2026 NBA Playoffs - East First Round - #4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs #5 Toronto Raptors (CLE WINS 4-3)

Post #1 » by **bisme37** » Sat May 2, 2026 4:22 pm

Game 1: Cavs win 126-113
Game 2: Cavs win 115-105
Game 3: Raptors win 126-104
Game 4: Raptors win 93-89
Game 5: Cavs win 125-120
Game 6: Raptors win 112-110 (OT)
Game 7: Cavs win 114-102

Spoiler:

( Continued from here: https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2506858 )

SpiderMunn · Post #2 » by **SpiderMunn** » Sat May 2, 2026 4:41 pm

Fun times

knicksfan974 · Post #3 » by **knicksfan974** » Sat May 2, 2026 4:47 pm

Let's go Raptors!

canz55 · Post #4 » by **canz55** » Sat May 2, 2026 4:57 pm

Apparently D Mitch's thigh is ****. He's playing at less than 50%

JujitsuFlip · Post #5 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Sat May 2, 2026 5:10 pm

canz55 wrote:Apparently D Mitch's thigh is ****. He's playing at less than 50%

Guy has a lower extremity issue every spring, since he arrived on the Cavs, who is surprised?

JujitsuFlip · Post #6 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Sat May 2, 2026 5:15 pm

Lol and the foundation starts to crack.

Evan Mobley's mom taking a low-key shot at Donovan Mitchell...

Spoiler:

_NoMas · Post #7 » by **_NoMas** » Sat May 2, 2026 5:26 pm

Scottie Barnes is the best defender in the NBA, argue with the wall (not counting Wemby, he ain’t human). What a player.

Thaddy · Post #8 » by **Thaddy** » Sat May 2, 2026 5:29 pm

The Cavs and Rockets are in situations where their top guys probably can't get them to a championship. They should probably fold and think about selling high and blowing it up.

I would say Mobley and Sengun aren't capable of being the best players on a championship team. No team has won a title without a T5 player other than 20 years ago.

The Cavs are going to come out rabid. They know it might result in being moved if they lose tomorrow.

JujitsuFlip · Post #9 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Sat May 2, 2026 5:35 pm

Thaddy wrote:The Cavs are going to come out rabid. They know it might result in being moved if they lose tomorrow.

Some of them have been playing like that's their end goal, yikes.

Zeno · Post #10 » by **Zeno** » Sat May 2, 2026 5:38 pm

Obviously I am overjoyed as a Raps fan that there is game 7 but there are some narratives about this last game that are in my opinion way off. First, Harden in game 6, while not good early was actually very good in game 6 especially in the 4th quarter. Mitchell overall has been more to blame for this being a series than Harden in my opinion, who by the way is 36 years old. Also, unlike games 3-5 in which the Raptors outplayed, outworked the Cavs, I don't think that was the case in game 6 in which I think they Cavs actually out worked the Raps and shooting luck came to the Raptors aid on both sides to a degree. So if game 6 is repeated in game 7, I think the Cavs win.

Statlanta · Post #11 » by **Statlanta** » Sat May 2, 2026 5:46 pm

Notice the difference between RJ’s shot in Game 6 and Mitchell’s shot in Game 4. One guy didn’t believe in his shot and desired FTs while the other did.

Basketball gods exist.

JustLucky · Post #12 » by **JustLucky** » Sat May 2, 2026 5:48 pm

Thaddy wrote:The Cavs and Rockets are in situations where their top guys probably can't get them to a championship. They should probably fold and think about selling high and blowing it up.

I would say Mobley and Sengun aren't capable of being the best players on a championship team. No team has won a title without a T5 player other than 20 years ago.

The Cavs are going to come out rabid. They know it might result in being moved if they lose tomorrow.

thats probably debatable. and once you win a championship your considered a top 5 player after you win said championship. its what comes first the chicken or the egg? The pacers were half a nba game away from winning last season without a top 15 player before the run but most would consider haliburton top 10 after the run but certainly not before it. im not even sure kawhi was considered top 5 before his run. raptors were not really considered contenders. same with tatum and boston honestly. so your probably right but the way you state it is kind of ingenuine because a lot of those "top 5 players" were not top 5 before then won it. embids not currently considered top 5. maybe it wins it all and proves the haters wrong. cades not top 5 maybe he puts on a huge run and enters it. Maybe barnes does that this year or the next as a two way great. hes already did it for a 7 game series.

Theres like 10+ guys in the nba right now who if they made a run and won it all would be considered a top 5 player. so really its more like you need a top 10 player...

Theirs arguably two top 10 players in this series

ChumboChappati · Post #13 » by **ChumboChappati** » Sat May 2, 2026 6:29 pm

Raptors are very lucky to be playing Game 7. That 3 from RJ was one of the luckiest 3 ever.

Courtside · Post #14 » by **Courtside** » Sat May 2, 2026 6:32 pm

Anybody in London England know if there are places to watch these games live? Or maybe the next day?

mtcan · Post #15 » by **mtcan** » Sat May 2, 2026 6:44 pm

ChumboChappati wrote:Raptors are very lucky to be playing Game 7. That 3 from RJ was one of the luckiest 3 ever.

Nah...a fully healthy Cavs team not dominating a Raptors team missing their starting point guard and all-star forward/leading scorer is all about how mentally weak the Cavs are.

This series should not be at a game 7 if all the so-called experts were so right about Cleveland being sooooooo much better a team than the Raptors.

Spoiler...Cleveland isn't so much better. If the Cavs pull out game 7 and win...it is still a huge L for how weak they looked against a Raptors team missing 2 key starters but still took 7 games to beat.

QingJames · Post #16 » by **QingJames** » Sat May 2, 2026 7:04 pm

ChumboChappati wrote:Raptors are very lucky to be playing Game 7. That 3 from RJ was one of the luckiest 3 ever.

Quite the opposite, Cavaliers are extremely lucky to be playing game 7. They have only outplayed the Raptors in game 1, and have required injuries to IQ, Ingram, and Poeltl to even make it to game 7.

Gutless and heartless. That’s what I see when I see watch these Cavs.

sprockets · Post #17 » by **sprockets** » Sat May 2, 2026 7:50 pm

Win or lose, I'm just happy we (the raptors) are working hard and have found our internal grit.
Realistically, we have no business winning this, but the Cavs have been surprisingly... not good.

Blazing_royale · Post #18 » by **Blazing_royale** » Sat May 2, 2026 7:51 pm

ChumboChappati wrote:Raptors are very lucky to be playing Game 7. That 3 from RJ was one of the luckiest 3 ever.

I thought the Cavs was "suppose to sweep this series" :lol:

Appostis · Post #19 » by **Appostis** » Sat May 2, 2026 7:55 pm

ChumboChappati wrote:Raptors are very lucky to be playing Game 7. That 3 from RJ was one of the luckiest 3 ever.

Cavs are lucky Raptors had injuries...

They won game 5 because Raptors ran out of steam. Cavs are the lucky ones that this series is not over.

Raptors are still the major underdogs but saying it's luck that they Raptors are still in this...

Still claiming that Cade and Barnes arn't operating on the same level? :wink:

Appostis · Post #20 » by **Appostis** » Sat May 2, 2026 8:00 pm

Raptors are still the underdogs but...

Barnes and RJ may of been the two best players of the series but it's the Cavs just have the depth.

Who wins Game 7??