus, for as high as the Cavs guards start, the short roll becomes the three-point line and that's not where you want the bigs catching it.
- There's things Kenny has to adjust on going into Game 3 but thought his rotations were largely solid in the first half. Tyson and Strus first off the bench. Schroder with Mitchell, and not Harden and then Ellis getting his minutes with Harden. The next adjustment is more core four minutes (just 11 in Game 3), sprinkling in some Bryant to help with the weakside rebounding and continuing to prioritize Tyson minutes.
- You also have to, HAVE TO get Mobley more involved in space and as a playmaker then they have. Mobley's shown success in the limited times they've gone to it but haven't gone back. For a team looking for some ways to diversify their offensive portfolio right now, that's a built in way. It also shouldn't even be a question if Poeltl is on Mobley. On the flipside, finding Allen more to get him move involved is up there as well. There's no reason the Raptors should get away with a wing on Allen.
- Good teams do all the small things well and right now the Raptors are winning those margins. Offensive rebounding. Taking care of the ball, forcing turnovers. Converting mistakes. Getting the hustle plays. And closing quarters. If the Cavs could close one of the quarters a little bit better, it might be a different game. But those are momentum killers, and where teams can put teams backpedaling on their ass, but the Cavs kept letting the Raptors bounce right back.
- The late game offense was hard to watch. The Cavs got luck in Game 2 with Mitchell and Harden bailing them out but this team their late game heroics didn't work. Pound, pound, pound and then bad shot as the action is initiated with under 7 seconds on the shot clock. It's just not good offensive process. It's one thing if your action ends with you getting a good shot under 8 seconds but it's another thing if you wait until 8 seconds to get going in the action.
Box Score & Highlights