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<\/p>\nBarnes\u2019s 18.1 points per game were the third most for Toronto behind RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., who scored 19.3. More importantly, the six-foot-eight Barnes is the Raptors\u2019 defensive linchpin, guarding all five positions.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m great defensively, I help our team a lot, and I\u2019m one of the best defenders in the NBA,\u201d said Barnes, who led Toronto with 1.5 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. \u201cI take pride in that and that\u2019s always been me from when I first started.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where my energy comes from and that\u2019s what I take pride in every time I step onto the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Raptors (46-36) snuck up into fifth place in the Eastern Conference in the final game of the regular season, setting up the first-round matchup with the fourth-place Cavaliers (50-32).<\/p>\n
Something of a styles clash, Cleveland has a high-powered offence that can score from any position. Guards Donovan Mitchell and James Harden are top-tier isolation players, while forwards Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley can defend and score.<\/p>\n
Toronto plays an uptempo, physical style that emphasizes defence with heavy rotations to create mismatches with Barnes, rookie forward Collin Murray-Boyles and veteran centre Jakob Poeltl the nucleus.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like our chances and what we can do out there on the floor,\u201d said Barnes. \u201cI think we can do a great job of using our physicality in this series. I feel like our guards can do a great job of putting pressure on their guards.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust being able to match their physicality, rebounding, being able to take it to the rim. And then BI out there, he\u2019s going to do his thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ingram said he\u2019s excited to break down the Cavaliers\u2019 defence, led by Mobley, the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the good thing about this (series) is there\u2019s no back to backs,\u201d said Ingram. \u201cYou play one game and you see everything they did or everything that they were trying to take away, and then you just write up another game plan and see if it\u2019s successful. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited for that, to go out and just to see how we can outsmart them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither Ingram nor Barnes have ever won an NBA playoff series. <\/p>\n
Ingram\u2019s New Orleans Pelicans lost in the first round to the Phoenix Suns in 2022 and were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2024. Barnes\u2019s only playoff appearance was Toronto\u2019s last post-season run when the Raptors lost to the Philadelphia 76ers in six games in 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been playing basketball their whole lives, they\u2019ve been playing for this big stage,\u201d said Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic. \u201cI know how much this team cares about this moment in the season and how hard they work to be in this position and to qualify for the playoffs directly. Those guys are going to do everything possible to be very competitive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not control our outcome. We control our preparation. We control what we do possession by possession and that\u2019s how we\u2019re going to approach this series.\u201d<\/p>\n
TALE OF THE TAPE<\/p>\n
Regular-season series: 3-0 for Toronto<\/p>\n
Points for per game: Toronto, 114.6 (21st); Cleveland, 119.5 (fourth)<\/p>\n
Points against per game: Toronto, 111.8 (ninth); Cleveland, 115.4 (15th)<\/p>\n
Top points: Toronto, Ingram 21.5 per game; Cleveland, Mitchell 27.9 per game<\/p>\n
Top assists: Toronto, Immanuel Quickley 5.9 per game; Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell 5.7 per game<\/p>\n
Top rebounds: Toronto, Barnes 7.5 per game; Cleveland, Evan Mobley, nine per game<\/p>\n
The big stat: This is the fourth time the Raptors and Cavaliers have ever met in the playoffs, with Cleveland winning the three previous series. Every Cavs win had all-time great LeBron James playing.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2026.<\/p>\n
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barnes\u2019s 18.1 points per game were the third most for Toronto behind RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-609960","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}