Raptors look much better, but fall short against NBA-best Cleveland Cavaliers

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The scrappy, energetic Toronto Raptors from the early days of this season finally reappeared on Thursday night in Cleveland.

Instead of the club that has shown a troubling lack of fight in far too many blowout losses over the last six weeks or so, Toronto fought tooth and nail with the NBA’s best team in Cleveland, taking a lead into the fourth quarter before finally surrendering the game 132-126 to a superior opponent.

Chris Boucher erupted for five three-pointers and 23 points off the bench, Scottie Barnes had 24 points and 10 rebounds, RJ Barrett added 20, but former all-star guard Darius Garland went off for 40 points on 14-for-22 shooting for Cleveland.

This was a classic “trap” game for Cleveland, coming off a stirring seven-point home win over Oklahoma City, the league’s only other 30 game winner so far. The team also rested scoring leader and top player Donovan Mitchell for a Raptors team it was favoured to beat by 15.5 points. Toronto wing Ochai Agbaji missed his first game of the season due to a hip pointer.

The biggest win of the night for the Raptors might have been actually taking a lead after 12 minutes (33-27). It was the first time Toronto had led after a quarter since December 22.

Boucher was great, building on the spark he’d provided in New York in a loss a night earlier, and Poeltl and Barnes also played well against an elite Cavaliers front court.

RJ Barrett nailed a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to tie the game at 61.

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Toronto actually hit nine three-pointers in the half, the same number as Cleveland, and did it on eight fewer attempts. That’s notable because the Cavs lead the NBA in three-point accuracy and ranked second in makes heading into the game and Toronto consistently gets clobbered in three-point differential.

Boucher had been benched for two games before going 4-for-4 in four minutes in the loss at New York. That prompted Darko Rajakovic to call on him again and Boucher, always a top professional, responded with another 4-for-4 run, in seven minutes (including three three-pointers, along with six rebounds). Boucher added another three-pointer and three more rebounds in the second quarter, leaving him one rebound short of a double-double in the first half and nine more points in the third before the magic faded.

Meanwhile, Garland, having a career year, was the best player on the floor, counterpart Immanuel Quickley struggled (but backup Raptors point guard Jamal Shead had his best game yet) and big men Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen were good too for Cleveland, which dug deep for the win.

With Toronto leading 103-98, it was only the ninth time all season Cleveland had trailed after three, and per the broadcast, it would have been the biggest difference in winning percentage in a Raptors upset win in franchise history.

But it wasn’t to be. After a Barrett jump shot brought Toronto within two points with two minutes remaining, Garland hit a three-pointer and free throws, Allen hit a pair too and the Raptors didn’t score again until Barnes dunked near the end.

Toronto, just the second team to lose 30 games this season after dropping 14-of-15, plays again Saturday in Detroit before returning home for a Monday game against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

@WolstatSun