2026 NBA Playoffs - East First Round - #4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs #5 Toronto Raptors (Series tied 2-2)

SpiderMunn · Post #21 » by **SpiderMunn** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 2:47 am

I am excited!! ! Nothing like the stakes of the playoffs and that intensity.

LoveMyRaps · Post #22 » by **LoveMyRaps** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 2:48 am

Cavs in 7.

Still a very impressive season for this young Raps squad.

Most pundits had them finishing outside the top 6 before the season.

JujitsuFlip · Post #23 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 2:48 am

Wargreymon wrote:
JujitsuFlip wrote:I'll go my Cavs in 6. Our 9 man playoff rotation has very few minutes played together.

Cavs are awful at defending the corner 3, so based on bball ref... Ingram, Walter, Battle, and if that Lawson guy plays will be taking and making wide open 3s all series.

The Raptors are 25th in 3 point makes and 22nd in 3 point percentage....I dont think you have to worry about our 3 point shooting at all....

Someone will get hot, seems to happen in most series.

Cavs top 9 guys really haven't played together much yet, learning on the fly a bit, which leads to mistakes.

ItsDanger · Post #24 » by **ItsDanger** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:02 am

Currently the poll results are the inverse on Raps board.

mtcan · Post #25 » by **mtcan** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:05 am

Max Strus and Sam Merrill scare me. I don't fear anyone else on the Calves

Optms · Post #26 » by **Optms** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:10 am

Raps.

Gonna be fun watching James Harden do absolutely nothing in a deciding game, again.

Mk0 · Post #27 » by **Mk0** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:14 am

Ice Trae wrote:Raps in 4

Shameful that it took half a page to get to this comment.

We used to live in a society.

*I am going Raps in 6. I want to believe.

TravisScott55 · Post #28 » by **TravisScott55** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:26 am

Cavs in 6

SOUL · Post #29 » by **SOUL** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:28 am

Cavs in 6. I think Raps gave them trouble in the regular season but I don't think they have enough closers to get it done in some of these games. Ingram will probably get them 1 or 2, and Scottie will have a masterclass defensive game. IMO it's up to RJ/IQ/Poeltl/JaKobe etc to swing the series if they want to win.

I feel like Cavs will give away a game or so as well, at least the old iteration of them. But they have a deep, really good offensive team.

phanman · Post #30 » by **phanman** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:32 am

Will be a fun series and out of the two options, I like the Cavs matchup better than the Knicks. Although we are 3-0 against them this year, it was all early in the year pre-Harden. Who will get the primary responsibility to defend Mitchell is going to be interesting. IQ is going to get roasted and with such a hulking front court, we won't have the luxury of moving Scottie onto one of their all star guards.

On the flip side, it's not like the Cavs have an answer for Ingram either, and hopefully we see 2022 playoff version of him this time around.

RIPskaterdude · Post #31 » by **RIPskaterdude** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:32 am

Tor_Raps wrote:
DaGawd wrote:nba tv series, cavs in.. 5

Raptors fans are already prepared for the 1 pm slot on Saturday lol

You called it

jbk1234 · Post #32 » by **jbk1234** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:35 am

Optms wrote:Raps.

Gonna be fun watching James Harden do absolutely nothing in a deciding game, again.

I think he'll do more than Lonzo Ball who started two of regular season games against them. Neither Garland nor Harden suited up against them this season.

Post #33 » by **Clav** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:40 am

Cavs in 5... but I do think these could be close games throughout.

Cavs lead 14-2 vs Toronto in playoffs, 3-0 series wins

Tor_Raps · Post #34 » by **Tor_Raps** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:44 am

RIPskaterdude wrote:
Tor_Raps wrote:
DaGawd wrote:nba tv series, cavs in.. 5

Raptors fans are already prepared for the 1 pm slot on Saturday lol
You called it

We are an experienced bunch on US broadcasting companies hating the Raptors being based in Canada. We will always get the worst timeslot lol.

Sixteen · Post #35 » by **Sixteen** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:46 am

Raptors in 6

RunOKC · Post #36 » by **RunOKC** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:55 am

Cavs in 5 seems likely

Raps in 4 · Post #37 » by **Raps in 4** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:57 am

Raps in 4. Might drop a game at most.

YogurtProducer · Post #38 » by **YogurtProducer** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 3:59 am

ItsDanger wrote:Currently the poll results are the inverse on Raps board.

You can assume every Raps in 4 and Raps in 7 post are for the lol’s

Stromile12 · Post #39 » by **Stromile12** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 4:00 am

light work for the Raps

YogurtProducer · Post #40 » by **YogurtProducer** » Mon Apr 13, 2026 4:02 am

Wargreymon wrote:I don't know why, but the Raps have never had success containing Harden for basically his entire career dating back to his OKC rookie days. His presence alone even if he is far removed from his prime tilts this series massively in their favour. Cavs in 5.

James Harden has a strong 19-13 record (.594 win percentage) against the Toronto Raptors in his career. Over 31 regular-season games, he has averaged roughly 24-25 points and over 10 assists per game, showing high efficiency against them.
Source: Statmuse

Is that weird for a guy who has won 64.5% of his games and has career averages of 24/7 for his career…?

Who wins Game 5?