CLEVELAND — The Toronto Raptors can’t beat the Cleveland Cavaliers when Brandon Ingram takes just nine shots, in his opinion at least.
Turns out they can’t beat them even when he takes 15 — not when he makes just three for a playoff career low seven points.
Intentionally or not, the Raptors' all-star wing put himself at the centre of the discussion between Games 1 and 2 of the best-of-seven first-round when he said: “At the end of the day, me shooting nine shots is not going to win basketball games.” This after scoring just four of his 17 points — and taking just one shot — in the second half of what ended up being a comfortable Game 1 win for the favoured Cavaliers back on Saturday.
The interpretation, in some corners, was that Ingram was being critical of the coaching staff for not getting him more involved in the offence. There was less attention paid to how Ingram finished his comment: “I’ve just got to figure out ways where I can still be effective while they're doing whatever defensively.”
But behind closed doors, there were some questions about Ingram’s post-game comments initially, but in the end, all concerned were satisfied that Ingram had no ill intent. But in response, there was a challenge put to the Raptors' leading scorer and second-highest paid player: be better, fight through the coverage, don’t let their coverage make you passive.
How did that work out?
Not very well.
The Raptors fell to Cleveland 115-105 to drop to 0-2 in the series which shifts to Scotiabank Arena in Toronto for Game 3 on Thursday, and Ingram wasn’t up to the challenge he’d inadvertently put himself up for with his comments on Saturday.
But outcome aside, the game offered the Raptors more to be encouraged about than not. It could even work out well for Ingram. It was a two or three-possession game for long stretches of the second half. But perhaps most importantly, the Raptors looked more recognizable to themselves and others than the uncharacteristically passive group that took to the post-season stage for the first time as a group in Game 1, and many for the first time in their careers.
“I think we played harder than we did last game,” said Raptors wing RJ Barrett, who is playing in the fourth playoff series of his seven-year career, the most on the team. “We played more Raptors basketball. We just got to do it from the start of the game. It's tough to get down and then try and fight our way back, especially against a team like this. So got to try to do that from the beginning, I think we know we're able to find a little bit of rhythm, you know, a little bit in the first half, definitely in the second half. So we got to go watch the film and see those moments where we play well, and what we were doing, and try to capitalize on that.”
After being drawn into a slow, half-court game in Game 1, the Raptors scored 16 points on the fastbreak, still below their league-leading 18.6 average in the regular season, but a big improvement on the three points they’d managed on the break in the series opener.
Getting Ingram back to his level would be a major help. The Cavaliers continued to crowd him away from the ball and tried to physically prevent him from getting the ball in his preferred areas, but on Monday night, the Raptors ran a number of simple actions to free him up.
The problem is that Ingram couldn’t find the basket. Even aggressive single coverage should be candy for a top-tier NBA scorer, and Ingram has certainly received that kind of attention in the past and managed it well. He was effective against it in the first half of Game 1. But that wasn’t the case in Game 2.
Ingram got four shots up in the first quarter — a foul-line jumper on a nice screen by Jakob Poeltl, a baseline jumper after forcing a switch so the smaller Harden was on him, but he missed that. He missed another jumper off a sharp pass by Barrett and then missed a tough layup when Cavaliers big man Jarrett Allen met him at the rim. He missed a wide-open jumper on a beautifully executed out-of-bounds play, and when he was finally sprung free on a fastbreak chance, he was blocked at the rim.
He finished the first half 0-of-6. He was marginally better in the second half, but 3-of-9 wasn’t what the Raptors needed on this night. Failing to generate a free throw and turning over the ball five times capped off a miserable night for the Raptors' second-best player. A normal game from him and the Raptors might be going home with the series tied 1-1 and homecourt advantage.
“Of course it would happen if you ask for more shots, that you would miss more shots,” said Ingram, with a sheepish smile while he soaked his right foot in a tub of ice. “I liked the looks that I had. I’ll continue to be aggressive. I’ll do a better job of keeping the defence off balance by getting my teammates involved and still shooting the shots that I need to shoot. It’s game to game. You make adjustments. I won’t miss all my shots.”
Ingram’s struggles and the Raptors' 22 turnovers were the difference in what was an otherwise competitive game.
But both aren’t permanent conditions. The Raptors averaged just 13.7 turnovers per game in the regular season. Having 40 through two games is more likely an aberration than a feature.
And Ingram’s struggles could help the Raptors in a couple of ways. The first is his teammates and coaches have rallied around him. Something that could be a point of friction — a star wanting more shots and then fumbling them when they come his way — has become an example of a team that is there for each other, even under playoff pressure.
Barrett could be seen encouraging Ingram at the start of the fourth quarter. After being down six at half, Toronto had fallen behind by as much as 16 midway through the third quarter before clawing back to cut Cleveland’s lead to seven to start the fourth.
Ingram was 2-of-11 for four points at that point.
“Yeah, I just told him ‘stay in it. Stay in it. We need you,'” said Barrett, who finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes in his second strong game of the series. “He's got us here, man. Like, the whole season, it's been amazing for us. He's been an all-star. So just told him to stay in it, keep his head in it, that we need him. Because you know when I have my off nights, you know he's right there to pick me up.”
Scottie Barnes echoed a similar theme. It was Barnes who picked up the slack for Ingram by scoring 15 of his 26 points in the second half as he made a concerted effort to attack the paint despite the presence of Cleveland's twin seven-footers, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. The Cavs duo combined for four blocked shots and were a big reason Toronto shot just 50 per cent from inside three feet in the first half (league average is 67 per cent). They were 81 per cent at the rim in the second half.
But as well as Barnes and Barrett played, no one is pretending they don’t need more from Ingram.
“Brandon is a very important player for us,” said Barnes. “The ball did not go in tonight. You know, we need him to continue being aggressive and shooting. I’ve got absolute support for him. He's going to make his shots.”
Ingram appreciates the message.
“It’s helpful. It shows how resilient we’ve been, how together that we’ve been,” he said. “I definitely don’t have any quit in me. I’m gonna keep going, try to figure it out. To have my teammate have my back, especially in a moment when things aren’t going so well, it’s a blessing.”
A more typical showing by Ingram in Game 3 would go a long way in justifying his teammates’ faith, and extending the series.
Three-point Grange
Toronto, we have a problem: For the second straight game, the Cleveland backcourt of James Harden and Donovan Mitchell was too much for the Raptors to handle. They combined for 58 points and shot 22-of-37 from the floor and 7-of-18 from three. Through two games, Mitchell is averaging 31 points on 55.8 per cent shooting, including 47.1 per cent from three. Harden is averaging 25 points and seven assists while shooting 53 per cent from the floor and 46.7 per cent from deep.
“To be honest, they're a problem,” said Barrett. "They're a problem, and we got to go watch the film and figure out how to fix that.”
Easier said than done. Three of Mitchell’s four made threes were strongly contested. Twice, he made one in the final seconds of the shot clock. Harden added another contested three to beat the shot clock by a whisker in the first half. They are each lethal drivers, and Harden is as precise a passer as they come. He found Max Strus for an open three when the Raptors had cut the Cavs' lead to six early in the fourth quarter. And when Toronto had the lead down to nine with just under five minutes left, a Mitchell three and bucket on the break after a Harden steal sucked up any of the momentum the Raptors might have been feeling in the moment.
CMB in for Jak: It’s been a tough series for Poeltl, the Raptors veteran centre. He played just nine minutes against Cleveland Monday night, finishing with two points and four rebounds. He had just four points and six rebounds in the opener. Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic started rookie Collin Murray-Boyles in his place in the second half. At six-foot-seven, Murray-Boyles is undersized, but makes up for it with his broad shoulders and quick feet. He had 17 points and seven rebounds in 26 minutes on 6-of-10 shooting Monday after scoring 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting in Game 1. Rajakovic said he wanted to have more defensive versatility against the Cavaliers.
Bench better: No one who has seen minutes off the bench for the Raptors in the series has been in the playoffs before, and it showed in Game 1. Outside of Murray-Boyles, the bench combined for just 12 points before garbage time. In Game 2, Sandro Mamukelashvili had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Ja’Kobe Walter had 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting and played 28 minutes, fifth most on the team.
“Bench was great,” said Barnes. “They got in the game, contributed, played defence, got out in transition. They played with a lot of energy, effort, guarding the ball. We need everybody right now, and I think everybody is doing a great job of contributing."
