TORONTO: After dropping the opening two games of their first-round playoff series on the road, the Toronto Raptors returned home facing a clear challenge. They needed to respond or fall into a 3-0 deficit, territory few teams in NBA history have come back from.
The early stages of the series had been dictated by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who controlled tempo and execution in Cleveland, extending a long-standing postseason dominance over Toronto.
Back at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, they delivered.
Led by Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett, the Raptors secured a 126-104 victory in Game 3, cutting the series deficit to 2-1 and recording their first win of the matchup, while also snapping a 12-game playoff losing streak against Cleveland.
The result underlined the importance of home court after two difficult outings away, with Toronto producing a more balanced and controlled display.
For Barrett, the moment carried additional significance.
The Mississauga native was playing his first playoff game in Toronto and responded with one of the standout performances of his postseason career.
“Energy in the building was crazy. Definitely helped us out a lot. And I just played hard, and I played hard. That's the result,” Barrett said.
Barrett finished with 33 points, including a decisive fourth-quarter stretch that helped separate the teams.
“Tough. Tough, resilient group. I think a night like tonight was good to build some confidence and just show that we’re here, we’re in this series. When we play like how we did today, everybody together, everybody playing hard, locked in on the game plan, we can make some noise,” he said.
Barnes matched him with 33 points and added 11 assists, setting the tone with his aggression and playmaking.
The forward pointed to his attacking mindset as a key factor in opening up Toronto’s offense.
“Just trying to be aggressive. Let that create for my teammates, opens up so many different things for our offense. So, trying to be aggressive, find people, anything that our offense is trying to win,” Barnes said.
His impact reflected a broader shift in Toronto’s approach after the opening two games.
“I think we started off the day really positive, that we really want to win. We want to do whatever it takes, and it just goes out there to show that everybody really stepped on the floor, and we knew we need everybody for this win, and you’ve seen some big performances from everybody. So, it just goes to show how resilient, how bad we wanted it. We went out there and tried to do whatever it took,” he added.
That collective effort proved decisive in the fourth quarter.
After leading by just two points entering the final period, Toronto pulled away with a dominant stretch, outscoring Cleveland 43-23 while shooting 8-for-9 from three-point range.
Jamison Battle provided a spark off the bench, scoring all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter, while rookie Collin Murray-Boyles added 22 points, becoming the first Raptors rookie to score 20 or more in a playoff game.
“We’ve just been trying to find a game plan on how to make it easier for us and make it harder for them,” Murray-Boyles said. “We did a little bit of that tonight, a lot of things we have to fix, got a lot of hiccups. But this is a really good game, a lot of film to watch, see what we did, see what we can work on.”
Head coach Darko Rajakovic echoed that emphasis on collective execution.
“All the guys had one thought about how to win the game and how to contribute,” Rajakovic said.
Defensively, Toronto also made key adjustments after the first two games, limiting Cleveland’s primary scoring threats and disrupting their rhythm.
“Those guys are elite. You’ve just got to make it really hard for them,” he added.
The win kept the series alive for the Raptors and reinforced the impact of home court.
Game 4 will take place on Sunday in Toronto (9:00 p.m. GST), where the Raptors will look to build on their performance and level the series
“We need every game. It’s the playoffs. Everybody wants to win. We want to win every single game. We don’t want to take a game off,” Barnes said.
“We got a lot more. We got to keep making adjustments, go back and watch the film so we can get better. We still got a long way to go and a lot of work to do,” he added.
