Raptors will have to play hard versus Cavaliers forwards

Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley (4) tries to take the ball past Toronto Raptors center Jakob Poeltl (19) during first half NBA basketball action in Toronto on Monday November 24, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Being over six-foot-seven would be considered tall in most walks of life, but in the NBA, that makes you an undersized forward.

That will be Toronto Raptors’ challenge in their first-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Although seven-foot Jakob Poeltl, six-foot-nine Sandro Mamukelashvili and six-foot-seven Collin Murray-Boyles aren’t short by anyone’s definition, they’ll be tangling with Cleveland’s frontcourt of six-foot-nine Jarrett Allen and six-foot-11 Evan Mobley. Murray-Boyles, who has impressed at centre in his rookie season for Toronto, said he couldn’t emulate the game of Mobley, last season’s Defensive Player of the Year, even if he wanted to.

“I don’t know if I can study that. He’s got a couple inches on me,” joked Murray-Boyles on Thursday. “I’ve watched most of his film and he’s just blocking shots and mucking it up in the paint.”

The Raptors had the NBA’s fifth-best defensive rating in the regular season (113.25) which helped them earn the Eastern Conference’s No. 5 seed. Smart defensive switches and the versatility of all-star swingman Scottie Barnes, helped them overcome taller opponents.

Making switches at an elite level will be needed against Mobley, Allen and guards Donovan Mitchell and James Harden.

“They’re a really, really good team and have a lot of good pieces,” said Murray-Boyles. “It’s going to be a really good challenge for me and the team as a whole. The matchup is pretty good as we have Scott guarding their guards.

“They have a really good backcourt, a really good frontcourt, really don’t have many weaknesses.”

Cleveland is almost the opposite of Toronto, with the sixth-best offensive rating (119.26) in the league which helped carry the team to No. 4 in the East. The Raptors beat Cleveland in all three of their regular-season matchups, but they all came before the Cavaliers traded for Harden, a surefire Hall of Famer who is averaging 23.6 points per game in 70 contests split between Cleveland and the Los Angeles Clippers.

“We ended the season being the fifth-best defence in the league, and that’s without having seven-foot something players protecting and changing shots at the rim,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “Everything for our defence starts with how well we guard the ball and how well we stay in front of the ball.

“It’s not just necessarily pressuring the full court and trying to make them commit turnovers. It’s really making the heart of them being physical with them, slow them down. I think we’ve got to do that.”

Mamukelashvili was one of only five reserves in the entire NBA that scored over 600 points and pulled down over 300 rebounds. He thinks it would be a mistake to get away from the tactics that helped Toronto qualify for the playoffs for the first time in four years.

“If you make the playoffs and you switch up your whole routine, like, what got you through 82 games?” he said after practice at Toronto’s OVO Athletic Centre. “There were some tough games, must-win games.

“I feel like now the only thing you have to do is monitor sleep, make sure you get your rest. But everything else is the same. I wake up, I walk my dogs, come here and watch the film, then walk my dogs again.”

Both Murray-Boyles and Mamukelashvili said they’ll have to be more physical to slow down the Cavaliers.

“Get up in peoples’ grills, but, also, I have to be smart,” said Murray-Boyles. “This will be a really big challenge for me to stay out of foul trouble and really lock into personnel and lock into what I need to do so I can be effective in the game.”

Mamukelashvili said every possession will matter.

“It’s not the best player, but the best team that wins, and whoever plays harder and whoever wants it more,” said Mamukelashvili. “Also with playoff basketball you can never underestimate anybody, but also you cannot be scared of anybody.

“You’ve just got to come out there and just play hard.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press