The Cleveland Cavaliers must play a cleaner brand of basketball against the Toronto Raptors.
After it looked like the Cleveland Cavaliers were in firm control of their first-round series against the Toronto Raptors, going up 2-0, the Wine and Gold are now headed back to Rocket Arena with their series tied at two games apiece.
Cleveland dropped Game 4 on Sunday by a final score of 93-89.
There are several areas to point to as to why the Cavaliers lost this game. Cleveland shot just 36 percent from the floor and 25 percent from behind the arc, and blew a lead in the fourth quarter, and made some costly errors in the closing minutes.
However, the biggest problem for the Cavs in this game was the turnovers, again.
Just under two minutes into the game, the Cavaliers committed their first turnover of the game: a bad pass by James Harden to Jarrett Allen, which sailed out of bounds. Two minutes later, the same outcome.
By the time the game was over, Cleveland had committed 17 turnovers as a team. Harden led the way with seven turnovers of his own.
All of these miscues piled up, and the Raptors made sure to take advantage of them. Toronto ended up scoring 17 points off Cleveland’s turnovers, and that right there was the difference maker in the game.
Apr 26, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden (1) looks for a passing option as he is covered by Toronto Raptors guard Jamal Shead (23) during game four of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn ImagesWhen head coach Kenny Atkinson was asked about the turnovers after the game, he pointed to Cleveland needing to do a better job with their spacing.
Yes, that would help, but some of them, such as Donovan Mitchell eighth second violation with 40 seconds left in the game, come down to the Cavaliers simply being more careful with the basketball, which they weren’t in Game 4.
Perhaps the disappointing part of Cleveland turning the ball over so much on Sunday was that limiting the miscues had been a point of emphasis after Game 3, when the Raptors scored 23 points off Cleveland turnovers.
The Cavaliers have a lot of work to do before Game 5 on their home floor on Wednesday. At the top of that list must be figuring out a way to play a cleaner brand of basketball and stop turning the ball over so much.
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