劲爆大瓜

TORONTO 鈥� The first half of the Toronto Raptors鈥� season ended the same way it started 鈥� with a blowout loss at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Donovan Mitchell scored 21 points to lead the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers to a 131-108 drubbing of the Raptors on Wednesday at Scotiabank Arena.

It mirrored the 136-106 win Cleveland kicked off the campaign with back in October.

Toronto (17-38) now sits 13th in the Eastern Conference as it heads into all-star weekend at the Golden State Warriors鈥� Chase Center in San Francisco, while Cleveland (44-10) is comfortably first.

Gradey Dick will be the lone Raptors' representative in California when he participates in Friday鈥檚 rrising stars game.

Cleveland鈥檚 Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley were all selected to the all-star game with head coach Kenny Atkinson.

The rest of the Raptors will take an eight-day break before returning for the final 27 games of the season.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 gonna be important, our mentality and our approach,鈥� head coach Darko Rajakovic said. 鈥淲e gotta continue developing. We have a lot of young guys that are getting very valuable minutes.

"We need to understand and see the big picture of how those guys need to develop and what it鈥檚 gonna mean for us in the future.鈥�

Earlier Wednesday, Toronto announced it had signed a multi-year extension with newcomer Brandon Ingram. The deal is reportedly for three years and worth US$120 million.

The Raptors acquired the one-time all-star forward from the New Orleans Pelicans at last Thursday鈥檚 trade deadline in exchange for Kelly Olynyk, Bruce Brown, and first- and second-round picks.

The 27-year-old Ingram is nursing a sprained left ankle and said he isn鈥檛 sure when he鈥檒l be ready to make his Raptors debut.

When he does, the first order of business will be establishing chemistry with the Raptors鈥� core players.

鈥淚 want to just get out there and play basketball," Ingram said in a pre-game press conference Wednesday. "It's been a while since I've been back on the floor. And I think the adrenalin, I'm gonna be excited to play. I think I'll be able to just fit in anywhere.

鈥淥f course I like to have the basketball in my hands, but also, I like to pass too. Going on the floor with high-IQ guys, it always helps. And I think our team has a lot of high-IQ guys.鈥�

Canada鈥檚 RJ Barrett, who led the Raptors with 27 points against the Cavs, smiled when asked about the addition of Ingram.

鈥淚t鈥檚 big time, you get a player like that coming here. It鈥檚 huge for us, huge for the organization,鈥� said Barrett, who returned after missing four games due to concussion protocols.

鈥淲e鈥檙e happy to have him here and once he鈥檚 able to play and we get to see what it鈥檚 like with all of us out there, I鈥檓 sure it鈥檒l be a fun time.鈥�

The final stretch of the season will likely see increased playing time for Toronto's five rookies 鈥� Ja鈥橩obe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead, Ulrich Chomche and Jamison Battle.

Battle, who recently signed his own three-year contract with the team, led the freshmen with 11 points against the Cavaliers.

Chomche battled against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers in Toronto's 106-103 victory on Tuesday. He then turned around and played for Raptors 905 of the NBA's G League on Wednesday morning in Mississauga, Ont.

鈥淗e鈥檚 learning what it takes to be professional and how to approach every day with the same desire and mentality,鈥� Rajakovic said.

With the game against the Cavaliers well out of hand and the shot clock turned off in the dying seconds, Canadian Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson scored a garbage-time layup that caught the ire of the Raptors.

After the final buzzer, Shead met Thompson at midcourt while fans loudly booed.

鈥淚 think what Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful. I鈥檓 not gonna stand for that for sure and I鈥檓 really glad that our guys, our players, from Jamal 鈥� who was on the court and Scottie and everybody else 鈥� that they stood up for themselves,鈥� Rajakovic said.

鈥淚 love when my team stands up for themselves.鈥�

It鈥檚 that type of spirit the coach hopes will set in daily over the rest of the year 鈥� and into next season, too.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2025.

Myles Dichter, The Canadian Press