Deadspin | Raptors ‘expect the unexpected’ from Cavaliers in Game 4 
Apr 23, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett (9) celebrates as Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) tries to walk away during the second half of game three of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images The Toronto Raptors understand they must be ready for anything Sunday afternoon when they attempt to even their Eastern Conference first-round series with the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series after the Raptors’ 126-104 home victory in Game 3 on Thursday.
“Every game in this series so far, it was different,” Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said. “So every game we’ve got to expect the unexpected. We’ve got to be ready for it. We’ve got to have some counters and some ideas how we want to react in those moments. And most importantly, we’ve got to stay together throughout the whole 48 minutes.”
The Raptors ran away from the Cavaliers with a 43-23 margin in the fourth quarter. The surge was ignited by reserve Jamison Battle, who scored all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter by going 5-for-5 from the floor — including 4-for-4 from 3-point range.
The Cavaliers sat through this movie before. Battle sank all seven of his shots from the floor — including six from 3-point range — during his 20-point performance in Toronto’s 112-101 victory on Oct. 31 at Cleveland.
“This is not the first time to see Jamison Battle perform this way,” Rajakovic said. “Ultimate professional, always keeping himself ready, puts an enormous amount of work in every single day.”
“He’s a shooter,” said Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, who was held to 15 points Thursday after scoring 62 in the first two games.
“He gets open, and once you see one go in, it goes from there, right? So credit to him, credit to them. But, you know, we’ve got to be better, and we’ll fix it.”
While Mitchell and James Harden (18 points) encountered some trouble, the Raptors received 33 points each from Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett, both career playoff bests. Reserve Collin Murray-Boyles added 22 points, which set the team’s postseason record for a rookie.
Jamal Shead had five of Toronto’s 11 steals that contributed to Cleveland’s 22 turnovers leading to 23 points.
Harden committed eight turnovers in Game 3.
“For me, I’ve got to be better,” Harden said. “I think all of us. Just turning the basketball over, giving them just easy points off transition opportunities. The first two games we did a good job. Give them credit, like they had a different game plan and were causing turnovers.”
“We didn’t do the dirty work that’s necessary to win on the road,” said Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson.
The Raptors played with more energy in Game 3, yet the Cavaliers trailed by only two points entering the fourth quarter.
“The force was just way on their side, their ability to kind of be the more aggressive team,” Atkinson said. “Just kind of that simple.
“We’ll clean up the tactical things in terms of doing the dirty work, stuff we talked about.
“You know, the defense has got to be better, you know, in the fourth quarter, we started missing coverages, got backdoored, lost our focus. …we could not get a stop, then Battle came in and really gave them a boost. So this is the playoffs. This is what it’s like.”
The Raptors said on Friday that Immanuel Quickley has been ruled out for the rest of the series. Toronto’s starting point guard missed the first three games of the series, and the team said he re-injured his right hamstring during his rehabilitation.
–Field Level Media
#Deadspin #Raptors #expect #unexpected #Cavaliers #Game
Apr 23, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett (9) celebrates as Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) tries to walk away during the second half of game three of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images The Toronto Raptors understand they must be ready for anything Sunday afternoon when they attempt to even their Eastern Conference first-round series with the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series after the Raptors’ 126-104 home victory in Game 3 on Thursday.
“Every game in this series so far, it was different,” Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said. “So every game we’ve got to expect the unexpected. We’ve got to be ready for it. We’ve got to have some counters and some ideas how we want to react in those moments. And most importantly, we’ve got to stay together throughout the whole 48 minutes.”
The Raptors ran away from the Cavaliers with a 43-23 margin in the fourth quarter. The surge was ignited by reserve Jamison Battle, who scored all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter by going 5-for-5 from the floor — including 4-for-4 from 3-point range.
The Cavaliers sat through this movie before. Battle sank all seven of his shots from the floor — including six from 3-point range — during his 20-point performance in Toronto’s 112-101 victory on Oct. 31 at Cleveland.
“This is not the first time to see Jamison Battle perform this way,” Rajakovic said. “Ultimate professional, always keeping himself ready, puts an enormous amount of work in every single day.”
“He’s a shooter,” said Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, who was held to 15 points Thursday after scoring 62 in the first two games.
“He gets open, and once you see one go in, it goes from there, right? So credit to him, credit to them. But, you know, we’ve got to be better, and we’ll fix it.”
While Mitchell and James Harden (18 points) encountered some trouble, the Raptors received 33 points each from Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett, both career playoff bests. Reserve Collin Murray-Boyles added 22 points, which set the team’s postseason record for a rookie.
Jamal Shead had five of Toronto’s 11 steals that contributed to Cleveland’s 22 turnovers leading to 23 points.
Harden committed eight turnovers in Game 3.
“For me, I’ve got to be better,” Harden said. “I think all of us. Just turning the basketball over, giving them just easy points off transition opportunities. The first two games we did a good job. Give them credit, like they had a different game plan and were causing turnovers.”
“We didn’t do the dirty work that’s necessary to win on the road,” said Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson.
The Raptors played with more energy in Game 3, yet the Cavaliers trailed by only two points entering the fourth quarter.
“The force was just way on their side, their ability to kind of be the more aggressive team,” Atkinson said. “Just kind of that simple.
“We’ll clean up the tactical things in terms of doing the dirty work, stuff we talked about.
“You know, the defense has got to be better, you know, in the fourth quarter, we started missing coverages, got backdoored, lost our focus. …we could not get a stop, then Battle came in and really gave them a boost. So this is the playoffs. This is what it’s like.”
The Raptors said on Friday that Immanuel Quickley has been ruled out for the rest of the series. Toronto’s starting point guard missed the first three games of the series, and the team said he re-injured his right hamstring during his rehabilitation.
–Field Level Media
![Caitlin Clark rewrites record books with historic 45-point outing INDIANAPOLIS — Even before Caitlin Clark took the floor on Friday, she had the feeling something special was in store. If nothing else, she was trying to will it into existence.Individually, she had struggled to find a rhythm since returning from injury. As a team, the Fever needed a big night from their superstar with fellow All-Star Aliyah Boston out.But even by Clark’s lofty standards, Friday was something special.Clark tallied a franchise record 45 points to go along with 10 assists, becoming the first player in WNBA history with a 40-10 game, to lead the Fever to a dramatic 110-107 win over the Seattle Storm.“I feel like you just have to believe you’re going to have those types of nights and you have to visualize having those types of nights and I feel like that’s what I did,” Clark said. “It’s not always going to go your way…I know all the time and the work that I’ve put in and people believe in me and, more than anything, I believe in myself.“You just got to dig your feet in a little bit and, when it’s not going your way, nobody cares. Like you find a way to make it better and find a way to help your team win and make this team better and I feel like that’s what I always try to do.”When her team needed her most on Friday, Clark dug in for a fourth quarter masterpiece. Not only did she finish with 16 points in the frame, but she scored or assisted on 17 of the final 19 points for Indiana. No shot was bigger, though, than her stepback three with 39 seconds left to put the Fever up 105-102, giving them a lead they would not relinquish.“It’s incredible,” Fever head coach Stephanie White said. “It’s special. She does things that we haven’t seen…In the moment, sometimes it’s surreal to see. Heck, I looked down at the stat sheet at the end of the game and it’s like, ‘Holy s—, 45 [points] and 10 [assists].’ I mean, it’s just incredible.”After starting the season hot, things haven’t been smooth sailing for Clark. A back injury has plagued her in recent weeks, limiting her to just four games since June 24. For most of those outings, she’s looked like someone searching for her rhythm.But Friday felt different from the jump. Not only did Clark sense it, but her coach could see it, too.“She seemed lighter,” White said of Clark pregame. “She seemed positive. She seemed like she was bouncy. I think she felt good. I think every day we’ve seen a little bit more of it.”Ironically, it was Clark’s backcourt mate who looked destined for the big night in the first quarter. Kelsey Mitchell scored 17 of her 30 points in the opening frame, helping the Fever to an early double-digit lead. In another bit of history from the night, Clark and Mitchell’s 75 combined points are the most by a duo in franchise history.It wasn’t until the second quarter that Clark really found her groove, doing so predominantly at the free throw line, helping her to 14 points in the period. The Fever desperately needed it as the Storm pulled themselves back into the game to trail by just three at the break.Seattle only kept coming in the second half and eventually built up an eight-point lead in the fourth with 5:23 remaining. However, that became the turning point for both Clark and the Fever as they steadily chipped away at the deficit.Clark showed off her growing array of ways to get buckets, mixing mid-range jumpers with drives to the basket and her patented stepback jumper. A 3-pointer with 2:23 gave her a career-high 38 points and closed the deficit to one. A few possessions later, Clark found Monique Billings for an and-one layup with 1:11 left to tie the game.The sequence of the night, though, came shortly after.Following a Fever turnover in a tie game with just under a minute remaining, Clark raced back on the fastbreak to strip Flau’jae Johnson and win back possession. She followed that up with the biggest shot of the game, turning a broken play into the go-ahead 3-pointer to blow the roof off the arena.“I just think that when she’s really in a flow, [she] reads the game as good, if not better than anybody,” White said. “I think she’s grown into taking what the defense gives her and we always know she has the ability to make big shots and she did all of that tonight.”There’s never a bad time for a 45-point night, but this could hardly come at a better one for Clark. Limited by injury and a minutes restriction, Clark hadn’t found a groove since returning to the lineup on July 8. Finding her rhythm again, then, was a positive in itself on Friday.The 45 points? A welcome bonus.“It’s tough when you come back from injury,” White added. “Your body feels different. Mentally, you want it to happen so badly. Sometimes you second-guess yourself and that’s part of it. Rhythm, timing, all the things that happen when you haven’t played for a little while. So it was huge. It was big time for her and for us.”Funnily enough, White noted pregame that Clark was still on a minutes restriction that had hovered right at 25. That number came and went in the fourth quarter without a hint of Clark coming off the floor.Nothing was taking her out of that game. Not on a night as special as Friday.“Steph knows better than that,” Clark joked with a smile. “Trainers know better than that. They would get an earful. But I told Steph at halftime, like I felt really good and I didn’t want to lose this game…I’ve spent a ton of time on [my body] and I trust the people around me that have really helped me. I always find confidence in that, so I know I’m doing all the right things and there’s no way I was ever coming out of the game in the 4th quarter.“It didn’t matter. I would play with one leg.” #Caitlin #Clark #rewrites #record #books #historic #45point #outing](https://i0.wp.com/platform.sbnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/gettyimages-2285922189.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C10.732984293194%2C100%2C78.534031413613&w=1200&ssl=1 "Caitlin Clark rewrites record books with historic 45-point outing INDIANAPOLIS — Even before Caitlin Clark took the floor on Friday, she had the feeling something special was in store. If nothing else, she was trying to will it into existence.Individually, she had struggled to find a rhythm since returning from injury. As a team, the Fever needed a big night from their superstar with fellow All-Star Aliyah Boston out.But even by Clark’s lofty standards, Friday was something special.Clark tallied a franchise record 45 points to go along with 10 assists, becoming the first player in WNBA history with a 40-10 game, to lead the Fever to a dramatic 110-107 win over the Seattle Storm.“I feel like you just have to believe you’re going to have those types of nights and you have to visualize having those types of nights and I feel like that’s what I did,” Clark said. “It’s not always going to go your way…I know all the time and the work that I’ve put in and people believe in me and, more than anything, I believe in myself.“You just got to dig your feet in a little bit and, when it’s not going your way, nobody cares. Like you find a way to make it better and find a way to help your team win and make this team better and I feel like that’s what I always try to do.”When her team needed her most on Friday, Clark dug in for a fourth quarter masterpiece. Not only did she finish with 16 points in the frame, but she scored or assisted on 17 of the final 19 points for Indiana. No shot was bigger, though, than her stepback three with 39 seconds left to put the Fever up 105-102, giving them a lead they would not relinquish.“It’s incredible,” Fever head coach Stephanie White said. “It’s special. She does things that we haven’t seen…In the moment, sometimes it’s surreal to see. Heck, I looked down at the stat sheet at the end of the game and it’s like, ‘Holy s—, 45 [points] and 10 [assists].’ I mean, it’s just incredible.”After starting the season hot, things haven’t been smooth sailing for Clark. A back injury has plagued her in recent weeks, limiting her to just four games since June 24. For most of those outings, she’s looked like someone searching for her rhythm.But Friday felt different from the jump. Not only did Clark sense it, but her coach could see it, too.“She seemed lighter,” White said of Clark pregame. “She seemed positive. She seemed like she was bouncy. I think she felt good. I think every day we’ve seen a little bit more of it.”Ironically, it was Clark’s backcourt mate who looked destined for the big night in the first quarter. Kelsey Mitchell scored 17 of her 30 points in the opening frame, helping the Fever to an early double-digit lead. In another bit of history from the night, Clark and Mitchell’s 75 combined points are the most by a duo in franchise history.It wasn’t until the second quarter that Clark really found her groove, doing so predominantly at the free throw line, helping her to 14 points in the period. The Fever desperately needed it as the Storm pulled themselves back into the game to trail by just three at the break.Seattle only kept coming in the second half and eventually built up an eight-point lead in the fourth with 5:23 remaining. However, that became the turning point for both Clark and the Fever as they steadily chipped away at the deficit.Clark showed off her growing array of ways to get buckets, mixing mid-range jumpers with drives to the basket and her patented stepback jumper. A 3-pointer with 2:23 gave her a career-high 38 points and closed the deficit to one. A few possessions later, Clark found Monique Billings for an and-one layup with 1:11 left to tie the game.The sequence of the night, though, came shortly after.Following a Fever turnover in a tie game with just under a minute remaining, Clark raced back on the fastbreak to strip Flau’jae Johnson and win back possession. She followed that up with the biggest shot of the game, turning a broken play into the go-ahead 3-pointer to blow the roof off the arena.“I just think that when she’s really in a flow, [she] reads the game as good, if not better than anybody,” White said. “I think she’s grown into taking what the defense gives her and we always know she has the ability to make big shots and she did all of that tonight.”There’s never a bad time for a 45-point night, but this could hardly come at a better one for Clark. Limited by injury and a minutes restriction, Clark hadn’t found a groove since returning to the lineup on July 8. Finding her rhythm again, then, was a positive in itself on Friday.The 45 points? A welcome bonus.“It’s tough when you come back from injury,” White added. “Your body feels different. Mentally, you want it to happen so badly. Sometimes you second-guess yourself and that’s part of it. Rhythm, timing, all the things that happen when you haven’t played for a little while. So it was huge. It was big time for her and for us.”Funnily enough, White noted pregame that Clark was still on a minutes restriction that had hovered right at 25. That number came and went in the fourth quarter without a hint of Clark coming off the floor.Nothing was taking her out of that game. Not on a night as special as Friday.“Steph knows better than that,” Clark joked with a smile. “Trainers know better than that. They would get an earful. But I told Steph at halftime, like I felt really good and I didn’t want to lose this game…I’ve spent a ton of time on [my body] and I trust the people around me that have really helped me. I always find confidence in that, so I know I’m doing all the right things and there’s no way I was ever coming out of the game in the 4th quarter.“It didn’t matter. I would play with one leg.” #Caitlin #Clark #rewrites #record #books #historic #45point #outing")
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