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

[YogurtProducer]

The Raptors took 36 free throws yesterday. None of the 5 other teams that played even hit 26. This is the playoffs and a lot of those calls were really soft. The Cavs were up by 1 with 34 seconds when the call on Allen happened. The officials absolutely cost the Cavs the game.

Is it the only reason the Cavs lost? No, but without all those trips to the line, I doubt the Raptors even hit 80 last night, and every time the Cavs started to pull away, the Raptors got free throws.

Even if you don't count the Allen foul (we can see what the 2 minute report says) that's 6 of those FTs as intentionl fouls down the stretch. That reduces the gap to 30-23. Take into account the random foul by Mitchell on Barnes at the end of the 3rd as well?

It's a lot closer than you're making it out to be, especially given how much the Raptors lived in the paint. The Cavs took 10 more 3 point shots...

Living in the paint against Allen, Mobley and Wade is not supposed to get you the type of "initiating contact" calls the Raptors were drawing against them. Even the Strus and Tyson fouls against Ingram were only called one way. Plenty of Raptors defenders were giving up size to Mobley, and he didn't have a single free throw.

If you want to call a playoff game tight, then call a playoff game tight. If you want to call a playoff game like a playoff game, and let them play, that's fine as well. The immense sense of frustration I have is that both teams were not allowed play defense the same way. I'm not upset that Mitchell and Harden didn't get their drawing contact fouls. I'm upset that in the same game, that wasn't the case for Barnes, Ingram, or Barrett.

They DID let them play. That was a physical ass game, and with regular reffing there should have been 40+ fouls called both ways.

Mobley didn't live in the paint, so thats why he didnt get calls lol Just because he is taller on the scoresheet he should automatically get more foul calls?

Some pretty embarrassing coping going on here. You guys got outworked, and lost to a team who shot 12% from 3. Trying to blame the damn refs for that is wild work. Hopefully the players dont have the same soft mentality you Cavs fans seem to have.

[JujitsuFlip]

Did they? I'd probably blame taking an 8-second call in crunch time as why you lost

Probably a missed call on Shead slamming into Mitchell, no?

8-second call should've been called before Shead ever made contact. Go watch the replay.

Nope.

https://youtube.com/shorts/o0F-nD-_Xro?si=KqzjHcgo-FOaOhD8

Right on the GB, you have in the rules thread, has to be to 15 in the NBA to be an 8 second. Poster OG whatever always talks about it.

Shead slamming into Mitchell at 17 or 16 on the shot clock.

Raps benefited from the whistle, it's okay to admit it.

The flagrant that turned the momentum was weak AF too and the Cavs got zero of those calls in game 1 when getting hit in the face on multiple replays.

[YogurtProducer]

Probably a missed call on Shead slamming into Mitchell, no?

8-second call should've been called before Shead ever made contact. Go watch the replay.

Nope.

https://youtube.com/shorts/o0F-nD-_Xro?si=KqzjHcgo-FOaOhD8

Right on the GB, you have in the rules thread, has to be to 15 in the NBA to be an 8 second. Poster OG whatever always talks about it.

Shead slamming into Mitchell at 17 or 16 on the shot clock.

Raps benefited from the whistle, it's okay to admit it.

The flagrant that turned the momentum was weak AF too and the Cavs got zero of those calls in game 1 when getting hit in the face on multiple replays.

You are looking at the ticker, which is notoriously behind.

And that was a flagrant, how is it weak?

[jbk1234]

Even if you don't count the Allen foul (we can see what the 2 minute report says) that's 6 of those FTs as intentionl fouls down the stretch. That reduces the gap to 30-23. Take into account the random foul by Mitchell on Barnes at the end of the 3rd as well?

It's a lot closer than you're making it out to be, especially given how much the Raptors lived in the paint. The Cavs took 10 more 3 point shots...

Living in the paint against Allen, Mobley and Wade is not supposed to get you the type of "initiating contact" calls the Raptors were drawing against them. Even the Strus and Tyson fouls against Ingram were only called one way. Plenty of Raptors defenders were giving up size to Mobley, and he didn't have a single free throw.

If you want to call a playoff game tight, then call a playoff game tight. If you want to call a playoff game like a playoff game, and let them play, that's fine as well. The immense sense of frustration I have is that both teams were not allowed play defense the same way. I'm not upset that Mitchell and Harden didn't get their drawing contact fouls. I'm upset that in the same game, that wasn't the case for Barnes, Ingram, or Barrett.

So it's a handy wavey "Mobley should have gone to the line at some point" type complaint?

Not really. I'm pretty used to smaller guys being able to get physical with Mobley, especially in the playoffs. Again, I don't care how much any of the Cavs players are going to the line. I care the game gets called the same both ways.

What I do care very much about is the Raptors being allowed to shove or shoulder the Cavs good defenders out of legal guarding position, and then get rewarded with a touch foul after doing so. I hate that **** in the regular season and it has no place in the playoffs. It also kind of sucks knowing that a black swan event like that happened against your team, because I would bet big money that the Raps don't get that type of whistle again.

[JujitsuFlip]

8-second call should've been called before Shead ever made contact. Go watch the replay.

Nope.

https://youtube.com/shorts/o0F-nD-_Xro?si=KqzjHcgo-FOaOhD8

Right on the GB, you have in the rules thread, has to be to 15 in the NBA to be an 8 second. Poster OG whatever always talks about it.

Shead slamming into Mitchell at 17 or 16 on the shot clock.

Raps benefited from the whistle, it's okay to admit it.

The flagrant that turned the momentum was weak AF too and the Cavs got zero of those calls in game 1 when getting hit in the face on multiple replays.

You are looking at the ticker, which is notoriously behind.

What else would i look at on the replay? Lol the ref obviously wasn't counting, the thing got down to 14 after Shead illegally rammed into Mitchell (around 17 or 16), with a no call... We'll see if the 2 minute report picks up on this but i doubt it, given home cookin.

"an NBA 8-second backcourt violation is officially called when the shot clock reaches 15. Because the 24-second shot clock starts at 24.00, the moment it ticks down to 15, slightly more than 8 seconds have elapsed (24 - 15.99 = 8.01 seconds)."

[YogurtProducer]

Nope.

https://youtube.com/shorts/o0F-nD-_Xro?si=KqzjHcgo-FOaOhD8

Right on the GB, you have in the rules thread, has to be to 15 in the NBA to be an 8 second. Poster OG whatever always talks about it.

Shead slamming into Mitchell at 17 or 16 on the shot clock.

Raps benefited from the whistle, it's okay to admit it.

The flagrant that turned the momentum was weak AF too and the Cavs got zero of those calls in game 1 when getting hit in the face on multiple replays.

You are looking at the ticker, which is notoriously behind.

What else would i look at on the replay? Lol the ref obviously wasn't counting, the thing got down to 14 after Shead illegally rammed into Mitchell (around 17 or 16), with a no call... We'll see if the 2 minute report picks up on this but i doubt it, given home cookin.

"an NBA 8-second backcourt violation is officially called when the shot clock reaches 15. Because the 24-second shot clock starts at 24.00, the moment it ticks down to 15, slightly more than 8 seconds have elapsed (24 - 15.99 = 8.01 seconds)."

Home cookin

Cavs fans, y'all are wilding out here. Y'all played like garbage and are trying to convince yourself its cause of the refs? Did the refs make Mitchell try to foul bait on a game winner? Or not cross half in 8 seconds? Or only score 89 points?

[Duffman100]

Living in the paint against Allen, Mobley and Wade is not supposed to get you the type of "initiating contact" calls the Raptors were drawing against them. Even the Strus and Tyson fouls against Ingram were only called one way. Plenty of Raptors defenders were giving up size to Mobley, and he didn't have a single free throw.

If you want to call a playoff game tight, then call a playoff game tight. If you want to call a playoff game like a playoff game, and let them play, that's fine as well. The immense sense of frustration I have is that both teams were not allowed play defense the same way. I'm not upset that Mitchell and Harden didn't get their drawing contact fouls. I'm upset that in the same game, that wasn't the case for Barnes, Ingram, or Barrett.

So it's a handy wavey "Mobley should have gone to the line at some point" type complaint?

Not really. I'm pretty used to smaller guys being able to get physical with Mobley, especially in the playoffs. Again, I don't care how much any of the Cavs players are going to the line. I care the game gets called the same both ways.

What I do care very much about is the Raptors being allowed to shove or shoulder the Cavs good defenders out of legal guarding position, and then get rewarded with a touch foul after doing so. I hate that **** in the regular season and it has no place in the playoffs. It also kind of sucks knowing that a black swan event like that happened against your team, because I would bet big money that the Raps don't get that type of whistle again.

''

But it was what you said, Mobley had zero FTs.

And again, the amazing whistle that got them like 5-6 more FTs and 5 fouls? It's not like the Raptors had 50+ FTs.

It's a really strange take.

[realball]

Probably a missed call on Shead slamming into Mitchell, no?

8-second call should've been called before Shead ever made contact. Go watch the replay.

Nope.

https://youtube.com/shorts/o0F-nD-_Xro?si=KqzjHcgo-FOaOhD8

Right on the GB, you have in the rules thread, has to be to 15 in the NBA to be an 8 second. Poster OG whatever always talks about it.

Shead slamming into Mitchell at 17 or 16 on the shot clock.

Raps benefited from the whistle, it's okay to admit it.

The flagrant that turned the momentum was weak AF too and the Cavs got zero of those calls in game 1 when getting hit in the face on multiple replays.

Jesus, slammed into Mitchell? Can you be anymore dramatic? Shead literally flies right past him while knocking the ball out of his hand, you're acting like he body slammed him to the ground.

[YogurtProducer]

Living in the paint against Allen, Mobley and Wade is not supposed to get you the type of "initiating contact" calls the Raptors were drawing against them. Even the Strus and Tyson fouls against Ingram were only called one way. Plenty of Raptors defenders were giving up size to Mobley, and he didn't have a single free throw.

If you want to call a playoff game tight, then call a playoff game tight. If you want to call a playoff game like a playoff game, and let them play, that's fine as well. The immense sense of frustration I have is that both teams were not allowed play defense the same way. I'm not upset that Mitchell and Harden didn't get their drawing contact fouls. I'm upset that in the same game, that wasn't the case for Barnes, Ingram, or Barrett.

So it's a handy wavey "Mobley should have gone to the line at some point" type complaint?

Not really. I'm pretty used to smaller guys being able to get physical with Mobley, especially in the playoffs. Again, I don't care how much any of the Cavs players are going to the line. I care the game gets called the same both ways.

What I do care very much about is the Raptors being allowed to shove or shoulder the Cavs good defenders out of legal guarding position, and then get rewarded with a touch foul after doing so. I hate that **** in the regular season and it has no place in the playoffs. It also kind of sucks knowing that a black swan event like that happened against your team, because I would bet big money that the Raps don't get that type of whistle again.

Pretty wild to be complaining about touch fouls when you have James Harden on your team drawing touch fouls constantly.

Wanna actually find some examples of these horrible touch fouls that were called? Cause I am sure for every bad call against CLE, we can find an equally bad one against TOR. I specifically remember posting in the Raptors GT "Can the refs call a foul against CLE?" because y'all were hacking away without any calls being made.

The whistle didn't really benefit either side in the end. And just blanket crying "Mobley got no FTs " is just strange. I went and watched all his shot attempts. When all you do is take jump shots and fade away, not a lot of calls gonna happen.

[Yeezus_]

Living in the paint against Allen, Mobley and Wade is not supposed to get you the type of "initiating contact" calls the Raptors were drawing against them. Even the Strus and Tyson fouls against Ingram were only called one way. Plenty of Raptors defenders were giving up size to Mobley, and he didn't have a single free throw.

If you want to call a playoff game tight, then call a playoff game tight. If you want to call a playoff game like a playoff game, and let them play, that's fine as well. The immense sense of frustration I have is that both teams were not allowed play defense the same way. I'm not upset that Mitchell and Harden didn't get their drawing contact fouls. I'm upset that in the same game, that wasn't the case for Barnes, Ingram, or Barrett.

So it's a handy wavey "Mobley should have gone to the line at some point" type complaint?

Not really. I'm pretty used to smaller guys being able to get physical with Mobley, especially in the playoffs. Again, I don't care how much any of the Cavs players are going to the line. I care the game gets called the same both ways.

What I do care very much about is the Raptors being allowed to shove or shoulder the Cavs good defenders out of legal guarding position, and then get rewarded with a touch foul after doing so. I hate that **** in the regular season and it has no place in the playoffs. It also kind of sucks knowing that a black swan event like that happened against your team, because I would bet big money that the Raps don't get that type of whistle again.

Bro just take a walk, nothing you're saying is remotely true about the officiating.

[JujitsuFlip]

Did the refs make Mitchell... not cross half in 8 seconds?

No, Shead's illegal contact did lol as the replay we both just watched showed, lmbo

[Iwasawitness]

Where is Merrill and why is he not defending?

What does Merrill have to do with this?

I was told he is a great defender, just wondering why we dont see that?

I didn't watch game 4, so I can't really comment on that. But given that you've refused to give any credit to Wade for Ingram's struggles, and that your takeaway from watching Merrill in a three game sample is that he's a "piss poor defender", I wouldn't be surprised if he had another very good defensive game and you're simply either refusing to give him credit for it because you hate being wrong, or you genuinely have no clue what good defense looks like.

[JujitsuFlip]

8-second call should've been called before Shead ever made contact. Go watch the replay.

Nope.

https://youtube.com/shorts/o0F-nD-_Xro?si=KqzjHcgo-FOaOhD8

Right on the GB, you have in the rules thread, has to be to 15 in the NBA to be an 8 second. Poster OG whatever always talks about it.

Shead slamming into Mitchell at 17 or 16 on the shot clock.

Raps benefited from the whistle, it's okay to admit it.

The flagrant that turned the momentum was weak AF too and the Cavs got zero of those calls in game 1 when getting hit in the face on multiple replays.

Jesus, slammed into Mitchell? Can you be anymore dramatic? Shead literally flies right past him while knocking the ball out of his hand, you're acting like he body slammed him to the ground.

It's illegal contact, i was gonna call it a tackle, so i thought a slam was being generous.

[QingJames]

The Raptors took 36 free throws yesterday. None of the 5 other teams that played even hit 26. This is the playoffs and a lot of those calls were really soft. The Cavs were up by 1 with 34 seconds when the call on Allen happened. The officials absolutely cost the Cavs the game.

Is it the only reason the Cavs lost? No, but without all those trips to the line, I doubt the Raptors even hit 80 last night, and every time the Cavs started to pull away, the Raptors got free throws.

Even if you don't count the Allen foul (we can see what the 2 minute report says) that's 6 of those FTs as intentionl fouls down the stretch. That reduces the gap to 30-23. Take into account the random foul by Mitchell on Barnes at the end of the 3rd as well?

It's a lot closer than you're making it out to be, especially given how much the Raptors lived in the paint. The Cavs took 10 more 3 point shots...

Living in the paint against Allen, Mobley and Wade is not supposed to get you the type of "initiating contact" calls the Raptors were drawing against them. … Plenty of Raptors defenders were giving up size to Mobley, and he didn't have a single free throw.

This is probably a result of Mobley being a soft and abusable defender in the post by anyone with an ounce of strength more than him (which is every single player on the Raptors playing in this series with the exception of Jakobe). The issue on the other end stems from the same problem: Mobley is soft, weak, and bagless, so it’s no surprise he can’t post up Shead.

[Duffman100]

Nope.

https://youtube.com/shorts/o0F-nD-_Xro?si=KqzjHcgo-FOaOhD8

Right on the GB, you have in the rules thread, has to be to 15 in the NBA to be an 8 second. Poster OG whatever always talks about it.

Shead slamming into Mitchell at 17 or 16 on the shot clock.

Raps benefited from the whistle, it's okay to admit it.

The flagrant that turned the momentum was weak AF too and the Cavs got zero of those calls in game 1 when getting hit in the face on multiple replays.

Jesus, slammed into Mitchell? Can you be anymore dramatic? Shead literally flies right past him while knocking the ball out of his hand, you're acting like he body slammed him to the ground.

It's illegal contact, i was gonna call it a tackle, so i thought a slam was being generous.

in all fairness, I thought that was a foul too.

[Iwasawitness]

Living in the paint against Allen, Mobley and Wade is not supposed to get you the type of "initiating contact" calls the Raptors were drawing against them. Even the Strus and Tyson fouls against Ingram were only called one way. Plenty of Raptors defenders were giving up size to Mobley, and he didn't have a single free throw.

If you want to call a playoff game tight, then call a playoff game tight. If you want to call a playoff game like a playoff game, and let them play, that's fine as well. The immense sense of frustration I have is that both teams were not allowed play defense the same way. I'm not upset that Mitchell and Harden didn't get their drawing contact fouls. I'm upset that in the same game, that wasn't the case for Barnes, Ingram, or Barrett.

So it's a handy wavey "Mobley should have gone to the line at some point" type complaint?

Not really. I'm pretty used to smaller guys being able to get physical with Mobley, especially in the playoffs. Again, I don't care how much any of the Cavs players are going to the line. I care the game gets called the same both ways.

What I do care very much about is the Raptors being allowed to shove or shoulder the Cavs good defenders out of legal guarding position, and then get rewarded with a touch foul after doing so. I hate that **** in the regular season and it has no place in the playoffs. It also kind of sucks knowing that a black swan event like that happened against your team, because I would bet big money that the Raps don't get that type of whistle again.

The game is never going to get called "both ways". It's always going to come down to which team gets lucky. Look at the history of the NBA. Can you honestly say that there have been more evenly called games than biased or one sided ones?

Again, I didn't watch the game. I can't comment on how things played out. But based on what I'm seeing, I do agree that saying "refs cost the Cavs the game" is a bit of a stretch. I would be willing to wager that Harden having seven first half turnovers, Mitchell waiting until the fourth quarter to score, Strus going 0-5 from three, Mobley playing terrible and Allen only scoring 3 points are just a few of the many reasons why Cleveland lost this game.

You can't really do much about bad officiating. You can absolutely do something about your team playing terrible. I don't buy into this idea that we should be blaming the officials when the team you lost to shot 4-30 from three.

[JujitsuFlip]

Jesus, slammed into Mitchell? Can you be anymore dramatic? Shead literally flies right past him while knocking the ball out of his hand, you're acting like he body slammed him to the ground.

It's illegal contact, i was gonna call it a tackle, so i thought a slam was being generous.

in all fairness, I thought that was a foul too.

Hahaha thank you.

Refs didn't win you all the game but it's okay if both sides say hey maybe this reffing wasn't excellent.

Cavs can't figure out your guys defense so unless we're gonna make* like 40 free throws, it's prolly a 6 game series for the Raps, unless Cavs just get hot from deep one game.

*i say makes because Cavs are too inconsistent at the charity stripe, hate to see how many attempts that would take

[jbk1234]

So it's a handy wavey "Mobley should have gone to the line at some point" type complaint?

Not really. I'm pretty used to smaller guys being able to get physical with Mobley, especially in the playoffs. Again, I don't care how much any of the Cavs players are going to the line. I care the game gets called the same both ways.

What I do care very much about is the Raptors being allowed to shove or shoulder the Cavs good defenders out of legal guarding position, and then get rewarded with a touch foul after doing so. I hate that **** in the regular season and it has no place in the playoffs. It also kind of sucks knowing that a black swan event like that happened against your team, because I would bet big money that the Raps don't get that type of whistle again.

The game is never going to get called "both ways". It's always going to come down to which team gets lucky. Look at the history of the NBA. Can you honestly say that there have been more evenly called games than biased or one sided ones?

Again, I didn't watch the game. I can't comment on how things played out. But based on what I'm seeing, I do agree that saying "refs cost the Cavs the game" is a bit of a stretch. I would be willing to wager that Harden having seven first half turnovers, Mitchell waiting until the fourth quarter to score, Strus going 0-5 from three, Mobley playing terrible and Allen only scoring 3 points are just a few of the many reasons why Cleveland lost this game.

You can't really do much about bad officiating. You can absolutely do something about your team playing terrible. I don't buy into this idea that we should be blaming the officials when the team you lost to shot 4-30 from three.

Watch the game. Seriously.

Part of what happened is that the guys the Cavs left open from 3 simply aren't good three points shooters. We gave Shead and Walters the Okoro treatment, they took 13 three pointers, and made none of them. Battle was not left unattended for his one attempt. Ingram was 3/7 which is actually above his average. Barrett was 1/6 which is an attempt off his.

[bisme37]

Yo!

Game 5 is Wednesday at 7:30pm ET on ESPN

[YogurtProducer]

Jesus, slammed into Mitchell? Can you be anymore dramatic? Shead literally flies right past him while knocking the ball out of his hand, you're acting like he body slammed him to the ground.

It's illegal contact, i was gonna call it a tackle, so i thought a slam was being generous.

in all fairness, I thought that was a foul too.

From my handheld watch timing, it was 8 seconds before Shead even touched him. Refs aren't gonna bail out braindead plays, and Mitchell wasn't making it over in time even if Shead didn't move.

Acting like the refs forced Mitchell to put them in the situation to make a huge call like that anyways, is the Cavs fault.

Pining this loss on the refs is purely cope.