![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/indicator-big.gif\")
<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s been a process to get to this point, but I\u2019m thankful for an opportunity to guard some of the best guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
A natural power forward at six-foot-seven and 245 pounds, the 20-year-old Murray-Boyles has played beyond his age in his rookie season with Toronto. The Raptors first-round pick in the 2025 draft, he averaged 8.5 points, five rebounds, and 1.9 assists in the regular season but, more importantly, showed the athleticism and physicality to guard some of the best players in the NBA.<\/p>\n
That includes some of the biggest names in Cleveland\u2019s lineup such as Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. <\/p>\n
\u201cSome of (the Cavalier) lineups that they had out there with a lot of great shooters,\u201d said Rajakovic on subbing Murray-Boyles in for Poeltl. \u201cWe wanted to be able to switch more in pick-and-rolls and Collin was providing a better matchup there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although he\u2019s still a work in progress, Rajakovic likes what he\u2019s seen from the big rookie in his first two NBA playoff games.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s figuring out intensity of (the) NBA game, figuring out referees and what is a foul in the playoffs, what\u2019s not a foul. Obviously, there is a difference there,\u201d said Rajakovic. \u201cI thought that he did a really good job for a rookie to step in there, and he did not flinch one moment. He did not back off. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really proud of him. This is amazing for his growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murray-Boyles said that his biggest takeaway from post-season basketball is that it requires increased concentration.<\/p>\n
\u201cRealistically, the mentality shouldn\u2019t be different,\u201d said Murray-Boyles in the visitor\u2019s locker room at Rocket Arena in Cleveland. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to play every game the same way, regardless if it\u2019s regular season or playoffs, but it\u2019s just another level of focus, like it\u2019s the biggest thing, every possession matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cavaliers hold a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Toronto\u2019s Scotiabank Arena will host Game 3 on Thursday and Game 4 on Sunday.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2026.<\/p>\n
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s been a process to get to this point, but I\u2019m thankful for an opportunity to guard some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[879,49,48,2467,2461,2468,2460,2462,2463,44,2464,2465,2466,82,3302],"class_list":{"0":"post-618481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-central-vancouver-island","12":"tag-nanaimo","13":"tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","14":"tag-nanaimo-news","15":"tag-nanaimo-news-now","16":"tag-nanaimonewsnow","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-oceanside","19":"tag-parksville","20":"tag-qualicum","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-toronto"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618481","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=618481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}