Winners and Losers: Cavs vs Raptors – Tomlin and Proctor lone standouts

2 hours ago7 min read

Man, the Cavs just did not have it tonight, dropping a 126-113 decision to the Toronto Raptors that felt way uglier than the final score suggests, pushing their record to a still-respectable 8-5 but exposing some real concerns in the process. In a game where the energy was flatlining for long stretches, two guys decided they weren't having it: Craig Porter Jr.and Nae'Qwan Tomlin were the lone standouts, playing with a kind of dogged determination that the rest of the squad seemed to lack. Porter, who's been quietly finding his groove, was a revelation again, slicing through a Raptors defense that, on paper, should have eaten him alive with their length and athleticism.He wasn't just out there; he was orchestrating, whipping cross-court passes that caught Toronto sleeping and using his slick handle and blazing downhill speed to consistently collapse the defense, finishing with a tidy 10 points, 4 assists, and a steal in 22 minutes on an efficient 4-6 shooting. Then there's Tomlin, the two-way hustle machine who seems to operate on a different motor than everyone else.The dude just does not stop moving, and his relentless churn paid off with a massive 5 offensive rebounds in just 21 minutes, each one a jolt of electricity for a Cleveland crowd that was desperately searching for something, anything, to cheer about in a game that was slipping away. His path to a standard contract is still a marathon, not a sprint, but you can't teach that kind of engine, and he's making a compelling case every time he steps on the floor.On the flip side, the list of losers was unfortunately longer. Larry Nance Jr.'s homecoming narrative was sweet, but the on-court reality has been bitter; looking a step slow and posting a brutal -13 in just seven minutes, he was effectively benched for the second half in favor of Thomas Bryant and Tomlin, a worrying sign for a player brought in to add versatile depth. The team's perimeter defense was a recurring nightmare, a season-long issue that flared up catastrophically as Toronto torched them, going 9-16 from deep in the first half alone to erase a 10-point Cavs lead and build their own commanding advantage.In today's NBA, that's a recipe for disaster, and the Cavs' persistent failures in point-of-attack defense and rotation are playing with fire they can't afford to keep igniting. Compounding the issue, Cleveland's own three-point obsession is becoming a problem; they lead the league in attempts, but without Darius Garland's paint penetration and with Donovan Mitchell (who started 0-6 from deep) wisely picking his spots to preserve his body, the offense can become one-dimensional and predictable.And then there was the strange, disconcerting case of Evan Mobley. We rarely have to call out the franchise cornerstone, but tonight was just off—the energy was low, defensive rotations were missed, and he looked almost disinterested on offense, attempting only 7 shots, fewer than rookie Tyrese Proctor.Everyone gets a mulligan, but for a player of his caliber, especially in the habit-building early season, that kind of listless performance is a red flag you hope is a one-off anomaly and not a trend. It's one game in a long season, but for a team with aspirations, the warning signs illuminated in this loss to the Raptors are too bright to ignore.

#Cleveland Cavaliers

#Toronto Raptors

#Craig Porter Jr

#Nae'Qwan Tomlin

#Evan Mobley

#perimeter defense

#featured