The Toronto Raptors delivered a 126-104 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena, cutting the series deficit to 2-1 in the Eastern Conference first round.
Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic framed the postgame discussion around focus, discipline, and execution after a decisive fourth-quarter surge.
He opened his press conference with a personal note, saying, “First of all, I would just like to mention my friend Doug Smith. I miss my guy over here. I miss getting some questions from him over here, but I hope he’s going to be here very soon.”
Rajakovic praised Jamison Battle’s impact off the bench, highlighting preparation and consistency. “This is not the first time to see Jamison Battle perform this way. Ultimate professional, always keeping himself ready.”
He added, “Puts an enormous amount of work in every single day. He goes through all the play groups, extra work just to have himself physically ready, and he’s in great conditioning.”
On Battle’s readiness in key moments, he said, “We know what he brings to our team, from shooting, from stretching the floor, playing without the ball, cutting, moving.”
Scottie Barnes anchored the Raptors’ two-way performance, and Rajakovic was direct in his evaluation: “Nothing surprises me with Scottie to be honest with you.”
He expanded, “He’s going to put everything he’s got out there for his teammates, for his team to find a way to win the game. On some nights that’s rebounding, some nights that’s assists, some nights it’s scoring. Tonight he did everything.”
Barnes finished with a complete stat line, and Rajakovic emphasized his defensive control, saying he “was able to impose his will on the court and do it in the right way.”
On RJ Barrett’s home-floor performance, Rajakovic noted preparation and effort, stating, “I know that he was very excited to play a playoff game in front of our crowd over here.”
He added, “He did extra treatments, extra work, extra film. He did everything to put himself and the team in a position to be successful today.”
Toronto’s defensive structure was also a focal point after limiting Cleveland’s shot creation. Rajakovic said, “The discipline of the whole team. We really tried to make it hard on them.”
He pointed to matchups and execution: “We had the right matchups on those two guys for most of the game. Those two guys are so elite, you just got to make it really hard on them.”
The Raptors’ fourth-quarter separation came from a shared mindset, which Rajakovic described clearly. “All we got to do is focus on the next possession. Continue getting stops, continuing rebounding, taking care of the ball.”
He reinforced the team’s approach late in games, saying, “It was a zero-zero mentality.”
Rajakovic also addressed turnovers and rebounding balance, noting improvement in ball security but adding, “We did not do a good job with rebounding, and that’s part of the possession battle.”
The Raptors now shift to Game 4 in Toronto, carrying both momentum and a message centered on possession-by-possession execution.
