Despite a valiant effort that included taking a lead into the fourth quarter, the Toronto Raptors once again fell short on the road in Cleveland, dropping a pivotal Game 5, 125–120, to the Cavaliers.
The longer the series has gone on, the tighter things have gotten between the Raptors and Cavaliers, and on Wednesday, we even saw some chippiness creep in. It began with Scottie Barnes and James Harden mixing it up before a jump ball in the third quarter, and then came another dust-up involving Harden and RJ Barrett late in the fourth by the Toronto bench.
Barrett wasn’t happy with what Harden was doing, and although he respects the 11-time All-Star, he insisted after the game that all of that goes out the window in the heat of a playoff battle.
“No, nothing. You know, the ball was by our bench and he walked over to our bench to go pick it up. I take everything as disrespect—don’t walk over to our bench and pick up the ball. You know, James Harden is a guy that I have tremendous respect for and always have. I always watched him growing up, but who cares right now? Just don’t walk to our bench and grab the ball. I’d expect if I went over to their bench and grabbed the ball, they’d react the same way,”
The 25-year-old Barrett put up a team-high 25 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists in the losing effort, and is now averaging 24.4 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 3.8 APG through five games this postseason.
It wasn’t the end result the Raptors were hoping for, though Game 5 was certainly their best showing thus far in Cleveland.
Unfortunately, they now find themselves on the brink of elimination heading back to Toronto for Game 6, where they’ll need more of the same from Barrett—especially if Brandon Ingram (heel inflammation) is unable to go after leaving Game 5 early.
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