The Raptors only lost Game 2 by ten points despite an abysmal 3-15 shooting performance from Brandon Ingram. But they still find themselves in a 0-2 hole now and absolutely have to win Game 3 at home to keep their hopes of beating the Cavaliers alive. No team has come back from a 0-3 deficit in the NBA playoffs yet.
That means, they cannot afford any careless mistakes and countless turnovers, as Scottie Barnes pointed out after Game 2.
“The only time the game got away or when we were really struggling is when we turned the ball over,” Barnes said in the postgame media availability. “I just think if we cut the turnovers down, we put ourselves in a better position.”
The Raptors lost the turnover battle in both games
In Game 1, the Raptors only committed one more turnover than the Cavs and conceded two fewer points off those turnovers.
That was not the case in Game 2. They amassed 22 turnovers compared to the Cavs’ 14 turnovers and conceded 22 big points. Ingram led the team in turnovers with five, but RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes also contributed to the issue with four turnovers each. Jamal Shead committed three turnovers, and Jakob Poeltl added two in just nine minutes on the court. The only player who didn’t turn the ball over for the Raptors was A.J. Lawson, who only played five minutes.
The Cavs, meanwhile, only saw one player turn the ball over more than once.
After that 22-turnover performance, the Raptors lead all playoff teams in total turnovers with 40. Cleveland is the next closest with 31. But, to be fair, a bunch of teams haven’t even played their second game yet, so someone might catch up with the Raptors soon. The Lakers, for example, are already halfway there after just one game.
The Raptors cannot give away possessions
The Cavs know how to run a high-scoring offense. They have great shot-creators, good 3-point shooters, and a ton of size around the rim. The Raptors cannot waste possessions against a team that can score as much as the Cavs can. They took the same number of shots in Game 2, but the Cavs made six more 3-pointers. With a few extra possessions for the Raptors, the game could have looked different.
The Raptors’ chances of winning Game 3 rely heavily on their ability to take care of the ball, not waste possessions, and force the Cavs to trend the opposite way with stifling defense that forces bad passes and bad shots.
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