Raptors film room: They had their shot until this happened

The Toronto Raptors played with some grit and resilience against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game 5, despite Brandon Ingram leaving the game with a heel injury and Scottie Barnes being hobbled with a quad injury.

Here’s how they almost won:

Here’s Louis on the recap:

And in the third quarter, Barnes was dramatically limited. He didn’t move as well after his late first-half injury. His shots were fadeaways rather than moving towards the rim. Barrett kept Toronto afloat, grinding his way to points. But the Cavaliers were closing, closing, a shark chasing prey. The Raptors were a boat leaking water, a car out of gas, blood in the water. 

For a time, Barnes seemed to find his legs. Another no-look dime to Murray-Boyles for a layup. He pinned a Mitchell layup from out of nowhere, taking a Mitchell backhand to the eye for his efforts. But he was less mobile defensively, his invisible presence annihilating Cleveland’s offensive flow no longer functioning at top capacity. Mitchell windmill-dribbled into the middle of the floor, dominating for the first time since Game 2. Mobley started finding easy shots fall into his lap. Schroder even found layups.

The Raptors didn’t cave. Shead hit a prove-it triple. Jamison Battle back cut on an overplay and finished a lob from Jakob Poeltl. Toronto found some answers to enough questions to remain competitive. But Barnes wasn’t himself, and without him to be the rising tide and the lifted boat, the Raptors were chum in the water. Shead hit his triple, but he also drove to loft layups into crowds that got swatted. Walter’s uncontested triples vanished. In fact, everyone’s triples vanished. 

Meanwhile, Cleveland started finding very open layups. The Cavaliers’ took the lead, then grew it to two, then seven, then 10. Hobbled, slow, Barnes wasn’t able to seize the spotlight and wrench the narrative of the game that was so firmly driving in the opposite direction. He frequently let Barrett close the game, who drove with fearless élan, but it was like bringing a pistol to a bazooka fight without Barnes’ dominance to lead the way. 

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