The Raptors are heading into their first-round series as the underdog—although this is a much better matchup than the Knicks would have been—and with some injury concerns. Immanuel Quickley is still day-to-day and is unlikely to be at 100% if he plays. Beating the Cavaliers in a best-of-seven series will be a challenge, and the Raptors’ familiarity with their opponent will do little to help them.
The Raptors already played and beat the Cavs three times in the regular season. RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley also won a playoff series against a Cavs team led by Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen when they were still with the Knicks. Although they still have some of the same talent, Barrett doesn’t believe that it matters.
“When I played them, I’m on a different team. They’re a different team,” Barrett told reporters after practice on April 15. “They’re a different team now than when we played them earlier in the season, so right now it’s just a fresh start.”
Darko Rajaković shared the same opinion, saying that he didn’t want to draw any parallels between past and current teams.
The Cavs have changed a lot since the Raptors last faced them
The Raptors and Cavaliers got their regular-season games out of the way in October and November. Both teams have evolved and grown since then, and the Cavaliers have also made some massive roster changes. In early February, the Cavs traded Darius Garland and a second-round pick to the Clippers in exchange for James Harden.
Harden has a reputation for not showing up in the playoffs, but he has been great for the Cavs so far this season, averaging 20.5 points on very efficient shooting from behind the arc, 4.8 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game. The team only lost seven of the 26 regular-season games he played in.
While the Raptors can look back at how they fared against Mitchell, Allen, and Mobley, the addition of Harden still changed the Cavs significantly, and not everything they did against them in the regular season will translate to a best-of-seven series.
One thing that didn’t change is the Cavs’ lack of size on the wing, though, and that could be one of the Raptors’ biggest advantages with their massive trio of Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, and RJ Barrett, as well as Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Murray-Boyles coming off the bench.
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