The Cleveland Cavaliers now hold a commanding 2–0 series lead over the Toronto Raptors after a 115–105 Game 2 victory. But the final score barely scratches the surface of what actually unfolded on the court. The Toronto Raptors knew exactly what they wanted to avoid another defeat. But the Cavs had the foot on the gas, as three players tallied 25+ points apiece.

Beneath the headline performances from Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, a series of subtle yet decisive moments shaped the outcome. Raptors’ head coach was spiraling on the sidelines and sent a sarcastic jab at the officials. Meanwhile, All-Star Brandon Ingram was again ineffective. Despite this, he was not thrown under the bus.

Moments you missed from the Cavaliers-Raptors Game 2

 Raptors head coach defends Ingram and snaps at the officials 

Ingram was the regular-season scoring leader with 21.5 points per game in 77 games played. But in Game 1, the 28-year-old had just 17 points, and in Game 2, his performance worsened. Ingram scored just 7 points on 3-15 shooting and also went just 1-3 from the free-throw line. The latter part of this display even led to the Head coach coming to the rescue.

“Their whole team is very very physical with Brandon. So for me it’s very interesting that he had 0 free throws in this game. Seeing zero takes, zero makes, it’s interesting.” Rajakovic wasn’t alone in feeling this way. Toronto forward RJ Barrett echoed a similar sentiment. “I don’t know what to say on that one without getting fined,” Barrett said. “I’m not going to say anything. Physicality or not, something has to be a foul at some point.”

 Brandon Ingram can’t fight shots 

After game 1, Ingram took a shot at his head coach’s tactics. “Coach wanted to use me as a screener. He noticed that my man wasn’t coming off of me. He wanted me outside of the action a little bit, and being a receiver. At the end of the day, me shooting 9 shots is not going to win basketball games.” After this quote, one would expect that the Raptors’ star would come out hot, but he didn’t. Ingram finished the half with zero points on 0-of-6 shooting with 3 turnovers.

In fact, his final stat line was seven points on 3-of-15 shooting and five turnovers. Despite this, the head coach supported his star player. “Brandon is a very important player for us,” said Rajakovic after Toronto’s loss. “The ball did not go in tonight. We need him to continue to be aggressive shooting. I got absolute support for him. He’s going to make his shots.” As point guard Immanuel Quickley has not played at all yet this series due to injury, the onus is on other stars to lift the mantle.

RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes have performed well, but they still need Ingram to step up his game if they are going to make a run against a talented and experienced Cleveland team.

 James Harden climbs the list of NBA greats as Donovan Mitchell leads the playoff charge

Once again, the backcourt tandem of James Harden and Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers’ offensive charge. Mitchell added 30 points, seven boards, and five assists. Harden scored 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting, adding five assists and four rebounds. They combined for 58 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists to give the Cavs the 2-0 series lead. If these two combined were a super punch, then Evan Mobley’s performance was the knockout.

The forward dominated the paint, scoring 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting. It was his sixth time in his NBA playoff career where he scored 20+ points. It was not just him who created history. Harden had four assists to move into seventh place on the playoff career list with 1,139, passing Rajon Rondo (1,136 assists). In fact, the newest Cavs star also moved up to 11th on the all-time playoff steals list with 288 and just 4 behind legend Manu Ginobili.

Another historic stat was that Harden had his 103rd playoff game with 20+ points and moved past John Havlicek (102) for the 15th-most games of 20+ points in the NBA playoff history.

The same problem for the Raptors continues to haunt them

In game 1, the Raptors conceded 18 turnovers, and a handful became easy transition points for Cleveland. As Quickley was again out for Game 2, Rajakovic’s team had no other outlet. They coughed up the ball 22 times with 7 coming in the first quarter, as all there starters conceded at least once. There were again long strecthes were Toronto did not grab the opportunity to put pressure on the home team. Cavs with a 14-4 run late in the fourth quarter, sealed the 10-point win.

Now, they return to Scotiabank Arena for Game 3 on Thursday night and will hope to get back some mojo. After all, the Raptors beat the Cavs in all three of their regular-season meetings by double digits.

Check out at EssentiallySports the missed moments from Game 2 of the Raptors and Cavaliers featuring Brandon Ingram, Mitchell and Harden.