For the first time since 2022, the Toronto Raptors are back in the NBA playoffs. And once again, Game 1 told a familiar story.
Toronto fell 126-113 to the Cleveland Cavaliers, continuing a trend that has followed this franchise for years. It was a disappointing return to the postseason, but not an unfamiliar result for this team.
The Raptors' Game 1 problem runs deep
The Raptors are just 5-18 in Game 1 of the playoffs. That is a remarkable mark considering they are 10-12 in playoff series overall.
The mid-2010s Raptors became synonymous with this trend. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry lost their first seven Game 1's together, finishing just 1-8 in series openers with Toronto.
Even in the Raptors' 2019 championship season, Toronto dropped the first game of the postseason to the Orlando Magic. They quickly adjusted, winning the series in five and eventually the title.
The playoff experience gap showed up immediately
If you talk to just about any NBA fan, they will tell you that playoff basketball is different from the regular season. Toronto’s young rotation is still learning that reality.
Of Toronto’s top nine rotation players, Jakob Poeltl has the most playoff experience with 22 games. As a whole, the rotation had just 65 games of playoff experience. Compare that to Cleveland’s rotation, which has 466 games of playoff experience, led by James Harden with an unbelievable 173 games.
That kind of experience gap shows up most in Game 1's. While Toronto’s core is still adjusting to playoff intensity, Cleveland came in knowing exactly what to expect.
Toronto needs to adjust quickly after another slow start
Toronto hoped to break its trend of slow starts in Game 1's. Now that opportunity is gone. They need to focus on how they respond.
The Cavaliers made more threes, shot a better free throw percentage, grabbed more rebounds, forced more turnovers, and dominated the paint. That is a long list of problems to clean up in a short amount of time.
The biggest concern for Toronto was their lack of fastbreak scoring. The Raptors led the league in that category during the regular season, but managed just three fastbreak points in the series opener.
If Toronto wants to challenge the Cavaliers, those adjustments need to come immediately.
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