Five burning questions heading into Raptors-Cavaliers Game 7

When it comes to the NBA playoffs, moral victories are never what teams are after.

And yet, when the Toronto Raptors returned to the post-season for the first time in four years, that appeared to be all that was on the table.

Seemingly outmatched in the talent department and with a reputation for falling short against the league's best, Toronto's playoff run would've been deemed a success after little more than a handful of scrappy efforts.

But after making a habit of smashing expectations — and a 39.5 win projection — throughout the regular season, they've continued doing so in the playoffs. Proving they belong exactly where they've worked to position themselves, and alongside all the other Eastern Conference teams fighting for their post-season lives in the coming days.

And with RJ Barrett's miracle moonshot falling through the hoop on Friday night, the Raptors have earned the right to play for much more than feel-good moments.

The right to continue winning basketball games. Like on Sunday, in Game 7 (Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet+ at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT).

Until then, here are five burning questions to ponder over as we head into the winner-takes-all matchup — the seventh Game 7 in Raptors history.

Can Scottie Barnes remain the best player in the series?

It was just over two years ago that Darko Rajakovic went on his famous post-game rant and proclaimed that Barnes "is going to be the face of the league."

At the time, it felt like nothing more than a first-year head coach sticking up for his star player. Today? It could be viewed as a prophecy coming to fruition sooner than expected.

In a series with one sure-fire Hall of Famer, one of the league's premier scorers and a DPOY on the other side, the Raptors forward has been the best and most consistent cornerstone player.

"Scottie is going to do whatever it takes to win, he's such a selfless guy," Rajakovic said after Game 6, when his franchise forward racked up 25 points, a franchise-record tying 14 assists, seven rebounds, three steals and three blocks in 48 minutes of action. "He's going to take the hardest challenges on the defensive end to guard, rebound, push the ball in transition, and all he wants to do is win.

Barnes leads all players in the series in assists (9.0) and minutes (39.3) while ranking second in points (24.2) and steals-plus-blocks (3.1).

The 24-year-old has routinely knifed through the Cavaliers' defence, either with his decisive drives or his precision passing. And when Barnes has stopped short of doing either, he's made the most of it by knocking down his middies or generating free throws. All while taking on the James Harden assignment defensively and sprawling around the court to help his teammates generate stops.

Barnes has already accomplished plenty throughout the post-season, but if the Raptors are going to pull off the upset on Sunday and secure their first-ever road playoff win in Cleveland, he'll have to continue acting as a rising tide that lifts his team's boat on both ends.

Does RJ Barrett have more heroics in store?

When the Mississauga, Ont., native spoke after morning shootaround on Friday and said "an elimination game fits into the personality of this team," it's unlikely that even he knew how emphatically that statement would be proven correct.

And it was fitting that the man who wrote the cheque was ultimately the one who made sure it was cashed.

Yet it's also what Barrett has done all series. Even before his Game 6 winner capped a 24-point outing, he had been the most consistent scorer between both teams. His 24.3 points per game not only lead all Raptors and Cavaliers, but rank ninth among all playoff players — doing it on 50.5 per cent shooting from the field and 42.1 per cent from beyond the arc.

Barrett's also chipped in a team-best 7.5 rebounds per game and a playoff career-high 3.7 assists, to pair with some gritty, much-improved defence against the likes of Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, and, on occasion, even Donovan Mitchell.

So, although Barnes is the wagon that the Raptors have certainly hitched onto, Barrett is the four-wheel drive that pushes his team into top gear. His habit of generating paint touches, slashing in transition and moving Cavs players out of the way with "shoulder-boulder" drives, as Kenny Atkinson described, has opened up countless opportunities for himself and his teammates. All of which will be needed yet again on Sunday, and maybe even another lucky bounce or two.

"One game to decide it all," Barrett said. "Going into Cleveland, Game 7, is going to be a tough task, but that's what we're built for."

We know the hometown hero definitely is.

Can the Raptors slow down James Harden and Donovan Mitchell in Cleveland?

It's often been said a series doesn't start until a road team wins, and according to Ja'Kobe Walter, before he pitched in 24 points of his own in Game 6, "that's facts."

But in order for his Raptors to win the "big game," and really start (and end) the four-five matchup, the sophomore and his teammates will have to find a way to slow down the Cavaliers' star duo in Cleveland.

Harden and Mitchell have both found their fair share of success throughout the series while in the friendly confines of Rocket Arena, producing more offence and doing it more efficiently. Most notably, the pair have been far more effective pull-up threats at home, which could be a game-breaking bonus in Game 7 to counter the Raptors' overwhelming defensive pressure. The pair have an average effective field-goal rate of 74.2 per cent on pull-up attempts at home compared to just 48.9 per cent on the road. This should lend well to Mitchell, maybe more than any other Cavalier, as the star guard seems due for a breakout performance after a largely underwhelming six games thus far.

"Protect home court," Mitchell said after Game 6, when asked what his mindset is heading into Sunday. "It's all you can do."

What to do about the Brandon Ingram of it all?

It's no secret that the languid shot-taker has been less than his regular-season self throughout the series. Ingram's top two qualities throughout the 82-game campaign were his scoring chops and his availability.

But after averaging nearly 10 fewer points in the playoffs than in the regular season — on a big dip in field-goal efficiency — and now that his status for Game 7 remains uncertain due to a heel injury, it's hard to discern what, if any, impact the all-star can have on Sunday.

Ingram was seen wearing a walking boot while sauntering around Scotiabank Arena on Friday, and in the team's last update, it was mentioned that he'd still been experiencing quite a bit of pain in his right heel.

And although the Raptors managed to force a Game 7 without him, his absence will be felt. Like it was on Friday, when the offence sputtered to a 4-of-17 showing in the fourth quarter, and Cleveland won the frame by 11 points and forced overtime. Ingram has not been a consistent shot-maker in his first playoffs with the Raptors, but he has been a willing shot-taker, and that does matter. Confidence that allowed him to spark a pivotal 10-0 run in Game 3, and to hit an uber-clutch three toward the end of Game 4. There's plenty to be said about players unafraid of the biggest moments — a lesson Barrett reminded everyone of in Game 6.

Not to mention, his presence fundamentally shifts the geometry of the Cavaliers' defence. The NBA uses a metric dubbed "gravity" to measure how much attention a player draws compared to what the spacing on the floor predicts. And Ingram's gravity rating skyrocketed from top-25 in the regular season to top-five during the playoffs. Atkinson admitted as much before Game 6, noting how his best defenders shift their attention near-exclusively to Barnes and Barrett without Ingram on the court.

And it's why Rajakovic acknowledged that his team will need to take a do-it-by-committee approach should Ingram be unavailable on Sunday.

“It's (the) team. It cannot be, ‘Oh, we're going to designate one player to do that.’”

Thankfully, the Raptors have a stable of youngsters willing to fill in those gaps. Like Jamison Battle did in Game 3, and Walter did in Game 6. And how Jamal Shead and Collin Murray-Boyles have done with their increased offensive spurts — pairing with their defensive acumen — throughout the series.

"I don't worry about these young guys at all," Barrett said. "They have the right mindset, they put in the work, they're some dogs."

Which team wins the possession battle?

To say the Raptors and Cavaliers have played to a 3-3 stalemate would both be a major "duh" statement and also underselling how tight the series has been.

Tied in just about statistical categories through six games, it speaks to what both coaches harped on since before the series began, and that's the value of the possession battle. More opportunities with the ball are more chances to accomplish positive outcomes.

And each side has tried to gain an advantage in its own ways. The Raptors do it by generating turnovers, leading all playoff teams in total points off opponent miscues. And the Cavaliers do it by trying to win on the glass and dictating pace.

"The big one with the possession game for us is rebounding," Atkinson explained.

"That's eight levels above everything else. We've got to find a way to keep them off the boards. (In Game 5, the Raptors were) plus-13, you know, 13 more shots than us. We won because we shot 50 per cent on our threes ... we can't live in that world."

The team to win the possession battle has won four out of six games between the Raptors and Cavaliers thus far. The two outliers were Game 3, when the Raptors hit 61 per cent of their threes and made 14 more field goals, and Game 6, which came down to a shot from Barrett and a bounce aided by the basketball gods.