Film School: Raptors do deep dive on Game 1 loss - BERITAJA

CLEVELAND – As soon arsenic the last whistle sounded successful a disappointing Game 1 loss, Toronto Raptors caput coach Darko Rajakovic and his unit sewage to work.

Rajakovic, his coaches, and each the Raptors players watched, rewatched and analyzed what went incorrect successful Toronto’s 126-113 nonaccomplishment to the Cleveland Cavaliers successful the opening crippled of their first-round playoff bid connected Saturday afternoon. They past sewage down to moving connected the agelong database of things that request to beryllium fixed earlier Game 2 connected Monday.

“We had agelong conversations past night, this morning, about what (the) imaginable adjustments request to be,” said Rajakovic earlier believe began astatine Rocket Arena successful Cleveland. “What do we request to cleanable up? What do we request to do better?

“There is simply a batch of those things. That’s very, very exciting, because location is simply a batch of room for america to grow.”

Starting centre Jakob Poeltl, who scored conscionable 4 points and had six rebounds successful the loss, welcomed the information of constructive criticism.

“I deliberation astatine the extremity of the day, we cognize a playoff bid needs immoderate changes, needs immoderate adjustments. It’s conscionable 1 game,” he said. “We didn’t play our champion basketball, for illustration it’s not moreover conscionable about X’s and O’s.

“It wasn’t our effort that we’ve shown successful the regular season, for illustration we didn’t person that aforesaid determination.”

It was a agelong database of issues that will person to beryllium fixed if the Raptors are going to necktie the best-of-seven series, but Rajakovic and his players were focused connected 3 main points.

– All-star guardant Brandon Ingram has to get up much shots aft he managed only 9 field-goal attempts connected Saturday, including conscionable 1 successful the 2nd half.

– They request to tighten up connected defence, particularly against Cleveland guards Donovan Mitchell and James Harden.

– Kick-start Toronto’s NBA-best modulation offence that averaged 18.9 points per crippled successful the regular play but were constricted to conscionable 3 successful the loss.

Ingram said that the movie sessions helped a batch and that it is important to retrieve that it was conscionable 1 game.

“We had to spot what their crippled scheme was coming retired of the first game, really they were going to onslaught us, what they were going to do connected the protect broadside to slow america down,” said Ingram, noting he enjoys solving the puzzle of different team’s defence. “I deliberation we’ve sewage those answers now, truthful we could look astatine them and spot really we could get amended successful believe and refocus and effort to get amended tomorrow.”

Point defender Jamal Shead, a protect master who made his NBA playoff debut connected Saturday, said that the Raptors weren’t themselves successful the first game. Toronto had the NBA’s fifth-best protect standing successful the regular play (113.25).

“I don’t deliberation we tried a batch of coverages. I deliberation that was a batch of messiness ups, you know?” said Shead. “I deliberation we were successful a batch of places that we weren’t expected to be, and that was connected us, that wasn’t connected coach, that wasn’t connected our crippled plan.

“We conscionable weren’t executing defensively for illustration we should person been, and that’s connected us.”

Part of that protect lapse was a deficiency of rebounding.

Although the Cavaliers sewage 33 boards to the Raptors’ 27 — not an overwhelming differential — Scottie Barnes, Toronto’s champion rebounder successful the regular season, only sewage one. He averaged 7.5 complete 80 games.

“Our modulation offence is really bully erstwhile (Barnes) rebounds the ball, erstwhile he’s pushing the ball,” said Rajakovic. “We’ve sewage to conscionable make judge that (Barnes) gets himself progressive successful rebounding together pinch his teammates.

“We did not do a bully occupation of rebounding the shot and running. We’ve sewage to get amended successful that aspect, for sure.”

Rajakovic still had nary update connected constituent defender Immanuel Quickley.

Toronto’s go-to starter missed Game 1 pinch a mild strain of his correct hamstring. Quickley averaged 16.4 points and a team-best 5.9 assists complete 70 games this past season.

This study by BERITAJA was first published April 19, 2026.