The Toronto Raptors are in a weird spot. From a circumstantial point-of-view, they’re not supposed to win this series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. This is the franchise’s first playoff appearance since the 2021-22 season and the move they made at the trade deadline was for tax reasons. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers went all-in with the blockbuster […]
The Toronto Raptors announced Friday that point guard Immanuel Quickley will not be available for the remainder of the team’s first round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Quickley, who was recovering from a hamstring issue, re-injured it during the rehabilitation process. The team added that an update will be provided “as appropriate”. After several injury-plagued […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers will try to keep the momentum going as they take on the Toronto Raptors in Game 3. Share your thoughts as the game unfolds. If you aren’t a member of the community, sign up so you can talk to your fellow Cavalier fans and make your voice heard! Go Cavs!
The 2026 NBA Playoffs schedule for April 23rd features a trio of interesting matchups. Three games are on tap, as follows: 4:00 PM— New York Knicks at Atlanta Hawks (series tied 1-1) 5:00 PM—Cleveland Cavaliers at Toronto Raptors (Cleveland leads 2-0) 6:30 PM—Denver Nuggets at Minnesota Timberwolves (series tied 1-1) All times are Pacific. All […]
INDEPENDENCE — The Cleveland Cavaliers have taken a comfortable 2-0 lead in their first-round series against the Toronto Raptors despite not getting consistent help outside of their star players. Max Strus’s 24 points in Game 1 account for nearly half of the team’s bench points through the first two games of the series. In Game […]
For years, LeBron James and Marcus Smart have shared the court. However, it’s often been on opposing sides. Smart, a longtime Celtic, faced off against James when he was a Cavalier for countless regular-season games and in the postseason during the 2010s. Cleveland got the better of Boston during those battles, winning the Eastern Conference […]
You can’t fake chemistry. It’s an intangible thing that’s so vital to playing winning basketball, you almost wonder why it isn’t mentioned more often. You can’t win a championship without rapport and trust. For the Cleveland Cavaliers, fast-tracking the process of building that connection between Donovan Mitchell and James Harden was their biggest challenge entering […]
CLEVELAND — Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković was perplexed about Brandon Ingram’s lack of free throws after his team dropped Game 2 to the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-105. In the process of that complaint, he admitted something that maybe no other coach has about this era of Cavs basketball. “Cleveland is playing with a lot […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers rode their three best players (Mitchell, Mobley, and Harden) for 83 points to take a 2-0 series lead over the Toronto Raptors. Let’s go over today’s winners, because there were no losers. WINNER – BAGcourt It was somewhere between Donovan Mitchell’s second windmill gather and James Harden’s third step-back jumper of the […]
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers grinded out a sometimes ugly 115-105 win over the Toronto Raptors in Game 2 to take a 2-0 series lead. Much of that success was due to their defense and how they shut down forward Brandon Ingram, thanks in part to the services of Dean Wade. Toronto’s leading scorer was […]
Change. That’s what Game 2 was meant to bring after Saturday’s rough showing against Cleveland. That might have looked like a bigger role for Brandon Ingram, more responsibility for CMB, or any number of defensive changes to better contain James Harden and Donovan Mitchell. Yet, as the Raptors began the game that would end in […]
CLEVELAND — It wasn’t pretty, but the Cleveland Cavaliers did enough to grab a 2-0 series lead in what became a somewhat physical game. They defeated the Toronto Raptors 115-105 and are firmly in the driver’s seat as the series shifts north of the border. Head coach Kenny Atkinson was concerned about his team’s intensity […]
CLEVELAND — Telling someone back in 2015 that a Cleveland Cavaliers head coach would compare his point guard, James Harden, to Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James would probably break their brain. We live in a weird world. The Cavs have been rolling offensively since adding Harden in February. The speed at which he processes […]
When the Toronto Raptors stepped into the Cleveland Cavaliers’ arena on Saturday, the 3 year playoff drought ended for the country of Canada, quickly replaced by a feeling of dread as the third quarter saw the Raptors begin to get blown out on the road. The Cavs just couldn’t be stopped at home, taking game […]
In Saturday’s Brotherhood Playoff Action, Tyrese Proctor’s Cleveland Cavaliers beat Toronto, featuring RJ Barrett and Brandon Ingram, 126-113. Denver, with Tyus Jones, knocked off the Timberwolves, 116-105. The Hawks, coached by Quin Snyder and featuring Jalen Johnson, lost to New York, 113-102. The Los Angeles Lakers, coached by JJ Redick and starring Luke Kennard, grounded […]
CLEVELAND — White dress shirt, white sport jacket, white bowtie, white three-quarter-length dress shorts, white socks, and a pair of his own signature basketball shoes. Whether or not they were the same pair James Harden wore 45 minutes earlier during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 126-113 Game 1 win over the Toronto Raptors is unknown. What we […]
The Cavaliers protected home court this afternoon, handily defeating the Raptors 126-113 on the strength of Donovan Mitchell’s and James Harden’s combined 54 points. The Raptors have been branded as optimistic underdogs in this series. While sweeping Cleveland in the season series 3-0, those losses came early in the season before their acquisition of James […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers took care of business in a blowout win to start the 2026 NBA Playoffs. All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player. Donovan Mitchell 32 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals Mark another special start to the playoffs for a guy who is one of the league’s most […]
The Toronto Raptors kick off the 2025-2026 NBA Playoffs, drawing the matinee matchup in their best-of-seven series against the four-seed Cleveland Cavaliers. This will be Toronto’s first postseason appearance since 2022. In regular season games, Toronto swept Cleveland 3-0. While this is promising, all of those matchups were in a four week span in late […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers finally discovered midway through this season that they’re better when Jarrett Allen is heavily featured than they are when he’s not. That process was halted at the beginning of March when he injured his knee during the team’s win over the Detroit Pistons. Allen returned to the lineup the last week of […]
The final weeks of the regular season are when the top teams visibly turn their attention to the postseason. They know who they are and what their identity will be in the playoffs. Unless the team is vying for a higher seeding, you will see a visible dip in play for the final weeks. The […]
This is the second of a series of roundtable questions I’m asking the staff here at Peachtree Hoops about the Hawks as we approach the postseason. Today’s question: should the Hawks have pushed harder for the 5 seed to play the Cavaliers instead of the Knicks? Wes: For me, no. Making sure your playoff rotation is […]
INDEPENDENCE — Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson has been asked how James Harden has helped this team since his arrival in early February. He’s spoken at length about how good a passer he is and how skilled he is as a scorer. But there’s one thing that sticks out above all of that — […]
INDEPENDENCE — The Cleveland Cavaliers had 41 different starting lineups throughout the regular season. That was mostly due to injuries and major trades that shook up the roster at the deadline. But of those 41 different combinations, one has yet to stick out with the playoffs starting on Saturday. As of now, head coach Kenny […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers finished the season 52-30 and have a first-round date with the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. Before we look ahead, let’s reflect on the regular season and hand out some report cards. All grades are based on our expectations for each player before the season began. Donovan Mitchell 27.9 points, 5.7 assists, 4.5 […]