CLEVELAND — It wasn't an easy watch, but Scottie Barnes says it was a necessary one.
Barnes told media at the Toronto Raptors' morning shootaround on Monday that intensive film sessions reviewing Saturday's 126-113 loss in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal with the Cleveland Cavaliers were eye-opening.
"I think it’s great for us to see that we played nowhere near where we think we’re capable of," said Barnes, standing courtside at Rocket Arena. "It wasn’t a good watch for us, to be honest. We needed to see that.
"We’d for sure rather win, but it’s good for us to see that we were nowhere near what we’re capable of."
Barnes had 21 points, seven assists and just one rebound — well below the 7.5 he averaged in the regular season — in the loss. He said that the Raptors, who had the NBA's fifth-best defensive rating heading into the first-round matchup with Cleveland, were lacking effort.
"They just got wherever they wanted, to be honest. That’s really just how it was," said Barnes. "They got wherever they wanted and they were scoring at a high efficiency, high rate. Second half, it got real ugly for us.
"We’ve just got to be able to stop that and be able to score right away."
RJ Barrett, who led Toronto with 24 points in Game 1, agreed with Barnes that the loss was an important wake-up call.
"As bad as it probably sounds, it's kind of good to get a game under our belts," said the swingman from Mississauga, Ont. "As a team, as a coaching staff, us as a unit, for a lot of guys, that was their first playoff game ever.
"Just to see what it's all about, the environment, the physicality, knowing that a little better now, we just have to go and execute."
Game 2 is Monday night, with the series shifting to Toronto's Scotiabank Arena for Games 3 and 4 on Thursday and Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2026.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
