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

[Quattro]

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

Cavs won last 10 in a row

There use to be this guy who played for Cleveland. Name of James. Nicknamed LeBronto. Not sure the playoff record means much today.

Having said that, hard to see Toronto winning a series. Theyve been incredibly consistent all year save the first month....they dont beat good teams.

[Iwasawitness]

I don't know if I'd go that far. Toronto is one of those teams you want to play big against.

One of the only Cavs weakness is their ability to defend the 3. Raptors rank near the bottom as a team.
Cavs are one of the best at that in the league.
Raptors ability to score in the paint, Allen or no Allen, will not be enough to offset that difference.

Raptors is the best matchup Cavs could have hoped for in the first round.

The charmin bros are getting bodied in the paint all series long, come to terms with it now.

Nobody fears Allen and Mobley down low.

Please go be a troll somewhere else.

[QingJames]

One of the only Cavs weakness is their ability to defend the 3. Raptors rank near the bottom as a team.
Cavs are one of the best at that in the league.
Raptors ability to score in the paint, Allen or no Allen, will not be enough to offset that difference.

Raptors is the best matchup Cavs could have hoped for in the first round.

The charmin bros are getting bodied in the paint all series long, come to terms with it now.

Nobody fears Allen and Mobley down low.

Please go be a troll somewhere else.

Please don’t disappear into the aether when your Cavs get badly exposed for the third year in a row.

[Iwasawitness]

The charmin bros are getting bodied in the paint all series long, come to terms with it now.

Nobody fears Allen and Mobley down low.

Please go be a troll somewhere else.

Please don’t disappear into the aether when your Cavs get badly exposed for the third year in a row.

You mean like you do every time you get called out for your idiotic posts? You never defend your position on anything because you are not a serious poster. You post to troll and make Toronto fans look like idiots. At some point you'll have to own up to the stupid things you say.

[PD28]

Raps going into this with no expectations or pressure. Excited to see how CMB does defensively

[Childs]

Read on Twitter

[Iwasawitness]

The good news is game 1 isn't until Saturday, so there's a decent amount of time for some of the players to recover.

[mcfly1204]

I am hoping to see Cavs in 4 or 5. Toronto should be outclassed talent-wise. Cleveland has the top 2, arguably top 3 if you want to debate Mobley vs. Barnes, players in the series. Sure, hot shooting nights can be > roster talent disparities, but a lot would have to go right for Toronto to take the series.

[Vampirate]

The Cavs should beat the Raps in 5, could even be a sweep, hope we make it tough for them.

[Childs]

The good news is game 1 isn't until Saturday, so there's a decent amount of time for some of the players to recover.

Your backcourt is going to be really difficult with IQ being hobbled. Also has plantar fasciitis which has been affecting him for a while. See his March and April numbers. Heck it was going to be difficult with IQ being healthy. Cleveland has a serious advantage in the backcourt.

[QingJames]

Please go be a troll somewhere else.

Please don’t disappear into the aether when your Cavs get badly exposed for the third year in a row.

You mean like you do every time you get called out for your idiotic posts? You never defend your position on anything because you are not a serious poster. You post to troll and make Toronto fans look like idiots. At some point you'll have to own up to the stupid things you say.

Unfortunately we live in a world where nobody has to own up to anything they say.

In fact, I feel a sweep coming on. I’m manifesting it.

[bon]

Cavs win if they're lighting it from 3. If they're not hot then things get interesting. Raps can win a slug fest.. not sure if the Cavs have that in them

[Mattatron]

Unlike the Knicks, the Cavs don't have the versatile 2 way wings to slow down BI and Barnes, but the Raptors won't stop Harden and Mitchell and Mobley will feast on the Raptors non-existent frontline. Cavs in 6.

Mobley never feasted on the Raps. He went invisible.

You don't watch enough Cavs/Raptors games apparently.

16/7/3 are his stats this season. One game he made 14p and on the other night he made 7p. With one breakout game with 28p. Now gtfoh.

[Appostis]

Said Raptors in 7 but no one is thinking the Raptors aren't the underdogs.

Yak showed he can keep up with the Cavs bigs but with Harden..that option might be smoked.

CMB could be a option but that's alot of size to give up.

And the IQ question.

[Edrees]

Cavs in 6 but won't be surprised to see a james harden choke job leading to a raps in 7.

[Iwasawitness]

Mobley never feasted on the Raps. He went invisible.

You don't watch enough Cavs/Raptors games apparently.

16/7/3 are his stats this season. One game he made 14p and on the other night he made 7p. With one breakout game with 28p. Now gtfoh.

So in other words you were wrong. Got it.

[Tripod]

Reality is Cavs have the edge in most places:

PG, yup
SG, yup
3pt shooting, yup
Bench scoring, yup
Overall experience, yup
Coaching, yup

The Cavs made their big move a few years ago adding Don. And now have added Harden. They have their superstar and Star in place.

For the Raps, their best player is Barnes. A guy who has had the biggest impact on winning fir the Raps, but obviously has shooting/scoring flaws. Ideally, he would have what Mobley has...a superstar scoring guard and a HOF guard who is an excellent creator and can get him some easy baskets. Instead, he has BI and RJ.

I expect a Cavs win as the Raps just can't keep up scoring wise with so little 3pt shooting, especially with IQ hobbled. But the season has been a success. The Raps have not made their big move like the Cavs have(Don). Or add a Harden. Or didn't load up the bench with vets. They are just starting this journey, while the Cavs are 3.5 years into theirs and are looking to win it all.

Hopefully guys get healthy for both teams and the Raps can keep games competitive and maybe grab a game.

[pepe1991]

Is this finally year where Cavs actually can have healthy key players for longer than 10 days?

Cavs have roster makeup that on paper should be well equipped to deal with team like Raptors.

Probably 4-1 or 4-2 for Cavs.

[sprewellchokes]

I was one of the few right at the start of the season to say Raps will make the playoffs. In the first month of the league Raps were in top 3 in East and I was also the only one to put the breaks on it and say nope, we'd be competing for 5th to 8th. We got to our ceiling. I'm also gonna say this team has snowball in hell chance of making it past the 1st round or any hope, even when healthy. There's nothing to watch here. Nobody to root for. Not this core, not this coaching staff, who are still learning to coach in the NBA. And they are still NOT fun to watch. And I've watched every iteration of Raptors since 1995.

Dude this raptors team is pretty exciting. I can’t remember another raptors team that lead the league in fast break points. Or doing historic 32-0 runs. Barnes is the real deal and I like this team better than the Demar lead teams and the Siakam lead teams (personally). But we’re all entitled to our opinion.

[FOB]

I was one of the few right at the start of the season to say Raps will make the playoffs. In the first month of the league Raps were in top 3 in East and I was also the only one to put the breaks on it and say nope, we'd be competing for 5th to 8th. We got to our ceiling. I'm also gonna say this team has snowball in hell chance of making it past the 1st round or any hope, even when healthy. There's nothing to watch here. Nobody to root for. Not this core, not this coaching staff, who are still learning to coach in the NBA. And they are still NOT fun to watch. And I've watched every iteration of Raptors since 1995.

Dude this raptors team is pretty exciting. I can’t remember another raptors team that lead the league in fast break points. Or doing historic 32-0 runs. Barnes is the real deal and I like this team better than the Demar lead teams and the Siakam lead teams (personally). But we’re all entitled to our opinion.

I don't get it either. Sure, we probably won't make it out of the first round. But nobody to root for? Scottie, RJ, IQ, BI, CMB etc. are all likeable guys. RJ the hometown kid. Darko might not be a finished product as a coach, but he's sure as hell a guy you can root for.

They are also a lot funner to watch for me than any other iteration since the championship, especially those ego-first teams with Fred and Pascal vs. the young guys.

Cavs are a second apron team and have gone all in with Don and Harden. That's not where the Raptors are in their trajectory, so no shame in losing that matchup. See what you have, make adjustments, hopefully come back stronger next year.