Morning Coffee - Feb. 13, 2025
Cavs THUMP the Raptors | Welcoming Ingram | All-Star Break
Quick Reaction: Cavaliers 131, Raptors 108 - Raptors Republic
R. Barrett - A
28 MIN, 27 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 3 STL, 11-18 FG, 2-5 3FG, 3-7 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -8 +/-
RJ made his first bucket of the night with his first shot since returning from a five-game injury stint. His three-pointer came from a Gradey Dick feed. He was able to get a nice steal in the following defensive possession and hooked up Gradey Dick with a nice pass in transition. Outside of a bad travel in the first quarter, RJ had an amazing showing and was the only Raptor that was ready to go from the start. The best part of Barrett’s game, especially in the first half was his playmaking as he had countless amounts of drive and kicks that found open shots all night long. He had a few errors, especially at the free throw line but Star-J was the only Raptor who was consistent all night long.
Raptors get glimpse of where they'd like to go in loss to Cavaliers - Sportsnet
Again, only loosely analogous. It’s notable, though, that Cleveland opted to get aggressive with their roster earlier than public discourse may have suggested and took gambles on both their players and their ability to retain talent. They weren’t going to be a free agent destination unless James came back a third time, and they’d probably gotten too good to continue riding the bottom of the lottery. Instead, they added talent where they saw positive value, zigged at a few zag-points stylistically, and find themselves in a pretty good position now.
A four-game sweep of the regular season series by totals of 30, 14, 6, and 23 shows that Toronto has a million miles to cover before we discuss them the same way. The next step would be to take this group, add a healthy Ingram next year and a high pick in a loaded 2025 draft class, and compete for a playoff spot next year, maybe even win a round.
If they can do that, the Cavaliers will be waiting as an opponent for at least a few years.
Here are a few other notes from the team’s last game until Feb. 21.
A few quick positives since the writeup focused more on the macro: Barrett returned from concussion protocol and was excellent, providing the team’s steadiest source of offence with 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting … Barnes didn’t have a monster scoring night but it was fun to see him take the Mobley challenge again, and even hit Mobley with some of the mid-range and post package he’s developed in large part to counter defenders like him … Another really solid performance off the bench for Agbaji … Mogbo continues to do a nice job switching on to guards when asked, the team just needs to help him clean up on the glass when he’s stuck on the perimeter … Shout out to Ulrich Chomche for helping Raptors 905 to a win at 11 a.m. this morning after a road game the night prior.
Ingram held his introductory press conference before the game. I threaded the most notable parts on X, with the headline item being that the Raptors intend to make Ingram an All-Star again. It was a great introduction, with Ingram speaking well of the city, his teammates, the fit, and more, and it included a nice ovation from the Scotiabank Arena crowd when a welcome video was played in the third quarter.
However, it also gave the impression that it’ll be a while before we get answers about how this all looks on the court. Ingram said he has been “pushing it hard” since arriving in Toronto, on the court and in the weight room, as he works his way back from a bad ankle sprain suffered on Dec. 7. Given the severity of the injury and the length of the absence, Ingram estimated it would “take a little bit” to get his conditioning back “but hopefully soon.” Rajakovic, meanwhile, said the team will re-evaluate Ingram’s progress in two-week increments, and they’re “not even sure” if he’ll hit the floor this year.
The messaging has been pretty consistent, from Bobby Webster’s hit on The Raptors Show last week on down, that the Raptors will prioritize 2025-26 the rest of the way here. That means caution with injuries, playing young players more for development, and yeah, keeping an eye on their lottery odds. If that comes at the cost of building some on-court chemistry heading into next year, that’s a trade-off they seem ready to deal with.
Somewhat related, Poeltl is without a timeline to return from his hip pointer injury. Rajakovic said they expect him back sometime after the All-Star break; whether that’s “the first game, second game, third game,” and so on, will depend on how Poeltl's responded to rest and treatment when the team reconvenes on Feb. 19 for practice.
It was fun to receive some second-hand chirping from those around the Raptors for Barnes’ comment about my co-host, Matt Bonner, the other day. Grange has the main story covered. If you want just a little more, Garrett Temple is on The Raptors Show on Thursday and has promised to hold Bonner accountable further.
RJ Barrett impresses as Cavaliers send Raptors to an early break - Raptors Republic
It was a disastrous opening sequence of play, and ultimately the Raptors were down by 27 points (41-17) by the time the first quarter closed. The Raptors played the Cavaliers fairly even over the rest of the game — but, you know how it is, teams let up — and the Cavaliers never pushed the gas to pull away, nor did they fall asleep at the wheel to ever let the game get interesting. They kept their minutes played low, they vaulted 8 players into double figures, and they steamrolled the Raptors. Very 2025 Cavaliers. At least prior to the game, we got a somewhat interesting introduction to Brandon Ingram.
The game waxed and waned, as blowouts do, and unfortunately the Raptors couldn’t even muster up a fun performance from anyone outside of Barrett. Gradey Dick? He had a horribly tough time trying to shake loose for shots, and you just have to hope he keeps his spirits high as he rolls into the Rising Stars Challenge. Barnes? The Cavaliers have the personnel, and they even endorsed a switching scheme to keep Barnes away from the bucket and force him to try and go over the top. To Barnes’ credit he was more aggressive than a lot of games lately, but ultimately he had a very underwhelming game on offense. 16 points on 15 shots, 49% true-shooting. No good. Ja’Kobe Walter was quiet, Immanuel Quickley was pedestrian. No fun. No good. Ochai Agbaji was okay, and his cutting helped him get into the teeth of the Cavs defense, but there was no saving this game.
It was a leisurely stroll towards the All-Star break.
What is most interesting, is what the Raptors plans are going to be once the team comes back from the break. With 27 games left on the schedule (and one of the easiest schedules in the NBA, as far as measuring those things goes) and Ingram without a timetable for return – how many games will Ingram play? How does he factor into the tank? These are the burning questions that will dictate the end of the Raptors season.
You just have to hope, for the most part, that the Raptors games become proving grounds for their younger players. If they want a better shot at that though, it would behoove the Raptors to start playing at a faster pace. Despite Davion Mitchell’s limitations as a scorer, he had the Raptors offense moving very fast, and with things slowing down, so too, does the Raptors efficiency. It’s 6 games in a row now where the Raptors posted an offensive rating that lands in the bottom third of all games played this season. Their transition offense has been extremely poor as well.
Raptors blow off steam on garbage-time Tristan Thompson after blowout loss: ‘I’m not sure what he was thinking’ - Toronto Star
“I think what Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful. I’m not going to stand for that, for sure,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said.
“I’m really glad that our guys ... from Jamal, he was on the court, and Scottie and everybody else, they stood up for themselves. I love when our team stands up for themselves.”
Thompson was not made available to reporters by the Cavaliers staff, but Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson was surprised by the bucket.
“I’m not sure what he was thinking,” the coach said of Thompson. “Sometimes, though, you’re playing the game and you just have a reaction. I know with Tristan, there’s no bad intention there. I think just sometimes you’re playing and the goal of the game is to score. Unfortunate.”
The wakeup call will be of particular importance to two of Toronto’s top players.
Immanuel Quickley, who had been so good in the two previous games, had a tough shooting night: 5-for-11 from the field and 2-for-6 from three. The raw numbers weren’t awful, but he needs to be a more assertive piece of the overall offence.
And Barnes, who punished the 76ers with 33 points (including 10 two-pointers) and a career-high 12 free throws on Tuesday night in Philadelphia, wasn’t able to get anywhere near the rim against the imposing Cavaliers frontcourt anchored by seven-footers Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.
But — and this is putting a good spin on a bad team effort — Barnes did take just two three-pointers among his 15 shots. Maybe he didn’t thrive in the mid-range or at the rim, but he went there.
“As good as he is, as much as I love him as a player, he has so many more layers to get to,” Rajakovic said of Barnes before the game. “I think he had games when he took 10 threes, he had games where he took two or three, he had games where he was living in mid-range and there were games that he was dominating at the rim.
“He really needs to find his balance, and the only way to do that is through having the experience and going through trial. What works ... against certain teams, certain coverages.
“What I really loved in his (Tuesday) game was the force that he played with, and I really hope that he can build off that force that he played with.”
There was no force from any Raptor against the Cavaliers, who are comfortably in first place in the Eastern Conference and chasing the Oklahoma City Thunder for first overall in the NBA.
And after they were rather easily dispatched by the Thunder a week ago and dominated from start to finish by the Cavaliers on Wednesday, the Raptors understand fully how far they have to go.
Takeaways for Toronto as Raptors Fall to Cavaliers - Sports Illustrated
Learning Opportunities
That was ugly.
There’s not much else to say. Cleveland showed why it’s the best team in the league, and it did so in a hurry. Max Strus drained four threes in the first five minutes, and before the first quarter was even over, the Cavaliers had built a 20-point lead.
Given the circumstances, it wasn’t all that surprising.
The Raptors were on the second night of a back-to-back, shorthanded, and probably already thinking about a week off in the sun with the All-Star break looming. They put up some resistance outscoring the Cavaliers in the second and third, but this one was never really in doubt.
And chances are, it won’t be the last time this season looks like this. Toronto has made it clear there’s no rush to bring back Brandon Ingram as he continues dealing with an ankle injury. Jakob Poeltl remains without a firm timetable for his return from a hip injury. With the Raptors focused on lottery positioning and developing their youngest players, these kinds of nights are bound to happen.
The key now is to find the developmental opportunities amid the losses and hope that, at some point this spring, all the losing proves to be worth it.
More Shooting
The Raptors need more shooting.
That was part of the rationale behind acquiring Brandon Ingram at the trade deadline. Toronto is confident it can help Ingram transition from a mid-range specialist to a more consistent three-point threat, something he’s shown flashes of in the past. But even that might not be enough.
Just look at Cleveland. The Cavaliers have five players averaging at least five three-point attempts per game this season, and four of them are knocking them down at a 38% clip or better.
Toronto is nowhere near that level of firepower. Immanuel Quickley is a strong shooter, though he had an off night Wednesday. Gradey Dick has the potential to be one but hasn’t fully put it together this year. Ingram should help once he’s healthy, but beyond that, the list of reliable floor-spacers dries up quickly.
Maybe the Raptors can find something in Jamison Battle, whom they just signed to a multi-year minimum deal. He’s limited defensively, but when it comes to knocking down threes, that’s his specialty. He cashed in a trio of three in 11 minutes
RJ Barrett stars in return but Raptors outclassed by Cleveland Cavaliers - Toronto Sun
The Toronto Raptors limped into the all-star break thinking of better days ahead while reflecting on the past.
Anything but the present, which on Wednesday was an ugly 131-108 loss a the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The team honoured the 25th anniversary of Vince Carter’s historic slam dunk contest win in Oakland by wearing special jerseys and officially welcome Brandon Ingram to town, with the hope that Ingram will help restore the franchise to respectability.
RJ Barrett led Toronto with 27 points, Scottie Barnes had 16, Immanuel Quickley and Ochai Agbaji 15 apiece. Donovan Mitchell had 21 for the Cavaliers, who shot 48.5% from the field and had seven players in double figures.
Toronto had ended a four-game losing streak a night earlier in Philadelphia, but was playing for the 7th time in 11 days and looked overmatched. That might have been the case even with some rest, since Cleveland has the NBA’s best offence so far and leads the league in wins. This was a fourth win in succession for the Cavaliers and in 8-of-9.
Barrett returned after missing five games after banging his head on the court after making a layup, but Jakob Poeltl was again out of the lineup.
Cleveland was mostly unstoppable offensively all night. The visitors led 41-17, shooting 59% from the field and 47% on three-point shots after a quarter. It was 68-43 at halftime with Toronto shooting just 4-for-17 on three-point attempts. Cleveland’s supporting cast shot well from three, while all-star guards Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland went a combined 0-for-9 to start. They hit 3-of-4 to start the second half though, and the Cavaliers’ lead ballooned to 34 points. Toronto got it down to 22 entering the fourth.