RJ Barrett stars in return but Raptors outclassed by Cleveland Cavaliers

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The Toronto Raptors limped into the all-star break thinking of better days ahead while reflecting on the past.

Anything but the present, which on Wednesday was an ugly 131-108 loss a the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The team honoured the 25th anniversary of Vince Carter’s historic slam dunk contest win in Oakland by wearing special jerseys and officially welcome Brandon Ingram to town, with the hope that Ingram will help restore the franchise to respectability.

RJ Barrett led Toronto with 27 points, Scottie Barnes had 16, Immanuel Quickley and Ochai Agbaji 15 apiece. Donovan Mitchell had 21 for the Cavaliers, who shot 48.5% from the field and had seven players in double figures.

Toronto had ended a four-game losing streak a night earlier in Philadelphia, but was playing for the 7th time in 11 days and looked overmatched. That might have been the case even with some rest, since Cleveland has the NBA’s best offence so far and leads the league in wins. This was a fourth win in succession for the Cavaliers and in 8-of-9.

Barrett returned after missing five games after banging his head on the court after making a layup, but Jakob Poeltl was again out of the lineup.

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Head coach Darko Rajakovic said he wasn’t sure if Poeltl would be back right after the all-star game, or if he’d miss some more time.

Cleveland was mostly unstoppable offensively all night. The visitors led 41-17, shooting 59% from the field and 47% on three-point shots after a quarter. It was 68-43 at halftime with Toronto shooting just 4-for-17 on three-point attempts. Cleveland’s supporting cast shot well from three, while all-star guards Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland went a combined 0-for-9 to start. They hit 3-of-4 to start the second half though, and the Cavaliers’ lead ballooned to 34 points. Toronto got it down to 22 entering the fourth.

Brampton’s own Tristan Thompson caused a bit of a stir late by dunking instead of dribbling out the clock and was confronted by Barnes, Rajakovic and others before cooler heads prevailed.

The biggest question of the evening wasn’t who would win the game, but rather if the Cavaliers would be able to take off after the game with Toronto in the middle of a blizzard. Most Raptors were also likely concerned about their vacation plans, with the NBA all-star break starting after the game.

Toronto will not play again until February 22 when Miami is in town.

@WolstatSun