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The Toronto Raptors fell 125-120 to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Wednesday night at Rocket Arena, leaving head coach Darko Rajakovic focused on injuries, execution, and resilience.
Cleveland now leads the series 3-2 heading into Game 6 in Toronto on Friday night, after Dennis Schroder’s fourth-quarter surge and Evan Mobley’s late shooting swung the momentum.
Rajakovic addressed Brandon Ingram’s status, confirming the forward’s early exit due to a recurring issue. “Brandon, as you guys know, he’s been dealing with his heel. He reaggravated that heel on one play. We tried to re-tape him. At halftime he tried to activate to see if he could be ready for second half and he was not able to come and play second half.”
He added that the situation remains uncertain moving forward. “So tomorrow we’ll know more when we do more evaluation.”
On Scottie Barnes, Rajakovic explained how the All-Star was limited after an in-game collision. “He got hit in his quad towards the end there in the second quarter. So we were just trying to maximize him in different areas second half.”
Despite the setbacks, Rajakovic emphasized effort over result. “That’s I don’t take for granted. I think it’s very special how this group is resilient.”
He expanded on that point after the loss, saying, “I thought that we were very resilient tonight as well, even though we lost here, because we were constantly trying to find ways, finding different lineups, finding guys that can help us win the game.”
Toronto trailed after Cleveland’s fourth-quarter push, where Schroder scored 11 of his 19 points. Rajakovic acknowledged the opponent’s shot-making. “They shot 50% from three-point line, made 18 threes. They had a couple of players that really stepped up for them in the second half.”
On fatigue and injuries impacting the fourth quarter, he rejected excuses. “We cannot look at it as an excuse. Obviously we were getting a little bit tired, but they were tired as well.”
He also pointed to defensive breakdowns across the game rather than just the final period. “I think overall we got to do a better job defensively and we cannot allow this team to score 125 points overall.”
Rajakovic praised Cleveland’s depth, specifically Dennis Schroder’s impact off the bench. “I thought that Dennis did an outstanding job in the second half,” he said, adding that the Raptors could not afford lapses. “We cannot take possessions off and not guard Dennis or not guard Strus or not guard Sam Merrill.”
The coach also briefly addressed the fourth-quarter incident involving James Harden near the Toronto bench. “I really don’t. I got to take a look at that. I just saw the scuffle.”
Looking ahead, Rajakovic stressed urgency with the series on the line. “It’s Game 6. They’re going to try to close this series and we’re going to do everything possible to first find enough healthy guys to go out there and then to compete to the last second.”
He closed by pointing to Toronto’s early-game strengths that fueled their offense. “I thought that we were really disruptive. Our hand activity was really good. We were able to get in the passing lanes.”
