The Toronto Raptors' Killer Bs went on the swarm and got the team back into its series with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Raptors star Scottie Barnes had one of the best games of his career, RJ Barrett set a new playoff high, unheralded Jamison Battle came off the bench to spark the team and Collin Murray-Boyles was dynamic at both ends of the floor in the 126-104 win.
Barnes and Barrett Lead the Charge
Barnes was fantastic all evening long and finished with 33 points, 11 assists and five rebounds. Barrett went off in the fourth quarter and matched Barnes with 33, along with five rebounds and five assists, while Battle scored 14, hitting all five of his shots, including four three-pointers.
Cleveland's Struggles
Cleveland star Donovan Mitchell was way off (1-for-7 on three-pointers), James Harden was solid in the second half after being quiet in the first and Evan Mobley shot 4-for-13. Only terrible rebounding by Toronto kept Cleveland in the game at the half and through three quarters.
Battle's Shooting Clinic
Way back on Halloween, with the Raptors off to an awful start to the season, Battle had nailed all six three-point attempts in a shocking comeback victory over Cleveland that got the team on track. This time, with the season in the balance, he came through with another shooting clinic.
One for the Books
Barnes is already one of the best players in franchise history, but now he has a playoff tour de force under his belt like former stars Vince Carter, Chris Bosh, DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam. Barnes had been the best Raptor through the first two games in Cleveland, but had at times been extremely quiet, tending to bunch up his impact at certain times. Not the case Thursday, when he was without question the best player on the floor. He hit three-pointers early, bullied his way into the post and defended at his usual high level, putting the team on his back while Brandon Ingram again looked way off. When needed most, Barnes delivered with a lot of help from the other Killer Bs.
Lineup Changes
Toronto swapped out point guard Jamal Shead for wing Ja'Kobe Walter in the starting lineup, but opted to stick with Jakob Poeltl at centre. Walter got into early foul trouble and made no impact in the first half, while Shead was quiet himself. Poeltl looked to be moving a lot better than in the previous two games of the series and had a particularly solid third quarter. Murray-Boyles only missed one of his first seven shot attempts. Poeltl was a rare Raptor who did well on the boards, while Murray-Boyles was uncharacteristically held without a rebound until the third quarter. The big man was everywhere in that quarter, rising way up high to emphatically reject a Jarrett Allen dunk attempt, scoring close shot after close shot and getting his hands in the passing lanes.
Murray-Boyles' Impressive Performance
Murray-Boyles looks like he's going to be a special player. He had 18 points through three quarters, tied with Barnes, OG Anunoby and Andrea Bargnani for the most in a playoff game by a Raptors rookie.
Quickley's Status Uncertain
We're starting to wonder if Quickley will play at all in this series. He had been progressing, but missed his 12th game out of Toronto's last 15. Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said before the game, "Those types of injuries, there are certain benchmarks he needs to hit so we know he can come back and play. So far he did not hit those benchmarks. For now, he's staying out." The question remains: Why was Quickley cleared to play the regular season finale against Brooklyn? Yes, Toronto was still fighting to earn a playoff spot instead of one in the play-in at that point, but Quickley was not 100% and Toronto was favoured by a near NBA-record margin against the awful Nets. They probably would have done OK had he not played and picked up a new injury to add to the plantar fasciitis he'd been dealing with. It was not a good sign that in Thursday's near must-win game, it didn't sound like Quickley was anywhere close to being cleared to play. There will be two days off before the series resumes.
