TORONTO — RJ Barrett stated he had trouble sleeping the night before Thursday’s Game 3. A Toronto native, he stated he was excited thinking about playing his first home playoff game and anticipating the task at hand for the Raptors after dropping the first two games of the series.
Barrett responded, as he and Scottie Barnes each scored 33 points to lead Toronto to a 126-104 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 33 points were a career playoff high for both players.
“A night like tonight was good to build some confidence and just show that we’re here,” Barrett stated after the game. “We’re in this series. When we play like how we did today, everybody together, everybody’s playing hard, locked in on the game plan, we can make some noise.”
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Cleveland leads the series 2-1, with Game 4 on Sunday afternoon in Toronto, but the Raptors put together their best performance of the series in Game 3.
They shot 61% (14-of-23) from 3 and got key contributions from the bench — Collin Murray-Boyles set a team rookie record with 22 points as a reserve, and Jamison Battle hit four 3s after not appearing in the first two games of the series. But the Raptors were carried by the performances of Barrett, who went 6-of-8 from 3, and Barnes, who added 11 assists and five rebounds.
They became the third Raptors duo to each score 30 points in a playoff game, joining Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry during the 2019 playoff run and Lowry and DeMar DeRozan in 2016.
“We started off the day really positive, hungry, really wanting to win,” Barnes stated. “We want to do whatever it takes. … We knew we needed everybody for this win. You’ve seen some big performances from everybody. So, it just goes to show how resilient, how bad we wanted it.”
RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes each scored 33 points Thursday night, becoming the third Raptors duo to each score 30 points in a playoff game. John E. Sokolowski-Imagn ImagesIn Game 2, the Cavs’ trio of Donovan Mitchell, James Harden and Evan Mobley each scored at least 25 points, but the Raptors held each of them under that mark Thursday. Mitchell scored 15 on 7-of-16 shooting, Harden had 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting with eight turnovers and Mobley had 15 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic acknowledged his defense’s discipline for Cleveland’s poor shooting night but also credited Barnes for stepping up to defend Harden and Mitchell.
“He did everything for us tonight,” Rajakovic stated.
Barnes added: “Those guys are really talented scorers. They can score in so many different ways by attacking, step-backs, playing in ISOs, driving to the rim, getting foul calls. You just got to try to be physical, show bodies. Really all you can try to do and just try to play super hard. And I think our guys did a great job of helping each other.”
The score was tied at halftime, and the Raptors had only a two-point advantage going into the fourth quarter. But Toronto closed the game by outscoring Cleveland 43-23 in the fourth quarter, punctuating a victory for a raucous home crowd.
“That was great,” Barrett stated. “Energy in the building was crazy. Definitely helped us out a lot, and we just played hard, man. We played hard. That’s the result.”
