Do the Cleveland Cavaliers need to shake things up ahead of Game 5 against the Toronto Raptors?
The Cleveland Cavaliers looked like they had firm control of their playoff series against the Toronto Raptors.
The Wine and Gold traveled North of the border with a 2-0 series lead, but after a disappointing road trip, they are returning to the coast of Lake Erie with the best-of-seven series tied at two games apiece.
The question on everyone’s minds ahead of Wednesday’s Game 5 is whether or not the Cavaliers will make any major changes to get back on track in the series, but head coach Kenny Atkinson pushed back on his team needing to make dramatic adjustments for the team to get back on track.
“I mean, they did what they're supposed to do, right?” explained Atkinson. “Your home, you're supposed to win in the playoffs. That's how this works.”
“So I don't know. This seems like a typical playoff series to me. Four and five [seed], [tied] 2-2. There's no big surprises here, no big mysteries. We definitely - we obviously changed some things. I think some of our changes were really good, and then we'll go back and we'll see, gotta look at the film before we decide our approach for the next game.”
Apr 20, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson talks with guard Donovan Mitchell (45) during the second half during game two of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs against the Toronto Raptors at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn ImagesFor what it's worth, too, Atkinson did already make a fairly significant adjustment at the start of Game 4; Dean Wade’s defensive assignment shifted from Brandon Ingram to Scottie Barnes, as the Raptors forward has emerged as the team’s top scoring option in the series.
Other than that, there aren’t any clear mismatches or clear disadvantages for Cleveland in any of these games.
The big change the Cavaliers really need to make is to protect the basketball and avoid costly turnovers. Again, the Raptors scored 40 points off 40 Cleveland miscues in Games 3 and 4.
With that in mind, Cleveland works on its spacing and perhaps figures out more ways to open up more driving lanes for the guards, but that likely doesn’t require lineup changes.
Major changes aren’t needed for the Cavaliers to take a 3-2 series lead on Wednesday, but if Cleveland does lose and faces elimination, Atkinson could be forced to make some dramatic moves to hopefully get something going ahead of Game 6 back in Toronto this weekend.
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